Curd Nerds rejoice! I have made another cheese video tutorial.
It has been a while since I put a cheese-making video together, so as I was making mozzarella on last night for pizzas in the Cob oven tonight, I thought I should document it. It took just over 45 minutes to make due to filming every step, but it worked out well.
If you would like the full recipe, then visit my post titled "30 Minute Mozzarella". It is so easy to make, and tastes delicious! Mozzarella is a great cheese to start with if you are thinking about embarking on the wonderful world of cheese-making.
Finally I have finished processing the Romano video that I took over a month ago. I follow the recipe that is listed at the post titled "Romano". In this video, I am using raw milk which was given to me by a friend. I have done some research regarding food laws here in Australia, and it is quite legal to make Romano, Parmesan and Gruyere with raw milk as long as you follow some guide lines. More on that in another post though.
Here is the long awaited video tutorial. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did making it (the cheese and the video)!
I was busily making Romano on Friday night with the milk that Kate sold me, and was left with this wonderful creamy whey. Now, I didn't want it to go to waste, so I looked up the recipe for Whey Ricotta, as I knew that it would go down a treat in Sunday nights Lasagne!
Anyway, the process for this cheese is very simple, and I caught it all on video for all to see. I hope you enjoy one of my cheese making video tutorials.
Time for another cheese tutorial. I first made this cheese a few years back, and I love its sharp and peppery flavour.
This is a cows milk variety of Ossau-Iraty (normally made from sheeps milk) which is quite acceptable, and originates from south west France.
Ingredients:
8 litres full cream milk, at least 3.4% fat
1 quarter teaspoon direct set Mesophilic starter culture
2.5 ml Rennet mixed with 60 ml unclorinated water
2.5 ml Calcium Chloride mixed with 60 ml unclorinated water
1 Tablespoon of cheese salt (non-ionised salt)
1 Tablespoon of green peppercorns
1 half cup of water
Procedure:
As usual I set up all the utensils and ingredients before I begin, then I sterilise everything in water in the 8 litre pot for 15 minutes.
Boil, then simmer the peppercorns in the water for 15 minutes. Strain the peppercorns, retain the water.
Heat the milk to 32C (90F). Add the pepper water, then add the starter culture, stir, maintain the target temp for 45 minutes. Add the diluted calcium chloride and stir for 1 minutes.
Add the rennet to the milk, stir top to bottom for 1 minute. Cover and set aside for 45 minutes.
Test for a clean break, then using a curd knife, cut the curd into 1 cm cubes (half an inch).
Gently raise the temperature to 38C (100F). This should take about 30 minutes. Gently stir whilst raising the temp.
Once target temp is reached, cover for 5 minutes, then pour into a colander lined with cheesecloth. Tie up the curds into a ball and let them hang from a long spoon resting on the edges of a large pot to drain for one hour.
After an hour the ball will be firm and moist, but not hard.
Mill the curds into thumbnail sized pieces them mix through the salt and the peppercorns with your fingers. Transfer to the 1kg mould, fold the cloth over and put the follower on top. Press lightly, about 2.5 kg (5lb) for 30 minutes. Remove, turn over and repress at 5kg (10lb) for 15 minutes. Turn again and repress at 10kg (20lb) for 12 hours. Remove, turn, and repress for a last time at 10kg for 12 hours.
Remove cheese from the mould and cloth, and let air dry on a wooden board. This may take from 3 to 5 days. Be sure to turn the cheese a few times a day so that it dries evenly.
Once your cheese has developed a rind, ripen at 13C (55F), and 80-85% humidity, from 4 to 6 months.
I prefer to wax the cheese once the rind has developed, because from experience, this cheese dries out too quickly. Try it at 4 months as it is very tasty at this stage, however it gets sharper with age.
I love this cheese. As I mentioned in the previous post Stilton, a type of blue cheese that hails from England, just has it all. So creamy, and smooth with that unbelievable blue vein flavour.
