MILK CULTURING
- Nov 26, 2010, 4:00PM: Poured eight 1 US gallon jugs of store bought pasteurized homogenized whole cow's milk (Kroger cheapo brand from store into 10 US gallon stockpot with minimal splash/foaming on large gas burner ring on stove. Measured at 37.7F/3.1C. Covered and left overnight to warm.
- Nov 27, 2010, 9:30AM: Measured at 61.7F/16.5C. Covered and went biking.
- Nov 27, 2010, 2:20PM: Measured at 63.0F/17.2C, pH on cheapo uncalibrated useless gauge at 5.18. Trickled and stirred in 2.0 teaspoons diluted CaCl2 to aid rennet coagulation as using pasteurized milk. Sprinkled 0.5 teaspoon of Danisco's Choozit Brand DVI Mesophilic Starter Culture MM100 onto milk and three puffs of Danisco's Choozit Brand Freeze Dried Geotrichum candidum 13 onto milk for rind protection, let rehydrate for 3 minutes and stirred in with large slotted skimmer. Diluted 1 tube of kitchin yellow gel food colouring in warm water and stirred into milk. Started heating with flame on #6 medium, stirred milk every second minute to avoid hot spots.
- Nov 27, 2010, 3:08PM: Milk warmed to target 31.4C/88.5F after 30 minutes, turned off heat.
CURD MAKING
- Nov 27 2010, 3:10PM: pH at 5.36, stirred in 0.8 gram CHR Hansen Brand powdered rennet diluted in 1 cup cool water for 1 minute and then stopping swirl with ladle. Performed spinning bowl flocculation test starting at 8 minutes after added rennet, bowl stopping after 13.5 minutes, at 3x flocculation multiplier, waited another 27 minutes, then cut curd into ~0.4"/1 cm cubic diamonds with long spatula, measured temp at 88.5F/31.3C, let rest 5 minutes, stirred gently intermittently for 15 minutes as curds still soft. Let rest at end for curds to sink.
CURD WASHING
- Nov 27, 2010, 4:20PM: Removing 2.0 US gallons whey (~1/4 original milk volume) and put 1 gallon aside in medium plastic picnic cooler for making brine, stirred in 2.0 US gallons of 120F hot water, stirred for 5 min. Repeated two more times for 3 washings.
- Nov 20, 2010, 4:50PM: Removed 1/2 whey and disposed of down kitchen drain, bailed and then poured curds and remaining whey-water into Kadova Brand molds in two medium stock pots.
PRESSING
- Nov 27, 2010, 5:00PM: Pressed each cheese with 10 lb weights, in warm whey.
- Nov 27, 2010, 5:20PM: Removed molds from whey, discarded watery-whey, turned cheeses and placed under stepladder as weight, added 5 gal paint bucket as extra weight.
- Nov 27, 2010, 7:00PM: Turned cheeses and replaced 5 gal paint bucket as extra weight.
- Nov 27, 2010, 8:00PM: Removed ladder-bucket weight, turned and replaced in hoops to rest overnight and to remove ridge - dent from lid.
SALTING
- Nov 28, 2010, 6:20AM: Mixed 1 US gallon retained whey with 3 cups of salt, measured brine density with salinometer, 18%. Weighed both cheeses, 1.95 kg/4.3 lb & 2.05 kg/4.5 lb, placed both cheeses in fresh whey brine bath, sprinkled exposed above brine parts with dry salt, turned cheeses every few hours.
- Nov 29, 2010, 6:20AM: Removed cheeses from brine after 24 hours (~5.5 hours per pound of cheese), weighed at 1.9 kg/4.2 lb & 2.0 kg/4.4 lb each, (lost 0.05 kg/0.1 lb each/2.5% each), placed on mats on wire cookie cooling rack in kitchen to air dry, poured brine down drain, retaining 1 liter for rind washing.
AGING
- Nov 29-Dec 2, 2010: Turned cheeses in kitchen every 1/2 day to room dry.
