first attempt at a Stirred Curd Chedder

[Andrewqld]

First attempt at this type of cheese and I am hoping it goes well, it has just come out of the press for air drying after 24hrs at approximately 23kg, the knit looks good after trimming the edges so I am hopeful.
How do you all think it looks? The recipe does not say to Brine and salt was added at milling does that sound about right?

cheers
Andrew

[scubagirlwonder]

Beautiful! What style hoop did you use? I like the design pressed into it!
well done!

[FarmerJd]

It looks great and well-knit. I assume that when you say you salted at milling, that you meant you salted after stirring (cheddaring) the curds and before pressing. Milling is normally a term referring to the cutting of curd slabs into cubes in a traditional cheddar recipe as opposed to a "stirred curd" variety where the curd is stirred to keep it from forming these slabs. If so, you are right on. Don't brine. How do you plan on aging it?

[Andrewqld]

Beautiful! What style hoop did you use? I like the design pressed into it!
well done!

Hi scubagirlwonder,
It's a 115mm H x 145mm D basket, probably not ideal for Cheddar as it leaves a lot of grooves running down the side of the cheese. I purchased from GreenLivingAustralia.com.au

It looks great and well-knit. I assume that when you say you salted at milling, that you meant you salted after stirring (cheddaring) the curds and before pressing. Milling is normally a term referring to the cutting of curd slabs into cubes in a traditional cheddar recipe as opposed to a "stirred curd" variety where the curd is stirred to keep it from forming these slabs. If so, you are right on. Don't brine. How do you plan on aging it?

Yes your right farmerJD I did salt after stirring, I'm still getting my head around the terminology. I plan to Vac seal this one mainly because  the grooves formed by the basket will make it very difficult to wax.

If I can get a little advice on the final PH it would be appreciated, at the start of the final 23kg press the whey ph was 5.8 and at the end of the press the whey ph was 4.9 does that sound like it is about right, finding any real details on PH marks is pretty difficult and I have a nasty feely I overshot a little.

Thanks for all the help and comments.

Andrew

[linuxboy]

When you say whey pH do you mean the leftover whey you drained (measuring this is useless, tells you little about the cheese), or the little bit of whey the cheese expels when you press the probe into the cheese itself?

Cheddar should finish at 4.9-5.1.

[Andrewqld]

I measured the whey that was in the bottom of the draining tray, I didn't know how to measure the cheese directly using a bulb type PH meter, can that be done?

Cheers
Andrew

[linuxboy]

Yeah, that whey pH that drains is closer to the actual than the one you pour off at the beginning, but still not exact.

And yes, if you stick the probe into the cheese so it lets go of a bit of moisture, you can get the pH directly. Or reserve a hunk of the curd.

[Andrewqld]

Thanks for that Linuxboy, I now know how to take a proper PH reading at the end of a press, also good to hear that my cheddar should be ok as far as PH goes.
I'm really looking forward to the 6 mth wait, not.

Thanks again.

Andrew