Colby Cheese Recipe

1 / 2

When learning how to make Colby Cheese, it is not necessary, but it is traditional, to color it yellow.

Photo courtesy Hoegger Supply, Inc.

2 / 2

"A Cheesemaker’s Journey" is intended to be just that — a journey. Based on 35 years of experience making cheese, teaching classes across the country, and working with other cheesemakers, Mary Jane Toth makes it easy to be successful making cheese in your own home.

Cover courtesy Hoegger Supply, Inc.

1 Block of Colby Cheese SERVINGS

Directions

• Warm milk to 86 degrees Fahrenheit in vat or pot. Sprinkle 1/8 teaspoon DVI Mesophilic Culture over the milk, stir well with long, slotted spoon, and let sit to ripen for 45 minutes. Keep the curds at 86 degrees by putting the pot in a sink of warm water or using a stove-top cheese vat.Optional: Add cheese coloring by mixing 1/8 teaspoon cheese color with 1/4 cup coolwater and stir both into the milk.Place 1 teaspoon liquid rennet into 1/2 cup cool water. Stir this combination into the milk mixture. Cover and allow milk to sit for 1 hour to coagulate the curds. Keep the curds at 86 degrees during this time.After 1 hour, the curds should be firm enough to cut.Cut into 1/2-inch cubes with the long knife, and let rest for 10 minutes. Slowly bring the curds up to 100 degrees by adding hot water to the sink or applying heat to your stove-topcheese vat. Once the curds have reached 100 degrees, hold at this temperature for 30 minutes.Gently stir every 5 minutes to shrink the curds and keep from matting (sticking) together. The curds should be firm to the touch and no longer have a custard-like interior.Drain off the whey to the point where the curd just shows. Stir curds while adding cool tap water until the temperature of the curds is 80 degrees. When the curds have reachedthat temperature, maintain it for 20 minutes. Stir often to keep the curds from matting(sticking) together.Drain the curds in a cloth-lined colander for 20 minutes. Place back in the pot and stir in 3 teaspoons of cheese salt. Mix well, and then scoop the curds into a cloth-lined cheese press. Fold over the extra cheesecloth, place a follower on top, and press the cheese at 20 lbs. pressure for 30 minutes.Remove from the press, and turn over onto a clean cloth. Put the curds back into thepress, and press at 30 lbs. pressure for 30 minutes.Remove from the press, turn over again, redress, and press overnight at 30 lbs. pressure.Remove from the press and let the cheese air dry for several days, or until the cheese feels dry to the touch. Turn often so that all sides of the cheese are exposed to the air. Wax the outside of the cheese by dipping several times into hot wax, until you havebuilt up 5 to 7 layers. Age at 50-60 degrees for 2 to 3 months. Turn the cheese several timeseach week during the aging process.Reprinted with permission from A Cheesemaker's Journey: A practice guide to beginning and improving cheesemaking at home written by Mary Jane Toth and published by Hoegger Supply, Inc., 2012.