This is the fourth time I have make this cheese, and it just gets better and better as I learn how to make it. I am now confident with my method that I am able to share it with you all.
Please enjoy my Stilton video tutorial on how to make Stilton cheese.
A good blue cheese, a nice red wine and great friends is all anyone could ask for!
After a request from Annet who was looking for more information about Feta, I knew that I could fulfil the request easily. She was disappointed at the diminishing quality of commercially made cheese. What better way to overcome that issue, by making your own Feta!
Feta (Greek: φέτα) is a brined curd cheese traditionally made in Greece. Feta is an aged crumbly cheese, commonly produced in blocks, and has a slightly grainy texture. It is used as a table cheese, as well as in salads (e.g the Greek salad), pastries and in baking. It can also be served cooked or grilled, as part of a sandwich or as a salty alternative to other cheeses in a variety of dishes.
Now what are you waiting for? Get some milk and get cracking!
Just so you know exactly what I put in it, here is the ingredient list that I used.
Feta:
4 litres full cream milk (1 gallon)
1/4 teaspoon of lipase diluted in 60ml (quarter of a cup) of non-chlorinate water
2.5 gm direct set mesophilic culture
2.5 ml rennet diluted in 60ml of non-chlorinated water
2.5 ml calcium chloride diluted in 60ml of non chlorinate water (if milk is homogenised)
Brine:
2 litres water (boiled)
1/3 cup salt
1/3 cup white vinegar
3 drops calcium chloride
Boil brine for 5 minutes then cool to room temperature before adding finished cheese.
Of late, I have been cheesing up a storm. Every Friday night for the last month, I have made large (14 litre) batches of a single recipe. It seems to definately the way to go, because with all the same equipment, I can make two rounds of cheese instead of one!
Tomorrow night, I intend on making Caerphilly. Caerphilly is one of my favourite cheeses to make. It is relatively quick to make, only takes 3 and a half hours from milk to mould, and you can eat it in only three short weeks. I wrote about the method in the last post, so I thought I would follow that up with the video tutorial due to the fact that I said I would, and that Melinda asked this question;
Hi Gavin, could you clarify a couple of things for me please?
How do you "Let mixture sit for forty minutes at the target temperature" Is that a constant reheating to keep it at that temp? If this is the case, that would mean that the mix is constantly dropping a couple of degrees, then being warmed up agian. Or is there an easy way to do this? I'm assuming that you can't just walk away from the cheesemaking while it's resting?
"until you get a clean break" What is a clean break? Would you be able to show this in a photo or video please?
To specifically answer your first question, you will find that if you use my double boiler method the milk stays a constant temperature when at rest. It takes a little practice, but as soon as the milk reaches the target temp, turn the heat off, and keep the cheese pot on the smaller saucepan. The heat from the water in the lower pan keeps the milk at about 30-33C. You can definately walk away, as I do when I make long ripening cheeses like Camembert (90 minute wait for the curd to set), however I check with the thermometer at about the half way mark just to make sure. You should get a better idea from the video. The second question will be answered in the video as well. May I also recommend that you purchase one of the cheese books that I reviewed recently? It has all of the introduction to cheesemaking info you will ever need. The authors do a much better job of describing the ins and outs of the methodology than I could do justice to.
Anyway, I hope you all enjoy the video, but I must warn you that it was the first one I ever made. The photography was a bit wobbly, and I invested in a tripod very soon after!
If you have any questions please leave a comment and I will endeavour to answer it. The recipe for this cheese is located at this post titled, "Caerphilly" if you are interested in trying to make it. It is relatively quick to make and only takes 3 and a half hours from milk to mould, and you can eat it in only three short weeks. Also, and most importantly, it tastes divine. Unless you live in the UK, it would be very rare to find this cheese in the shops.
Enjoy! Blessed are the Cheese Makers, or so Monty Python says!
