I didn't like how fast the pH drop during milling & salting on my last cheddar, so I used a tad less culture and I drained at 6.3, and milled at 5.8. It dropped to 5.2 whey pH anyway, so that didn't help much! ::) Far as I can tell this make went well.
5th Traditional Cheddar #56 3/3/12
Floc x3
pH targets:
pH at drain 6.3
pH at milling 5.8
4 gallons raw Brown Swiss cow milk, pH 6.6
Tad less than ½ tsp MA11
¼ tsp x3 rennet
1/8 tsp annatto
2-½ tablespoons salt
Warm milk to 88 degrees, add culture, let sit 5 minutes, then stir in and let ripen 40 minutes. Temp 88 degrees, pH 6.5
Add annatto and stir. Add rennet and wait for floc. Floc in 8 minutes x 3=28. Check for clean break in 28 minutes and cut curd into ½ cubes. Let rest 5 minutes. pH6.5 temp 87 degrees
Raise temp to 102 degrees, taking 45 minutes to get there. Temp 102 degrees, pH6.4-6.3.
Held for 30 minutes at 102 degrees. Temp 102 degrees, pH 6.3 – 6.2
Drained whey and began cheddaring. Turned every 10 minutes until pH was 5.8.
Milled, salted, and hooped. pH after hooping was 5.2.
Pressed for ½ hour at 70 lbs, redressed and pressed another ½ hour. Redressed and press at 204 lbs overnight.
Weighed my cheese this morning and was surprised to find out it weighed 5 lbs! The cheddar I made last week weighed 4 1/2 pounds. The only thing I did different was to slightly reduce the amount of culture. I held it at 102 degrees 30 minutes when pH was 6.3 (instead of 40 minutes, pH 6.2) and I cheddared 71 minutes until pH was 5.8 (last time I cheddared 85 minutes and milled and salted at pH 5.5)
Interesting to see how much a small adjustment can change the finished cheese!
Looks really nice..that is the way that you want to use PH for the best results. Correct the next make based on your prior experience at the various steps along the way. Have a cheese for your diligence!
Thank you zenith1 :)
That looks really good. How long are you planning on aging it?
- Jeff
Hopefully it will survive a year or so. I'm trying to get enough packed in my cave they have a chance at growing old.
That's always a challenge here, too. Looks great!
Beautiful cheese, anut.
I am amazed at how you are able to consistently develop a 5-pound cheese from 4 gallons of milk. Is it that Brown Swiss cow milk has more solids than Jersey or is it the time of year when cows are off the pastures and on supplements <walks away, shaking his head in disbelief and puzzlement...>? ???
Did you measure the pH coming off the press? Curious about the overnight pressing and still compiling data. :)
-Boofer-
Thanks everyone! :)
I'm enjoying all the extra cheese... it's almost magical.
I'm not sure what the cow is getting now, I keep forgetting to ask, but the total solids are much higher right now during the winter cold. The milk I used to use (store bought P\H) was 11% total solids. The raw Brown Swiss cow milk I use now is 13.5% total solids. 13.5/11=1.23 4(1.23)= 4.92 So the four gallons of milk that would produce a 4 pound wheel, will now produce and 4.92 pound wheel. So when I am making or end up with a higher moisture cheese I now get up to 5 1/2 pounds. ^-^
Your cheddar looks lovely! And thanks for describing the pH changes; you are almost inspiring me to acquire a pH meter. One of your cheeses will soon tip me over the edge to make the order.
Boofer, milk solid percentage varies with breed, within breed, with feed, with season, and (honestly) the mood of the cow during milking. Unless labeled, most US supermarket milk will be from Holsteins in confinement dairies. Low fat, low milk solids, no cheese merit $$. (Yes, the breed associations have measurements for this.) Confinement operations in the US will be feeding the same year round; probably not much fluctuation in milk composition. However small scale dairies with a grazing component can potentially have substantial seasonal variability due to diet. And then there is the 'happy cow' effect. If a cow is letting down completely during milking, the milker will be able to get more of the hind milk which is richer in milk solids and butterfat. My guess is that the Brown Swiss who is providing anut's milk is a happy cow. :)
When you say;
"Redressed and press at 204 lbs overnight."
this may be a stupid question to most participants here, but in all the recipe's I have read they usually call for a pressing weight of say 8 to 50 lbs what am I missing here????
Thanks for the explaintion Cloversmilker. Nicely done! :) I would like to know the ph off the press too Boofer, but my pH meter only tests whey, so I can't get that last reading.
