Cheese making

Libby

I just had a look at the link Lloyd gave us for Somerset Lads cheese, we will need, rennet and penicillen roqufortii any idea where we get these?

Have you done this before Lloyd?

lloyd

Not done it before, but I've seen lots of articles on it and would love to have a go.

A quick Googleing got me this one, which looks quite involved. I'm sure SL's and Leonie's methods were much simpler?

Making Cheese - Cheddar Cheese
by Katie Thear
This hard cheese is one of the great cheeses of the world. It is usually made with cow’s milk, but I frequently made it from goat’s milk. Goat and ewe’s milk both produce a slightly softer curd than cow’s milk, and they require slightly reduced temperatures. The curds from these milks also need slightly less pressing.

Sterilise all the equipment in hot water and ensure that the room is not subject to cold draughts. Give yourself plenty of time, without the possibility of interruptions.

Ingredients
This makes approximately 0.5kg (1lb) of Cheddar. The final weight will vary depending on the type of milk. For a larger quantity, adjust the ingredients accordingly. It should be pointed out that it is far more economical to make a larger quantity than the one stated here because it takes just as long to make a small cheese as a larger one.

5 litres (1gallon) full cream milk
1 litre (1.7pints) additional cream (optional)
5ml (1 teaspoon) liquid starter or 5ml DVI dry starter (or half a cup of live yoghurt/live buttermilk although this is not as reliable as a commercial starter)
3ml (half teaspoon) rennet
10g salt
Method
Pasteurisation: Pasteurise the milk to destroy unwanted bacteria. To avoid damaging the subsequent curd, this is normally 66 OC held for 30 minutes. Cool to 21 OC.

Starter:Stir in the starter and leave the milk, covered in a warm place for about an hour so that it can acidify. Don’t leave it for much longer than this otherwise the cheese may be too dry and crumbly.

Rennet: Increase the temperature to 28 OC for goat or ewe’s milk, or to 30 OC for cow’s milk. Mix the rennet with two teaspoonfuls of previously boiled and cooled water and then stir it in. Give it another stir 5 minutes later to stop the cream collecting at the top. Cover the container and then leave the milk to set in a warm place.

Setting: (Coagulating): The curd is normally ready when it is firm to the touch, gives slightly and does not leave a milk stain on the back of the finger. Note that with vegetarian rennet, setting takes longer than with animal rennet. It also takes longer in a cooler environment.

Cutting the curd: This is where the curd is cut in order to release the liquid whey. Cut down into the curd, from top to bottom one way then cut it at right angles to form square columns. The curd is then loosened from around the walls of the pan. Unless a curd knife is available to make horizontal cuts, a palette knife can used to make diagonal cuts to break up the curd into pieces that are approximately pea-sized. Stir gently with the hand for a couple of minutes.

Scalding: Sometimes referred to as cooking, this is where the temperature of the curds and whey is raised slowly while occasional stirring of the curds takes place by hand. Gradually increase the temperature to 38 OC over the next 30-40 minutes.

Pitching: This is the process of giving the whey a final, circular stir so that it whirls round. The curds then gradually sink to the bottom and collect at a central point. Turn off the heat and leave the pan until all movement has ceased in the liquid.

Running the whey: Ladle out as much of the liquid whey as possible, then place a previously sterilised cloth over a stainless steel bucket or large basin and tip in the curds. Make the cloth into a bundle by winding one corner around the other three. This is called a Stilton knot. Place the bundle on a tray which is tilted at an angle to let the whey drain away. Leave for about 15 minutes.

Stacking or cheddaring (Texturing):Untie the bundle and the curds will be seen to have formed into a mass. Cut this into four slices and place one on top of the other then cover with the cloth. After about fifteen minutes place the outer slices of the curd on the inside of the stack, and vice versa. Repeat this process several times until the curd resembles the texture of cooked breast of chicken when it is broken open.

Milling: This is the process of cutting the curd into pea-sized pieces. Traditionally a curd mill was used for this, but it is easy to do it by hand.

Salting: Sprinkle 10g salt onto the milled curds. rolling them gently without breaking them further.

Moulding: This is the process of lining the cheese mould from the press with previously boiled cheesecloth and adding the curd until the mould is full. The corner of the cloth is then folded over the top of the cheese and it is ready for pressing.

Pressing: Once in the mould the curds have a wooden ‘follower’ placed on top so that when the mould is put into the press there is a surface on which to exert an even pressure.

Pressing cheese is essentially a process of compacting the curds while extracting the liquid whey. For the first hour, apply a light pressure so that the fats are not lost with the whey then increase it to the maximum and leave until the following day.

Next day, remove the cheese from the press, replace the cloth with a clean one and put the cheese back in the mould, upside down, and press for another 24 hours.

