Guryere problem

[sirin]

Happy New Year!
I have some problems with my first gruyere.
1. it has already ph - 5,2 an hour pressing. It is written in all the recipes that he should be pressed overnight. What must i do in this case?
2.We got it out of the press with the right ph. it was broken in half an hour.
Please advise me what can i do.

[ArnaudForestier]

Hello -

If you got to 5.2 that fast, not a whole lot you can do because I suspect a strong acidification in the vat, a low drain pH and the curve will continue to head south fast regardless.  If it were me, I'd crash cool it and brine it immediately.  But keep in mind it will likely be a very crumbly cheese, and have a tanginess you wouldn't expect in a gruyere.  Age it out longer than you originally planned to ease these effects over time. 

I'm sorry, I don't understand what you mean when you say:

We got it out of the press with the right ph. it was broken in half an hour.

-you mean the wheel, broke in half or something like that?  Or a pH meter?

[sirin]

a wheel crack

[ArnaudForestier]

All this points to over-acidification, to me, leading to a cleaving-prone texture.  Will probably still be delicious, just not the texture you might have been hoping for.  Try to heal the crack (not my area - see some discussions on the forum for how best to heal these) and let it age out, if you can; again, to mitigate the effects of the overly-acidic paste.  Good luck.

[sirin]

Thanks