Hi H-K-J, a lot of presses used by home cheese makers only press up to 50 pounds and for most cheeses that's fine. Many cheddar styles really need every thing you can throw at them. Keeping the curds warm or rewarming if needed right before pressing, making sure the mold and press cloth is warm and pressing with as much weight as you can! It can be very challenging to get the curds to fuse together properly. Anytime I'm going to leave a cheese on the press overnight I like to redress at least once to see how it's doing. If it's not fusing as well as I think it should, I pile on the weight. I'm using a dutch style press that allows for 200 lbs, so that's what I use.
Thanks for that detail, Cloversmilker. I've been pretty happy with the cheeses I've been able to put together with the Jersey raw and creamline I have in my area, but never really got close to 5 pounds from 4 gallons. Very impressive.
-Boofer-
Quote"Redressed and press at 204 lbs overnight."
this may be a stupid question to most participants here, but in all the recipe's I have read they usually call for a pressing weight of say 8 to 50 lbs what am I missing here????
When I did the first Cheddar, of course, I gave the curd to cool down too much after milling.
I need to go 550lb / 8" mold, that I get some rind, lesson learned :)
So to keep good temp of curd is important.
Hande
WoW! this is some important info, I have been contemplating a traditional cheddar, I will definitely have to keep these point's in mind.
Thanks :)
I didn't believe at first either Boofer. I thought I was doing something wrong, but the cheeses felt right. That's why I finally checked the total solids. Sparkles is their only milk cow at this time, and likely gets lots of loving attention from her owners grandchildren.
Very nice Anut! I missed this the first go round! I need to make some cheddar that won't melt.
Hi Debi,
Yes, the cheeses that don't melt are great for cooking. They don't disappear, so you get nice chunks of flavor. :P Also, it's nice to have cheese stay on your toast and off the floor of your toasting oven! I like to always have some of both on hand--melter's and non-melters. So far I haven't had to make any deliberately. They just kinda appear when I miss my pH target/moisture targets! :)
I use them it my sausages. They don't drool out when you smoke them. It really good in pepperonis or brats or kielbasa or sausage in general.
Oh my Gosh that sounds divine! Where do you live? I'm on the way! :P
CT Anut! Pick up Dave in Meridan on your way we will party! It is rather weird trying to deliberately make your cheese wrong but was buying this stuff and it went up to $25/3 pounds. For screwed up cheddar? That's nuts!
That's not nearly as insane as paying extra for food that has been processed less? Go figure!
Yeah I never did understand that one either. If you don't put stuff in it cost more? Weird world!
Anut, I was looking for a Cheddar recipe to follow. I like your detail and pH points.
The wife will be away this week, so I'll pick up some raw Jersey milk and make my first Cheddar (my Double Gloucester doesn't count).
I just need to find a way to isolate it from the Fourme d'Amberts in the caves. Hmmm. I think I need another (3rd) cave. ???
-Boofer-
Great looking and thanks for the recipe.
Sounds like I need a ph meter.
Boof, Why not just add a regular size refrigerator with an external temperature controller? You can find used ones really cheap.
people give away fridges regularly on craigslist or whatever your local website is, ours is usedeverywhere
Getting an extra cave would be nice, but where do you put them?
Goodluck with your make Boofer. :)
Quote from: anutcanfly on April 17, 2012, 04:12:19 PM
Getting an extra cave would be nice, but where do you put them?
Exactly...no room. Thanks for the suggestion, Sailor. I guess I was just wishing and hoping...and dreaming. If I really needed it, I have an unused chest freezer that was bought years back for lagering beer kegs. I could press that into service with no problem.
Thanks for the encouragement, anut.
-Boofer-
Quote from: anutcanfly on March 03, 2012, 04:49:57 PM
Weighed my cheese this morning and was surprised to find out it weighed 5 lbs! The cheddar I made last week weighed 4 1/2 pounds. The only thing I did different was to slightly reduce the amount of culture. I held it at 102 degrees 30 minutes when pH was 6.3 (instead of 40 minutes, pH 6.2) and I cheddared 71 minutes until pH was 5.8 (last time I cheddared 85 minutes and milled and salted at pH 5.5)
Interesting to see how much a small adjustment can change the finished cheese!
I'm sorry, anut. I'm still hung up on your 5 lbs of cheese from 4 gallons milk. Checking the forum's guidelines (https://cheeseforum.org/articles/wiki-milk-cheese-yield/), I find that my cheeses pretty much conform to those limits. I get 3-4 lb cheeses typically using 4 gallons of Jersey milk. I might get a heavier cheese if it's washed curd and more moisture is added in, but still nothing that approaches 5 lbs.
Cooking the curds would shrink the curds and release whey. Your make shows you did just that. I'm puzzled. ???
Did you
zero your scale so that you're only weighing cheese and not a container too?