Drying: Remove the cheese from the press and cloth and dip it in hot water (66 OC) for one minute in order to consolidate and smooth the surface. Place it in a protected area at a temperature of 18-21 OC and leave it to dry for a day or two until a rind begins to form.

Sealing: Once the rind has formed the cheese can be sealed to prevent it becoming unduly desiccated while it is maturing. Large cheeses are sometimes bandaged but it is much easier to use cheese wax that is available from specialist suppliers.

Using a water bath, heat the wax in a pan and stir it to ensure that it is melting evenly.

Do not leave the pan unattended in case of fire! Dip the cheese into the liquid wax and coat thoroughly. It sets quickly, so rotate the cheese so that the area where your fingers are touching can also be coated. If preferred, you can paint on the wax with a paintbrush but this will probably need two coats.

Maturing: The last stage is often the all-important one. A cheese, which is tasteless and bland when freshly made, is full of flavour and body after its proper ripening period.

Leave to mature in a cool, dry place at 8 – 11 OC where it should be turned daily for the first three weeks, then on alternate days after that. For a large mild cheese, ripening should take place for at least three months. A longer period of ripening produces a more mature cheese. Smaller cheeses are usually ready after a month.

© Copyright Katie Thear 2006

agapanthus

So pretty easy then Confused

Aqui

Lloyd - you've put me off cheese making now!

lloyd

Here's SL's much easier method:

http://thepottingshed.myfreeforum.org/about1838.html&highlight=

Libby

I would like to have a go, my only problem being the storage of it as he says it needs to be humid and thats one thing my house is not Confused

lloyd

A houseplant sprayer would keep the cloths damp?

Pilsbury

chedder is the most complicated type of cheese to make in my opinion with its sacking and turning, a soft garlic and herb cheese like Borsin can be done in 1/2 a day and tastes fantastic, still not got the hang of hard cheeses as keeping the temp stable has been my problem but I have got an excaliber dehydrator now and with the shelves removed it becomes a big heated box with thermastat control so am going to give it another go.

lloyd

Yay!

Was hoping you'd be along Tony.

Got a method etc for the Boursin type, mate?

Pilsbury

ummm now let me see, I have it in a book somwhere but I havent made it in a while, let me hunt it out but its basically warm the milk and add the rennet and starter and allow to come to a clean break then slice the curds and warm gently for 10 mins, pour into a colinder lined with a clean strerile chese cloth and drain for 2-3 hours, turn into a bowl, add minced garlic and fresh chopped herbs and salt if you like( I always like to add 1/2 tspoon of salt to help the flavour) then return to the cheese cloth and hang above a sink or bowl until needed, the longer it hangs the firmer it gets but unless you press it it will stay a soft curd cheese, keeps for 3 days in a tub in a fridge if it lasts that long.
Starter can be natural yoghart if you like

lloyd

Nice one mate, standin by for the full deal. How could we extend it's lifespan in the fridge?....Just add more salt?

Pilsbury

well I say 3 days cos then no one can sue me but it should be ok for nearly a week if it needs to, some of mine has Embarassed

, i just use the sniff test as its only milk after all

Aqui

That sounds better.

And J loves cheese spread!

Libby

So do I

Where do you get rennet from then?

lloyd

Holland and Barrett or any health food shop. Wink

Libby

well in that case I think I may have to have a go at the boursin type. I'm off to Devizes tomorrow so will pop into the Health Food shop there and see if they sell it Very Happy

Pilsbury can you give us the full recipe please Very Happy

alison

The sell vegren in Tesco / sainsburys, near the baking stuff

Libby

blast forgot to get it, so will keep my eye open at the supermarket!

lloyd

Correcting my previous post, it seems Holland and Barrett DONT sell rennett. Embarassed

Kathy

I got vegetarian rennet from Sainsburys, it's still in my cupboard, no doubt past it's sell by date! Embarassed

Pilsbury

OK this is the recipe for the soft cheese that Ascott sent with the cheese set I bought from them.