- Dec 2, 2010: Oiled both rinds with Peanut Oil, rubbed of excess with paper towel, place in fridge style cheese cave to ripen.
- Dec 4, 2010: Re-oiled both rinds with Peanut Oil, rubbed of excess with paper towel, place back in fridge style cheese cave to ripen.
- Dec 16, 2010: Found external thermostat's sensor had dropped out of fridge resulting in sensor thinking fridge temp was 70F and thus driving fridge down to 42F and low humidity. Replaced thermostat and re-oiled both rinds with Peanut Oil, placed back in fridge style cheese cave to ripen.
NOTES
- Heat milk first then add starter culture to avoid pre-rennet acidification time and reduce pH uncertainty.
- For first 1-2 days need to avoid using mats as they stay wet due to capillary forces thus place for yeasts to grow.
What an adventure! John, I was on the edge of my seat!! :D
I do have some questions. I've got teaspoons, tablespoons, and a measuring trio that gives me a pinch, a dash, and a smidgen. What's a puff?
I see at 2:20 and 63F you added your cultures and at 3:08 you turned off the heat, having reached your target temp of 88.5F. Your pH was 5.36 when you added the rennet? How's that possible? I struggle to drop a few points from cold milk and am at 6.65 after 2 hours. I can repeat this with multiple makes so there seems to be a misfire somewhere in my process.
The cheeses look great. Thanks for the Sunday afternoon cheapo thrills.
-Boofer-
Nice John,and the best part was that you got to go cycling!
Hi Boofer, puff is kind of like a popcorn far _ s ;), basically I just give it a few little fluffs to introduce the Geotrichum candidum as an extra rind protectant.
Agree pH 5.36 at that stage is not possible, ergo my pH meter is completely useless and didn't use it for the rest of the make.
zenith1, I'm amazed at how long it takes a large volume with small surface area to warm to ambient room temperature! From my records below it took 22 hours for 8 US gallons / 30.4 liters to rise 25F / 14C with an initial differential from room temp of ~35F / 3C. If I'd have left the jugs to sit out rather than putting in my stockpot vat it would have warmed much faster due to the higher surface area to volume ratio. Going again today, when it warms up.
Latest picture below, getting some mold which I've brushed off twice, as my cheese cave's humidity is too high, discussion on that problem here (https://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,2727.0.html).
Hey, those look really nice! Good on you, John.
-Boofer-
Well sugar, to be polite.
Couple days ago found these two cheeses had surface cracks from ultra low humdity in my small fridge/freeze cheese cave being now too low, found temp was 42F and that my external Johnson thermostat read 71F, so figured the thermostat was kaput and started looking for warranty card and covered cheese with bowl to lock in humidity and help stress cracks to heal. Just looked again yesterday and found the temp sensor wire had fallen out of the fridge and thus the high reading, learning is to duct tape the sensor into the fridge!!!
Picture below is after 1 day covered by bowl and thus cracks partially healed.
Nice when they heal themselves. Looking good there Giavanni!
OK, so my cracks did not heal, got bigger and I couldn't vacuum bag seal as that was my Christmas gift so the cracks got mold inside that I couldn't clean out, so at 31 days I gave up and cut and started eating one of them.
Not a lot of flavour development, understandable at 31 days. Also, mechanical holes in the pate, from under-pressing. Looks like I need more weight than my stepladder and paint bucket, or I should press the two Kadova brand molds in series (stacked one on top of other) rather than parallel (side-by-side) as was done here.
(Excuse washed out white colour in first picture from flash in camera).
Quoteso the cracks got mold inside that I couldn't clean out
I have some cracks with mold...I was going to cut them out and then wax right away. Is there a reason you didn't do that and then vacuum seal?
Hey John,
Old post, but I have a question regarding the GC addition. Do you ever have an issue with your cheese becoming runny like a Camembert, or does the lack of moisture prevent that adequately?