-Boofer-
I've never conformed to any set of standards or rules in my life. I don't see why I should start now! ;)
Yes, the scale is zeroed.
<Moan>
I've just posted my first Cheddar (https://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,9548.msg69288.html#new). You can see why I'm so dismayed at my yield compared to yours.
What's the elevation where you live? 9,000 feet? That might explain it. Rarified air or something. :)
-Boofer-
1900 feet. I don't know why you are upset. My cheese is the one that's abnormal! :)
Quote from: anutcanfly on April 20, 2012, 04:16:27 PM
1900 feet. I don't know why you are upset. My cheese is the one that's abnormal! :)
Nah, not upset. Everything's copasetic. :)
And no, your cheese isn't abnormal...it's
special. ::)
-Boofer-
Special like Jerry's Kids? ;)
Flip that's good! I'm drinking an espresso from the coffee I roasted the other day. A bit sharp for a straight espresso so I added a little unsweetened cocoa, frothed milk and a 1/4 tsp of sugar. That was the best Caffe Mocha I've ever had! I don't like the the sugared to death coffees that are so popular today.
That espresso sounds good right about now. There's a slight chill in the air this morning.
-Boofer-
Yessss, my first espresso of the morning is delish about to have my second and then away we go :o
going out to get my extra large whisk, I already called on my milk and they were out now I have to wait till Monday afternoon to pick it up
at least I will know it is fresh, Tuesday I will make a Swiss ;D
I'm thinking about another Swiss too. Homemade is so much better than store bought.
Anut, I just posted about the fantastic yield I got on Gouda yesterday. Not sure if it is because my cow just freshened a bit over a week ago or if it is the new diet I've got her on, but I'm loving it. Nearly 7 lbs of curd/cheese (not all would fit in the mold) from 5 1/2 gallons of milk. Woo-hoo!
That's awesome! It's all about happy cows! I know the cow my milk comes from is spoiled. Her name is Sparkles.
I must be getting my milk from very unhappy cows. :'(
-Boofer-
They're the serious cows Boofer.
- Jeff
If you are just driving by, you can tell by the hats...happy cows wear silly hats with oversized yellow plastic flowers on them, or polka dots. Purple is a very popular color.
Those serious, miserly cows wear black, grey or brown bowlers or tophats. They probably grind their teeth instead of chewing bubblegum, too.
;D
Quote from: MrsKK on April 22, 2012, 03:00:29 AM
Nearly 7 lbs of curd/cheese (not all would fit in the mold) from 5 1/2 gallons of milk. Woo-hoo!
Fantastic yield Karen! Congrats!
where do you get that type of cheesecloth? what is it called?
Thanks!
Hi Jared & Kelly,
There are a number of places that sell cloth I think you want. New England Cheese supplies has it listed as disposable cheese cloth and Hoegger's lists it as plyban. Wonderful stuff. I use it a lot before it wears out. So far I've been able to boil with my other equipment, so keeping it sterile is easy too. Best yet, I can seal the side seams on my vacuum sealer.
Anut :)
Quote from: anutcanfly on August 08, 2012, 01:28:08 AM
I can seal the side seams on my vacuum sealer.
Can you describe how and what you do?
-Boofer-
Hi Boofer,
Nothing fancy. Just sealing the seam of tubes slightly larger than the outside of the mold, at varied lengths needed for cheeses of different heights. Much easier than sewing, or coping with the many strings of butter muslin that embed themselves in the cheese.
Anut :)
Quote from: anutcanfly on August 08, 2012, 04:21:28 AM
Hi Boofer,
Nothing fancy. Just sealing the seam of tubes slightly larger than the outside of the mold, at varied lengths needed for cheeses of different heights. Much easier than sewing, or coping with the many strings of butter muslin that embed themselves in the cheese.
Anut :)
I like it! Yet another tip to guide me to cheesemaking nirvana. 8)
-Boofer-
The shared collective of minds on forums are awesome! I've been too short of time to tune in lately and I have to say I've missed it! Missed joking around with you all as well! :)
Update on the cheesecloth. I was trying to pick what cloth I would use for the apple press I'm building and I noticed that the disposable cheese cloth at New England Cheesemaking supplies is much more fragile than Hoeggers Plyban (which is the type I've been using the last 6 months). So I would suspect it won't last nearly as long and I doubt it will stand up to boiling. I'm thinking I'd better stick to nylon cloth for my apple press. I never did get the berry stains off the wall when my bag blew out while pressing blackberries (I've changed my pressing technique since then). It took 3 coats of sealer and 3 coats of white paint to cover the stain!
Sometimes it is just easier to rub more berries on the rest of the wall! :)
- Jeff
LOL ;D Now that's what I call thinking outside the box!