Washing the Curds

Don't Cool Curds with Ice Cubes

Q. I use the Colby recipe you have in your recipe section. My biggest challenge with this cheese is getting the temperature of the whey down to under 80°F without it taking all day. I have begun adding an ice cube to the whey. This cools the whey to below 80°F rather quickly. Is there a problem with doing it this way?

A. For the cold wash, the ice cubes would be a bad idea because the temperature would be very inconsistent from place to place in the current mass. A better plan would be to chill the water being used with the ice. The idea is to use water at the proper temperature to reach 80°F when you add the appropriate amount.