Yesterday, we opened up the 2 lb. stirred curd cheddar. It came out well. Has a mild cheddar aroma and somewhat crumbly texture. It doesn't melt all that well but, it is on its way to becoming macaroni and cheese this week. It seems my waxed cheeses do well in the cheese cave (surprise, surprise) but anything without a real air tight rind gets battered by mold (like my poor little manchego). Cleaning the cave, AGAIN!
Sounds like many of mine.
My suspects. (in this order)
Too much acid. (pH too low)
Pressed too hard.
Scalded too hot.
Wayne, what is the optimal PH for a cheddar. I just got a PH test kit so am curious for when I make this cheese again. thanks.
Well,
That depends..
that depends on who you believe, and what you are trying to accomplish.
But Peter Dixon believes that the whey pH should be 5.9-6.0 by the time the curd pack is formed and most of the whey is run off.
He further believes that the curds should be milled then the whey is pH 5.3-5.4
What drives this I am still figuring out.
I do know that some of my cheddars of mine that dropped into the pH 4.7 range were also dry and crumbly.
But there are other factors involved in drying out a cheddar:
Salt, Heat, Curd Dimentions, fat in the milk.
There are lots of theory there governing the effects of acidification, curd size, milling, cheddaring. All of these activities affect the structure, texture, and behavior of the cheese. Some of these may also be factors into why your cheddar is dry and crumbly...
Wayne, good man.
I have yet to make a cheddar, so who am I to talk, but just FYI, another useful reference is CHR Hansen's guide for Cheddared Cheeses (https://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,593.0.html), with section 4.1 on process and 4.2 on Critical Manufacturing Points.
Thanks, Wayne and John. I'll keep this in mind with the next batch. Successful cheesemaking is definitely an art.