The cow I milk is 10 months post calving, and yielding 3+ gallons on milking once a day. Yesterday, and last week, the yield from 3.75 gallons of milk has been about 5.5# curd! Last week I made caerphilly, and after cheddaring and pressing the final weight was 4# 10oz. Yesterday was Jarlsberg, and after pressing, before brining, the yield was 5# 7oz.
In both cases the makes were on targets, curd felt right for pressing, pH was good, temps were right. So I wonder what are the implications for aging? There must be very high solids in her milk now, but is extra moisture likely retained as well? And is there a more optimal kind of cheese to be making when the solids are high?
I don't know the answer -- I look forward to seeing what others have to say -- but I have to say that, as someone for whom raw milk is very hard to obtain, I am envious of the "problem"!
Quote from: scasnerkay on August 04, 2015, 08:38:29 PM
The cow I milk is 10 months post calving, and yielding 3+ gallons on milking once a day. Yesterday, and last week, the yield from 3.75 gallons of milk has been about 5.5# curd! Last week I made caerphilly, and after cheddaring and pressing the final weight was 4# 10oz. Yesterday was Jarlsberg, and after pressing, before brining, the yield was 5# 7oz.
In both cases the makes were on targets, curd felt right for pressing, pH was good, temps were right. So I wonder what are the implications for aging? There must be very high solids in her milk now, but is extra moisture likely retained as well? And is there a more optimal kind of cheese to be making when the solids are high?
I'd just assume it's extra fat. If everything else feels right, just carry on. My brother used Jersey milk when he was interning at a dairy in Texas, and he said it was often hard to flip without leaving big fingermarks in the cheese when pressing. But they turned out great.
I mean, you could use that as an excuse for making Malemberts, just not adding cream.
Both the butterfat and protein levels will be higher towards drying off, but the amount of cream starts rising out of proportion.
I start skimming a fair amount of cream when we get towards drying off. If you're milking twice per day, you can chill the evening milk, then skim all or most of the cream in the morning and combine with the warm morning milk. If you're only milking once per day, you will probably just want to use the milk as-is, unless you don't mind chilling first.
It would be a good time to play around with some gooey washed rind varieties!
Thanks Bantams! That is exactly what I wondered. Washed rind will be a new territory for me. Any suggestions for a first one to try?
Susan, so many choices!
Some of my favorites: Reblochon (https://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,9997.0.html), Saint Paulin (https://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,12760.0.html), Trappist (https://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,14549.0.html), Tilsit (https://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,14739.0.html), Esrom (https://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,9293.0.html), Taleggio (https://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,14634.0.html).
-Boofer-