Hi everyone here, I'm needing some help please
Just in the middle of making a cheddar and have a floc time of 40mins x 3 = 120mins until cutting
does this sound correct? I would have though it would be something like 15mins x 3 = 45mins until cutting
Maybe I haven't added enough rennet
Either way should I still wait the 120mins before cutting the curd?
Hi Blair-looks like these replies will be too late to help you this time. The Flocculation factor for cheddar should be in the 3-3.5 range, so to answer your question it was too long. It could be a number of things affecting the time including amounts of starter cultures and types, ripening time, temps, or amount of rennet. Start by going over your notes to see what could be the possible cause for this.
Blair, Just to clarify. YES, with a 3 multiplier your set should have been 120 minutes. It was your initial flocculation that took too long. You should shoot for around 15 minutes, so you should double your rennet next time and see what happens. Keep tweaking until you are closer to 15 minutes. This is a good example of why we use the flocculation method and why you can't blindly follow times in a recipe.
With such a long flocculation time, this cheese will take MUCH longer to age. So put this one in the back of your cave and forget about it for a year.
ok thanks for the all the answers. I have gone over my notes and today I will double the rennet and see if I can pull this time back
Might be hard to leave a cheese for a year, I have a hard time leaving them for 6 months :)
I'll try my best though