Colby

Colby is cheddar’s unmatted cousin, not a milder cheddar and not a color. 21 CFR 133.118: not more than 40 percent moisture; solids not less than 50 percent milkfat ¹. Cheddar identity is 39 percent moisture maximum at the same fat-in-solids floor ². One point of water is not the interesting difference. The vat is.

Cheddar identity mats the drained curd into slabs, piles them to drain and develop acidity, then mills and salts ². Colby identity: after the curd is cut, stirred, and heated, a part of the whey is drained off, and the curd is cooled by adding water, the stirring being continued so as to prevent the pieces of curd from matting. Then drain, salt, stir, drain further, and press ¹. Water in the vat rinses lactose and drops temperature so acid slows. Keeping the pieces from matting leaves a more open, moist paste. That is why Colby is usually eaten younger and milder than a cheddar taken to the same calendar. See Curd and Coagulation.

If the milk used is not pasteurized, the cheese is cured at not less than 35 °F for not less than 60 days ¹. Same legal floor as cheddar, same meaning: a curing condition for that standardized food, not a flavor guarantee and not a home license. See Food safety and Raw-milk cheese.

Optional coloring, calcium chloride at not more than 0.02 percent of the milk, and a brief hydrogen peroxide/catalase treatment as provided in the cheddar section are in the standard ¹. Color is still not doneness. Pressing is Pressing cheese. Salt is Salting cheese. FAO’s four stages still apply ³. CDR’s composition warning still applies if someone tries to age a wet Colby as if it were a sharp cheddar: moisture, fat, pH, and salt at the end of the vat set the trajectory ⁴.

What to notice #

Paste: springy, slightly open, moist, mild lactic. It should slice without the dry fracture of a long cheddar. Orange dye, if present, is coloring allowed by the standard. “Colby-Jack” is a separate commercial naming question. See Cheese.