Derby — traditional milk method
Turned and stacked Derby curd, made from ordinary whole milk. 10 L milk. Shared calculations and pH notes.
- Milk
- 10 L milk
- Make
- about 1–2 days
- Salt at
- before moulding
- Affinage
- 9–12 weeks, 10–12.8 °C
Ingredients
- Already-pasteurised whole milkOrdinary whole milk, not UHT.
- 10 L
- Mesophilic DVI blendMesophilic DVI blend; source does not identify exact strain or activity.
- manufacturer dose for
10 L milk - Rennet, 200 IMCU/mLSource liquid strength unspecified, assumed 200
- 3 mL
- Cheese saltSource fixed salt mass conflicts with its stated curd percentage; use the weighed-curd percentage.
- 1.79% actual curd
weight
| Stage | Time | °C | pH | Do | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Milk | |||||
| Pasteurise | Skip for this cheese | Use already-pasteurised milk; this heating stage is skipped. | |||
| Culture | until smooth | 21.1 | ≈6.6predicted, milk | Warm 10 L whole milk to 21.1 °C and add the labelled dose of mesophilic starter for 10 L milk. | Source nominal batch is 26 L, but liquid ingredients sum to 25.35 L before powder. Ingredient amounts are scaled by 10/26; final volume remains approximate. |
| Ripen | until rennet ready | 28.9 | ≈6.5predicted, milk | Raise slowly to 28.9 °C and allow the starter to acidify. | 45 min is a modelling assumption. Source TA 0.19% does not by itself establish pH. |
| Rennet | 47.5 min or clean break | 28.9 | ≈6.4predicted, curd | Dilute rennet just before use; stir up/down 30 s, still milk and cover. | |
| Curd | |||||
| Cut and rest | 5 min rest | 28.9 | ≈6.4predicted, curd | Cut to 13 mm cubes; allow cut faces to heal without stirring. | |
| Scald | 45–50 min | 32.5 | ≈6.1predicted, curd | Heat gradually to 33.3–35.6 °C over 45–50 min, stirring until curd is firm. | |
| Pitch | until settled | 34.5 | ≈6.0predicted, curd | Allow curds to settle, then run off the whey. | 5 min is a model assumption. Unsupported source TA-to-pH conversions are excluded. |
| Stir | Skip for this cheese | ||||
| Shape | |||||
| Drain and form | until texture / acidity | 34 | ≈5.5predicted, curd | Cut the curd into blocks, turn and pile every 15–20 min until ready to mill. | 1.5 h is a model assumption. Source TA 0.45–0.50% cannot be converted directly to pH. |
| Mill | 5 min | 32 | ≈5.5predicted, curd | Break the curd coarsely. | |
| Salt | mix | 32 | ≈5.5predicted, curd | Weigh drained curd and mix in salt at 1.79% of actual curd weight. | Use curd percentage rather than the source’s inconsistent fixed salt amount. |
| Press | 18 h / closure | 22 | ≈5.1predicted, curd | Press at the source’s evening load of 25–35 times wheel weight, then 50–70 times until morning. | These are unusually high source load multiples. Check press and mould capacity and drainage before applying; they are not a generic home press recommendation. |
| Cave | |||||
| Affinage | 9–12 weeks | 11.4 | ≈5.1make-end baseline; recheck during aging | Mature at 10–12.8 °C for 9–12 weeks; turn daily. | Source humidity is absent; 85% RH is a house assumption. |
Source and cheese-specific notes
British Territorials Recipes.txt — Derby — standardised milk blend
Adapted for 10 L ordinary milk. Starter and additive doses below use this actual milk volume. Retain the measured pH and curd-texture endpoints; make times remain guides.
The source TA-to-pH mapping is internally inconsistent (pH rises after acidification); those conversions are excluded as model anchors.
Source fixed salt 155–175 g at 1.79% implies 8.7–9.8 kg curd from 26 L, an implausible yield. This version uses the actual drained-curd percentage.
Nominal source formulation is 26 L; liquid components alone sum to 25.35 L before powder. Quantities scale by 10/26 and are not an exact final-volume claim.
≈ marks an illustrative prediction. Source targets and recorded readings are labelled separately; recorded readings are historical context, not targets for a new batch. Use a calibrated meter and the correct sample medium. Read the shared method and assumptions.