I recently found ground annatto at the supermarket. This is the same stuff that is in the cheese coloring liquid from New England cheese. Has anyone ever used this in powder form, or made a liquid of it?

Sal

try to soak it in very clean water , and see how’s the color, and i might boil the water to get more color, then i will filter the powder and use it in cheese….

tell us what will happen with u

I would make a concentrated solution and place it in a dropper bottle. Gradually add it to see what concentration u need, I dont thingk u need much.

Can somebody post the ingredients of the annatto based cheese dye from cheesemaker.com, if it has them. I’m going to try and make some solutions. Annato powder in water gives a red/pink color, a bit weak. If you put it in alcohol you get a very nice orange color.

Sal

as Neil said, make concentration, and add to milk until u get nice color;
no idea about alcohol effects , but, if u have to use alcohol, make ur concetration using pure alcohol (no taste) and boil so the alcohol will evaporates , then use it

nice idea for all cheese makers i want to share ,,,, example cheddar or gouda
make two pots of cheese batch (identical) , BUT one with annatto and the other without, make cheese in both pots (same time and procedures) , when u get to mold it, mix two curds from both pots (few from first pot, and few from second, and press…  u will end up with very very nice cheese ... i will post picture so u can see it

Very tiny pic LOL, would be interesting experiment with Gouda.

i liked the idea, it produce nice look cheese

Okay, so I made a cheddar this weekend and tried out the powdered annato. I took a Tbls. of the powder and put it in a tea bag I got at a tea shop.

I used it just like you would if you were making tea. The color in the milk was very light, almost pink, but after the final press it’s darkened a good amount. I’m hoping it will get darker with age.

SAL

IT WILL!!

Interesting color, great looking wheel So u added the coloring at the beginning?

I added the coloring after it had ripened with the culture. It should be the same time it’s normally added.
Its drying now and the corners are stating to darken up nicely.

For those of you who use the cheese color drops, does the recommended amount give you a nice orange color? (2 drops per gallon)

SAL

i think this color is not nice, pink,not dark yellow or orange.
even it is natural , but u feel strange when u eat it.. 
try less color next time

I think that it looks great.  It will be interesting to see it after it has been waxed and aged properly.  Looking at the bag of Annato, is it a product of Mexico?  Where did you get it?

I got this in the Mexican section of my grocery store, with all the spices.

It’s beginning to dry now and turning a nicer color of orange. I’ll take another pic when it is done.

SAL

I find you need a LOT more..4 drops per gal for a darke cheddar/colby