This was supposed to be my first cheddar. A 10 liters (2.5 gallons) of raw milk on the way to a 6” hoop. I went to bed after placing the last 23 kg (50 lb) weight. It was at 21:30, this morning I woke up at 07:30 and the disaster can be seen on the pics. I have two questions:
1. Before salting the cheese, I grinded the slabs on a coarse grater. Was that right?
2. Is there anything I can do at this stage to recover the disaster? It can not be eaten because I did not pasteurize the milk.
Hi Alex. I can sympathize with you, as the same thing happened to me with a Monterey Jack. As it was your final press, that would be the reason for no cheese cloth. The problem is that with heavier weight comes the tendency for the mold to be pushed up so the curd can squeeze out around the bottom. This happens because there is no weight on the mold itself - its freefloating, if you will. Some method needs to be devised to hold the mold in place, and if you can do so fairly quickly, you can re-press the curd and save the cheese. If it dries out, its probably not going to be usable. The pix below will illustrate my corrective measure. Hope you can get something together soon enough to save your curd. It was a significant amount of work getting to the stage you’re in.
I really needed someones sympathy, 7-1/2 hours of work. It looks like you and my wife, are the two most clever people around me, I mean concerning the lack of the cheese cloth at this stage of pressing.
Right now I am back from work. I cut the curd to 1/2” cubes and submerged them in 40 deg C salted water for a couple of minutes.
Now the curds are back in the press, hoping to succeed with your advice. Also fixing the hoop is a good idea.
Meanwhile, the time I am writing, I flipped the wheel, it looks like a bunch of squeezed small marshmallows.
I’d like to ask you again about the basic procedure: grating the curd on a coarse grater was OK?
It looks like a interesting piece of art
If your going to repress it I would recommend heating it up to the process temp. Give it a sniff, does it smell sweet or acid?
I’d agree with Newbie, the grating is rather extreme. The recipes I’ve seen, and used, just call for breaking up the curd into walnut sized chunks. Last time I chose to cut them rather than break them, because it was quicker. The final cheese still knit together quite well. I’m wondering, though, about the weight. If it doesn’t knit fairly well by the second press, you might consider using more weight. Especially since your curd might be even drier than normal. It looks like you’re using a 6” mold. For that size, I use at least 100 lbs on the final press.
Take heart. Even though it may not be perfect, due to the mishaps, its still cheese, and it will likely still be quite good.
As I mentioned, I cut the curd in 1/2” cubes and put it in 40 deg C of salted water for 2-3 minutes, then, back to the press. For now it looks OK. The smell is not acidic at all, it smells very good.
Newbie,
I have to agree about the grating, I was not sure, next time I’ll break it up or cut the curd.
Rich,
You are right, it is a 6” mold. After the “recovery” pressing the wheel is as new, it has a nice “springy” feel. I was afraid to press with such a load, the recipes I have from the net call for 50 lb final load, and that’s what I did.
Now I am going to dry the wheel, age it, and in the mid of June hoping to report about this particular “piece of art”(Neil said).
Thank you all for your kind help.
As I mentioned, I cut the curd in 1/2” cubes and put it in 40 deg C of salted water for 2-3 minutes, then, back to the press. For now it looks OK. The smell is not acidic at all, it smells very good.Alex
Glad you managed to sort it out.
Just in passing, you can soak for a longer period than 2-3 minutes. I have in the passed soaked it for 20 minutes, all you’re doing is hot brining which is basically good, plus of course raising the temp will help with the meld.
as it was ment to be a cheddar, if i were u, i would cut it , and stretch it and make perfect provolone or /and hard shiny mozzarella
i will not go to immerse it in water, water pH is around 7, and it will wash the curd more, and will not end with proper cheddar
update us with ur news when u cut and taste it
Having used a hot water immersion to cure a poor meld on a number of occasions, I can state it has little effect on the interior of the curds. It would take a much higher temp than the ‘cooking’ temp to affect that.
The ideal method is to use the whey that was drained, adding a small amount of salt, even better.
as it was ment to be a cheddar, if i were u, i would cut it , and stretch it and make perfect provolone or /and hard shiny mozzarella
i will not go to immerse it in water, water pH is around 7, and it will wash the curd more, and will not end with proper cheddar
update us with ur news when u cut and taste it
Having used a hot water immersion to cure a poor meld on a number of occasions, I can state it has little effect on the interior of the curds. It would take a much higher temp than the ‘cooking’ temp to affect that.
The ideal method is to use the whey that was drained, adding a small amount of salt, even better.
No,
1- u should use whey with pH same as the cheese, because after few hours the whey pH would be 4.7 and the cheese pH 5.2, u need to diluted the drained whey with water to get the correct pH number.
2- immersion to help to heat the outer wheel to be repressed to achieve close rind is totally different story (this is ok) but immersing cruds chunks will increase water content and wash off the remaining lactose
U r probably right, as this is my first cheddar and I don’t have a pH meter (still), I’ll have to be patient for at least 3 months and report again about this adventure.
U r probably right, as this is my first cheddar and I don’t have a pH meter (still), I’ll have to be patient for at least 3 months and report again about this adventure.
Now Sandor let us be back to ur original problem… what Rich said above about fix the mold body is a great idea, but with my mold does not have this feature but this never happen to me.. your problem is that u did not use cheese cloth .... am i correct?
cheese cloth will hold the curds and not let them escape under the mold when u press it
By the way, i liked the calculator, pens and note book picture, and the way u calculated the 50# force by using lever math
You are so dam right, I tried to play the wise guy. After I saw the beautiful wheel, I was sure it will be OK. So I’ve learned a good lesson. I wish this to be everyone’s biggest disaster in life , and everything else to be the best.
your problem is that u did not use cheese cloth .... am i correct?
cheese cloth will hold the curds and not let them escape under the mold when u press it
Not so, Nabil. I had a Monterey Jack come out of the bottom of my press, and it WAS in a cheese cloth. The cloth actually split open and the curd spilled out under the edge of the mold.
, and everything else to be the best.