This is my fourth year making cheese, and I’ve been using the same recipes for Gouda, Jack, Colby and Cheddar for the last three years. Last year’s cheeses grew a lot of mold, but many had a fairly moist, smooth, almost creamy texture, and they melted.  This year;s cheeses have little mold but tend to be dry with a crumbly, gritty or grainy texture, and I think in many cases the flavor isn’t quite as good as last year’s; and they don’t melt very well.  I’m trying to figure out why.  Several possibilities come to mind.

I’ve been fiddling with the aging process.  Last year I aged waxed cheeses in our damp wellhouse/root cellar; the thermostat there was set to 40 F but sometimes it got considerably warmer.  The mold really frustrated me, so i bought a thermoelectric wine fridge to age cheeses in this year.  It’s at about 55 F; I don’t have a hydrometer, but I think it’s fairly moist, because new cheeses wouldn’t dry enough for waxing when kept in it. (Anyway some people tell me that humidity doesn’t matter once the cheeses are waxed, which mine are.) I turn the cheeses weekly. 

Our most productive milk goat has not had a kid since 2006, and I understand that the milk’s pH changes as the goat gets farther from lactation.

We improved our pressing system so that the cheeses were actually pressed at the full recommended weight more often than last year.

Would any of these changes be likely to cause drier, crumblier cheese? Any other ideas?  Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Sounds like u have an acid problem, the cheese ripening too fast. 55 sounds a bit high, 40 is fine. So probably a problem with regulation.

Barring any changes in your technique, it sounds like the temperature may be the greatest factor.  While 55 is the recommended temp for aging, your cheese will age more quickly than it would at 40.

Are you using the same starter culture?  What you have now may be more active than what you had last year.

I have also found that over stirring during cooking will cause a drier curd.  I’ve had to be especially careful with Jack cheese in this regard.

I expect Dave will mention the benefit of a pH meter at this point.

Are you having this problem with all your cheeses?

First of all, a smile at Rich.
He’s right, in my opinion dry, crumbly cheese is nearly always due to excessive acid production in the make.
This is something that I’ve battled from nearly day one and it’s only since I’ve been using a Ph meter that I’ve gotten rid of this problem.
Hitting the proper drain Ph marker, (usually about 6.1 - 6.2 for cheddar, Jack, Gouda, etc.), is the most important point and less so, the Ph marker at salting/hooping.
Rich does bring up a good point concerning your starter culture.
I’ve noticed that some starter is a slow acidifier while others are very very fast. For instance MA culture from the diary connection is one that I have a problem keeping up with. On the other hand their MM100 is extremely slow and it makes for a very stress free cheese making day.
I honestly can’t say this enough…...
When it comes to cheese making a Ph meter is just as important as a thermometer. Without knowing WHEN to do WHAT, during a make, you are simply making guesses. Of course with enough experience those guesses can turn out a very nice cheese but why chance it? Milk, cultures and enzymes are expensive and after waiting for 6 months I want to KNOW that I’ve made something that I can be proud of and that tastes good.
***getting off of the soapbox now******
As for the dry cheese you’ve made it can still be quite enjoyable.
I used to use it both in cooking and also made my own cheezits out of it. Simply put some pieces of the cheese on wax paper…...heat it in the microwave until it gets hard and crispy and enjoy a very good, low carb snack that tastes great.
I really don’t mean to be overly opinionated here, but I am a true believer when it comes to measuring acid production. Since I’ve been doing so I can honestly say that I know that when I make a certain cheese it will turn out. It might not be perfect every time but I’m yet to have a cheese be less than satisfying since I’ve been using my meter properly.
I sincerly hope that this information helps your cheese making. We are all learning as we go and probably will be until the day we die.

Best wishes to all…
Dave

Since Dave brought up the subject, another use for a dry cheese is grating.  I had a dry cheddar which yielded the best grated cheese for omelets etc.

Thanks all!  Yes, I’m having this problem (to varying degrees) with all my cheeses.  I’ve turned the cheese fridge temperature down.  I’m thinking about pH testing.  What meters do you use? What’s the price?  Have any of you tried the acid testing paper strips, and are they reliable?  Dave, you wrote about checking for pH at draining time—is pH the deciding factor there? I had thought the main issue was how much moisture the curds retained. I have increased hold times before draining sometimes, trying to get the curds to a point where they weren’t custardy in the middle.

Joanna…
Ph at drain is the most important marker in any make. If you drain at too high of a Ph the curd will hold too much moisture yet if you drain at too low of a Ph it will be difficult if not impossible to recover by the end of the make, leading to high acid cheese.
As for the type of meter I use….
I recently upgraded to an Extech Ph110 (price $100.00). Before that I used a Hanna Checker I (price less than $30.00). Both meters work well and can usually be found on Ebay for less than what I paid for mine.
Hope this helps.

Dave

After the circular cheese comes out of the press I take it out of its cheesecloth wrapping and replace that with new clean cheesecloth.  I leave it out of the fridge to dry and form a rind.  I place the round cheese(around 3.5inches diameter)on its rounded side on top of the fridge on a wooden board for 3 or 4 days.  That lets air get all round it through the wrapping.  Then the cheese is soon dry enough to wax.  After that it doesn’t matter too much what the temperature or humidity is within reason.

If I eat the cheese fresh it seems to keep unwaxed out of the fridge for some weeks, if kept in the cheesecloth.  Leave it too long and the rind gets too thick and molds may form on the surface(actually I don’t mind the molds…they can add to the flavour, but other people might not like it!)

Chris.

Hi Chris, and welcome to the Forum.  Your drying method sounds good.  I’m thinking it wouldn’t work quite so well for those of us that use larger molds, as the weight of the wheel would cause quite a bit of sagging.  Actually, I cover my drying wheels with cheesecloth also, but for a different reason.  I want to keep the occasional fly or gnat off my cheese!  Also, if you’re using raw milk, you probably shouldn’t be eating your cheese “fresh.”  One more thing:  you’re right about the humidity being of little consequence once the cheese is sealed.  But temperature will have an effect on the rate of aging; as the bacteria function differently at higher or lower temps.

Thanks for your input.  I’ll look forward to hearing more from you.

Thanks for the comment Rich.

Just to add that I do use pasteurized whole milk for making my cheese, not raw milk.  The reason for not allowing sale of immature cheese made from unpasteurized milk in the US seems to be to avoid the risk of infection with the tuberculosis bacterium.  I have read that milk will not naturally sour when pasteurized and has to have culture added, but this is definitely not the case.  The bacteria needed for souring seem to survive the process.  There would no doubt be a problem with sterilized or ultra heat-treated(UHT)milk though.  I use UHT milk for making yogurt at home, to which I add starter from the previous batch.  I found that ordinary pasteurized milk can lead to fizzy acidic yogurt.  Also I have a yogurt maker(similar to Easiyo) which requires room temperature milk plus starter to be added to the inner compartment and boiling water to the outside jacket.  It works like a dream with neither a thermostat nor electrical parts.  It is so easy to store UHT milk in quantity without needing to keep it chilled or frozen.  I get through a lot of yogurt!  The starter is renewed from time to time with organic natural yogurt.

Cheers,

Chris