Appenzellar spin off

[Chetty]

Following Peter Dixon appenzellar recipe with some changes I made a 550 lb batch of a new species ( said like the crocodile hunter RIP).  I added way to much culture but when the dust cleared out of the brine the ph inside was around 5.4 5.5 so I'm thinking it might still be edible but I just had to share with the world my prettiest  cheese blocks yet from the cheapest molds yet.  I cut the top five inches from a five gallon bucket and made a follower from a cutting board.  There about roughly 18 pounds more or less. 

[Gregore]

Them some nice big cheeses . 

You do not mention how much faster it hit the ph of 5.4 but if it was crazy fast then mostly you just loose a little flavor .

[DoctorCheese]

Nice big cheeses!

[Chetty]

I just tested the ph the day after I took it out of the brine I'm not sure what the ph markers are suppose to be but I know you want it in the press before you get much lower then 6.4 or something like that.  This is my first time with this cheese so I'm not sure what to expect.  As far as culture I only needed 1 gram for 3 DCU and I put 7 grams.  My saving grace might have been it was out of date.  I'm going to have to start having someone check my math because I make simple errors sometimes. 

[Gregore]

Sorry ment to say if it was "not " crazy fast then you mostly loose flavor .

[awakephd]

I just tested the ph the day after I took it out of the brine I'm not sure what the ph markers are suppose to be but I know you want it in the press before you get much lower then 6.4 or something like that.  This is my first time with this cheese so I'm not sure what to expect.  As far as culture I only needed 1 gram for 3 DCU and I put 7 grams.  My saving grace might have been it was out of date.  I'm going to have to start having someone check my math because I make simple errors sometimes.

Chetty, there will be some differences depending on the exact variety, but a very general rule of thumb for many hard/pressed cheeses is that you want to drain the curds when the whey pH is around 6.2-6.3, and you want to stop the acidification at around pH 5.3-5.4. For a cheese that is cheddared, this means you stop cheddaring, mill and add salt when it gets to 5.3-5.4. For a cheese that is brined or dry salted, you press it until it reaches 5.3-5.4, then start the brining/salting.

Those are some large cheeses, compared to what most of us are making! The largest I ever make is 6 lbs or so, but most are in the 4 lb. range.

[Chetty]

Thanks for the reply,

I generally have markers for all my specific recipes, but I have never made this cheese so I had no previous makes to go off of.  We didn't cover alpine cheeses in the advanced cheese class I just took so this was my maiden voyage for this cheese and will be better off for it. 

Also I'm trying to get my cave filled to the brim for the farmers market in June so 55 lbs of cheese per batch is a must.  Plus with the refrigerator unit we installed last year after I lost half a cave full of cheese I should be all set. 

[AnnDee]

550 lbs batch! Wow.
How do you press them? Piston type cheese press?

[Chetty]

550 lbs of milk so only about 55 lbs cheese.  My press is a lever press with very long arms. 

[AnnDee]

Very nice set up there Chetty. I'm saving your picture if you don't mind, for future reference.

[Andrew Marshallsay]

550 lbs of milk so only about 55 lbs cheese.   

I like the way you manage to quietly slip the word "only" into the same sentence as 55 lbs.
For someone whose largest makes are usually only about 1.2 kg (about 2 1/2 lbs, I think), that is a little hard to mentally process.

[Chetty]

If I filled both of my vats to the brim I could process 550 + 1300 lbs so 55 lbs of cheese isn't all that huge for a commercial maker. 

[Chetty]

One word of warning, if anyone constructs a press like mine all stainless.  The arms are very dangerous.  The chains they are hooked to in the picture are for safety more then anything.  If the hit you in the head it would be game over.  I rarely use weight because by themselves the pressure on the cheese is around 70 lbs if I put a gallon of water on the end that jumps to almost 170 lbs.