Sunday
Linda
Sonny and I were up until after 11pm on Friday night making cheese. Earlier in the day we had stopped over at Two Lynne’s Farm to get a little ojt on cheese making. They were kind of enough to allow us to borrow the ingredients and utensils needed to make a round of colby cheese. The cheese press Sonny had ordered on line had already arrived in the mail and we were excited to try it out.
Cheese press
We started the cheese making process sometime after six in the evening. The key word here is process. There are various steps involved in which the milk must reach and maintain a specific temperature. Once the cheese is placed in the press it is left with twenty pounds of pressure for 12 hours, then it is flipped and pressed for another 12 hours at twenty pounds pressure. This morning we removed the cheese from the press and it must air dry for several days.
Cheese ready to air dry
After air drying we will then dip it in wax. It will then have to cure for about three to four months being turned every week until it reaches maturity. So in about four months we will let you know how it turned out. Hopefully we did everything right and it has a recognizable taste.
Most people know colby as an orange cheese but all cheese is white until a coloring is added. I see no reason to add color and it will taste just the same. Who knows maybe we’ll tackle some cheddar next time.
Off-Grid in West Virginia 
wow, interesting. Would you all consider selling any. Sounds like a lot of time and work though.
If only I knew that I could of made my own cheese, i would of went off the grid a lot sooner. I think that is where I got all my belly fat. I love cheese, but I had to lay off the stuff a couple of years ago.
That’s what I keep telling myself. Moderation.
Haha Sonny, unfortunately i’m a very addictive person, moderation is hard for me. I usually go full bore. That is why I had to give up alcohol.
Your cheese looks like it will be good. hope i manage to get a bite. Thanks for the card Linda , that was good work and very thoughtful.
You are certainly welcome. Hope you enjoyed it . I am sure you will get a taste of cheese at some point. We like to share especially if it tastes good.
We have already ordered more supplies. We plan to get a couple more presses and waxed soon.
I know it has been a number of years since this post, but do you remember who you purchased the cheese press from? By the way how did the cheese taste?
I really can’t remember where I got the cheese press from. Got it from someone online though. It was a homemade job that used a piece of 4″ PVC pipe and some all thread and wood. Bet if you googled around for a homemade cheese press there would be plenty.
Now for us the cheese didn’t work out. Our error was with ensuring the temps were accurate. The thermometer we used were not scaled low enough to get the type of accurate readings that should have been checking.
We still waxed and aged the Colby cheese for 3 months and turned it every few days but it was bitter and not smooth. I couldn’t even get Linda to taste it.