When testing the ph of the cheese, is the tester probe/test strip placed in the expelled whey or directly on to the cheese?

directly probing the curds as they coagulate so u know when to cut it.

Whey pH is almost very near to curds pH
pH testing mostly is needed : when u drain the whey (in cheddar) pH 6.1, and when u are ready to work ur mozzerella pH5.3
and when u make feta , blue, camambert pH4.7

Nabil, tried my hand at Ricki’s Blue Cheese this past weekend. I used raw cow’s milk which had a starting ph of 6.8.
After I had it in the “sandwich”, the draining whey measured 6.1.
Any thoughts?

Dear Rick"54”

i like the way you approach things, blue , camambert , and feta are so close and should do the following:

1- do not rennet until pH of milk is 6.5-6.6
2- do not cut until it is about 6.2-6.3
3- mold (drain) them when pH is arround 6.0-6.1
3- the end pH should be 4.5-4.7 after 24 hours or so in room temp

good luck

Nabil, I have gone strictly by the book instructions for each step. Although I must confess my goal temp has gone over on the initial heating by 2 degrees, but I’ve been able to get it right on during the ripening stage by moving the pot off the burner and wrapping with cold wet towels.
The instructions call for adding the rennet and waiting a specific amount of minutes, 45 or 60 depending on the cheese type being made. I have been fortunate enough to get what appears to be a clean break, and I’m still trying to build my experience on this issue.

Would a more accurate method of determining the right moment for cutting be to test the ph of the whey at the initial test cut? I can only assume that the reason for giving a specific minute time frame is that not everyone has a ph tester. In order to establish the optimum time for cutting the curd, do you think it would be advantages to publish here, some ph measurements of the whey when checking for a clean break?

I t would be a nice curiosity to post a graph as to the characteristic of the PH activity/temp.

As u said Rick"54” ,  time frame is just for homemakers, but when u have pH

tester u can so more beyond it.

for example pH of draining stage in cheddar MUST be 6.1 no less no more,

otherwise a huge calcuim loose from cheese.

take a look at this post, i like it a lot
http://www.rickandlynne.com/rick/go/forums/viewthread/265/

Nabil, you’ve really opened a can of worms now! LOL
You said in one of your posts in this string that you should have a ph of 5.25 after 12 hours of pressing. Well, if it isn’t at 5.25 then it’s kind of late to do anything about it.
So I’m going to assume that after you’ve cut the curd and are doing the stirring, you should be replacing the whey with warm water in order to get the correct ph, which by the chart appears to be 6.45, the steam on step?

This chart also assumes one is using pasteurized milk, no ph given, which I do not. I use raw milk (cow) with a starting ph of 6.8. Notice I said 6.8, as my meter is only one decimal place and not two, which is probably the case for any home ph meter.
In the case of adding the starter, I’d be looking for a 6.6ph and rennet addition I’d round up the 6.55 to 6.6 on my meter. Since the ph point for both starter and rennet would work out the same, how much time would you really put between the two?

So it seems that the only point of control is at the whey replacement with warm water. After that, the draining, packing, milling, salting and pressing stages are what they are.
What adjustments can be done at these points to try and get the ph stated in the chart?

So as I’m heating along, I’m also checking the ph. The first milestone I come to is for a 6.6ph, at which point I then add the starter. Stir that in and then add the rennet?

The second milestone is the cut curd whey ph of 6.45 (rounded up to 6.5). This is an awful tight measurement, only .1 between adding rennet and cutting curd?

One final question, there is a 2 hour period from the cutting to draining. At what point during this period do you decide to start replacing the whey with warm water? Because if during this 2 hour period the ph continues to drop due to the heat, and if you start replacing whey with water too soon, you might end up with a ph lower than the suggested 6.2 at draining?

I’m not so sure about doing cheddar, it sounds like a real hit or miss cheese to make.

there is no adding hot water at all, this is cheddar cheese..
when u replace whey with water (hot = gouda, cold = cloby)

Rick, just for u , my raw milk dude, see the attached raw milk table, if u follow, u will get a wonderful cheddar