2.5 litres milk
1 dessert spoon starter
2 drops of rennet

1) gently warm the milk to 32c
2) pour the milk into a sterile bowl and add the starter and mix well
3) in a clean cup mix 2 drops of rennet with cooled boiled water and add to the milk and starter mix
4) top stir until it starts to set ( stir gently at the surface )
5) leave for about2 hours and test for a clean break, your finger will come out clean from the curds
6) cut the curds and place the bowl over a pan of warm water to gently heat the curds, after a few mins the curds will start to sink and the wehy will rise to the surface, ladle off as much as you can without disturbing the curds.
7)using a perforated spoon gently lift the curds out of the bowl and place into a colinder lined with a sterile cheesecloth or muslin ( a new Jcloth works as well)
8 ) allow to drain for a couple of hours, if you want to add garlic, herbs and salt then place back into a clean bowl and gently fold in, the adition of salt will help release more whey.
9) place back into the cheesecloth and gather the corners together and tie together, this will alow you to hang the cheese up over a container to continue to drain, the longer it drains the dryer and firmer the cheese will be .
10) when you are happy with the texture place into a fridge, as it cools the whey will stop being relised and the chese will stabalise.
11) some whey will still leak out but this can just be pored away and the cheese eaten as you want.

the Ascott leaflet says the cheese can be frozen or stored in the fridge for 2 weeks Shocked

but is good eaten straight away.

hope this helps

Libby

Wow! that seems relatively easy, definately going to give it a go! Thank you so much Pilsbury Laughing

Aqui

That does sound a lot easier.

Do you know roughly how much it makes? Can you use goat milk instead?

Pilsbury

the book I have says its pretty much the same for goats cheese but it will take longer to set and might not be as firm, more like thick yoghurt than a clean break and overnight to set up in a draught free spot with a clean cloth over the top of the bowl at about 20c but I have never tried it

Jacky

I found this while trying to find my home-made yogurt receipe!

Paneer

1. Boil milk in a big pan.
2. When full boil is reached reduce the heat (quickly!). Before foam subsides completely add lemon juice, and stir slowly in one direction. You should start seeing the formation of curds if you've added enough lemon. Remove pan from heat and agitate the pan for a while. If the curds are not well formed and separated from the yellow whey put back on the heat and add a bit more lemon.
3. Set aside to let the cheese settle, lidded, for ten minutes.
4. Line a colander with muslin or tea towel etc. Remove the large curds with a slotted spoon, then gently pour the rest in. Pull the sides up and twist at the top. Hold the ball under running tap of warmish water to cool, then give it a squeeze and leave to hang for 2-3 hrs. (A mixer tap is a good place). You can also leave ,wrapped, in the colander with a bowl of water on top of the cheese (and a plate underneath). This should cut the draining time to an hour or so dependant on quantity.

Amounts etc:
1 litre of milk needs approx 1.5tbs fresh lemon juice (I use bottled for this which seems to need more.) You can use citric acid- will post info if anyone uses this) 1ltr should give approx 4oz or 115g cheese. Its not much. You can do as much milk as you've room for boiling in the pan. Full fat milk is best, but I've used semi skimmed before too. As with yogurt making everything must be really clean.

Never made it, but thought it might be useful. Smile

Pilsbury

this is an indian cheese that a couple of my catering assistants make reguarly, you can use lemon juice or vinigar and it can be pressed to make firm slabs of cheeses as well, then it can used a bit like halumi (sp) chese and can be grilled and eaten hot and is used in a curry with peas that is popular.

Jacky

Thank you Pilsbury, I wondered what sort of cheese it was Very Happy

Libby

are you going to have a go at making some Jacky?

lloyd

so are we doing a cheese making forum challenge then, or what?

Cabbagepatch

I a sulking. Pilsbury has the Ascott cheesemaking kit that I've been coveting for several years now Twisted Evil

Libby

Jacky

I wouldn't mind having a go ... just finding the time, which I know is a poor excuse but ....... Wink

How about making it the February challenge but Lloyd you do need to complete the January one first Twisted Evil

Perhaps not you might get me chopping up trees or something needing muscles Laughing

Kathy

I think I've got a soft cheese making thingy in the pantry, someone gave me a box of stuff that I've never had time to check properly. Embarassed

I'll check it today, see what's there and will pass it on if it's any use. Smile

lloyd

Wait till Cabbage learns of that............................... Shocked

Anyway, I think the January challenge should be to source our own free food and eat it. Cool

Libby

Jacky

I thought the January challenge was knitting the dish cloth Wink

Lizzie

Libby

Aqui

I think free food would definiately be challenging in January. Short of raiding the bin behind tescos that is...

Kathy

Some people do that Aqui, there's a group called Freegans. Here's a link to a post on the forum with photos of someone's "finds." Interesting and disgraceful at the same time. http://uksr.net/forum/index.php?topic=11.0

Kathy

To get back on topic..................cheese!
I've had a rummage in the box and what I have is a Devabridge yoghurt and cream cheese kit. You make the yoghurt then turn it into cream cheese, no electric needed. The instructions are all there, the only thing that's missing is the thermometer.
Cabbage, it's yours if you think it would be any use, it's not a fancy Ascot kit I'm afraid but I'll post photos if that would help?

Cabbagepatch

Yes please kathy, another pm coming up Very Happy