So this was my first shot at making a cheese with some raw Jersey milk. Got a discount for buying 6 gallons so it was day 1 of 3 for raw-milk-cheese-fun. Figured this is a pretty basic cheese and since this is my first time working with this milk it would be a good whey to get my feet wet because I have already made similar cheeses before only from P&H milk. Since it was a raw milk make I adjusted the rennet and culture amount and I must say this is the smoothest make I have ever had thus far. The yield was amazing compared to the P&H milk too. Not only did I drink a cup, but I lost about a pint of it due to one of the jars being too close to the fan in the fridge(it froze a large chunk which tasted like water after being thawed), but I still got more out of this make than I ever got from a 2 gallon P&H tomme. The make basically went as follows:
Just under 2 gallons raw jersey milk starting pH=6.60
0.2g MA4001
1/4 tsp CaCl
0.60 mL double strength rennet
Heavy Brine
Heated to 84F, added cultures
Ripened 15 minutes
Add CaCl
Added rennet, flocculation occurred @ 12m 45s, 3.5 X flocculation factor
Cut into 3/8" cubes, pH-whey=6.50
Stir and increase to 100F over 30 minutes
It took 30 more minutes of stirring at 100F to get a springy texture
pH-whey-off=6.37
After 3h 45m of pressing pH=5.23
Notes:
The book suggested it should take 4-8 hours with a goal of 5.2-5.4, but this seems pretty close to what was expected so I am happy. I am learning my Extech can be kind of fussy as I had to keep cleaning it all the time with soap and warm water(Thanks Kern AC4U). There was one instance where this did not even help and I couldn't get a reading that made any sense(I know my whey would never have a pH of 7.1 in the middle of the make) until I recalibrated. I am thinking I should invest in much larger containers of buffer solution so I don't have to feel so stingy, I would have liked to have recalibrated again around the end of pressing because I was having a hard time getting a good reading again and am wondering if maybe the pH, although it seems relatively accurate, may have actually been a little higher yet.
I really love how nice and yellow the milk and cheese are, if I remember this is probably because these cows are grass fed and it is summer milk? I cannot wait to start my 2nd make tomorrow.... Ooooo.... If only I did not need to sleep I would just start it now. ^-^ And I am thinking of skimming some of that cream off the top of a jar or so to make some cultured butter too. There seems to be around a pint, sometimes a bit more, in every 1/2 gallon jar. Yummy... :)
AC4U! Isn't it lovely to work with raw milk -- such a dramatic difference in how it behaves in the cheese-making process!
AC4U
I am moving to Wisconsin too. Eau Claire. How much did you pay for the milk and what part of the state are you in?
Thanks
I am in a suburb of Milwaukee, but the farm is near Madison. So if I am remembering correctly, I think Eau Claire is up near Minnesota, it would be a bit of a stretch. They do deliver to a number of communities once a week and the fee for this is pretty reasonable considering the time and gas. I got in touch with them through my local chapter of the Weston A Price Foundation and it is technically a cow share type of deal. http://www.westonaprice.org/get-involved/find-local-chapter/ (http://www.westonaprice.org/get-involved/find-local-chapter/), perhaps they could help point you to a source closer to Eau Claire. If not, and you are willing to make a drive, the jersey milk is $10 a gallon plus $2 in jar deposits. However if you buy 5 you get 1 free. When I do that it is almost the same price of the cream line milk I can get at the store.
WD: Looks like a nice cheese! Have an electronic one on me. ;)
Thanks for the cheese Kern, all those digital 1s and 0s will have to do until I open that one at Christmas, not counting the other stuff in the cave of course. I am a bit concerned about how tall it is and am hoping it may flatten out a bit over the next few days as I have seen some of my others do, from what I understand if a cheese is too tall it can cause some cracks. Not quite sure at what height-to-diameter ratio that would actually become a problem though? The yield was just so much better than other milks that it ended up taller than any other cheese I have ever made in that mold. As I understand it the affinage of a tomme is pretty much anything goes and much like the other raw milk beauty I made today my head is spinning trying to decide how to age this one out as well.
I had one that started to get some shallow rind cracks - kind of like a mud crack pattern - and started periodic olive oil rubs. That took care of the problem. Interestingly, I never saw any mold on this one.