What effect does temperature too high/too low have on cheese final product?
-higher temp result lower moisture and vise versa.
What is ideal Ph, and when do you measure it?
- there is no ideal pH, every cheese type has its own procedure (example (Haloumi and swiss are high in pH, Feta are low in pH and so).
What is the reason that some cheeses are solid (like jack cheese) and others are crumbly?
more acid (lower pH) result less moisture also, and more loss in minerals of the milk into the whey, which make it crumbly
cheddar is less, swiss is not at all (swiss and Haloumi are the highest in minirals) but haloumi higher in moisture.
usually pH test get place before renneting , during cooking, and after pressing (again depends on the cheese type)
Something else related to pH is that the warmer the aging room is, the lower the pH will run ultimately, from more bacterial action, whereas, the opposite is true from lower aging room temperatures. In fact, with some cheeses, if the drying/aging room temperature is too low, then enough acid will never be produced, and that can potentially lead to growth of unwanted bacteria in the cheese, and spoilage.
Something else related to pH is that the warmer the aging room is, the lower the pH will run ultimately, from more bacterial action, whereas, the opposite is true from lower aging room temperatures. In fact, with some cheeses, if the drying/aging room temperature is too low, then enough acid will never be produced, and that can potentially lead to growth of unwanted bacteria in the cheese, and spoilage.
And here in Michigan, it has been a terribly cool spring, rarely above 64 degrees F, so my room temp is really cool. Not good for the swiss. Wife put it into the oven with a pan of hot water to raise the temp some. Hopefully that will help. After two weeks very little eye making evidence.
Thats a good point for me to remeember 9mmruger, it is cooling down here and I want to make a swiss type this weekend, infact I am also waiting for a cool weekend (hopefully 31 May so I can go and learn to make Salami, my niece married into an Italian family and every year they get together and make a big batch of Salamis I have been invited to join in this year. Now cheese and Salimi DO go together
