How to Make English Coulommiers

The English Coulommiers is a fresh, soft and spreadable cheese that unlike its French cousin, is not mould ripened.

In this recipe, you can substitute in Aromatic Mesophilic in lieu of Mesophilic to achieve a more buttery texture. It only matures for 2 days in the fridge to achieve the desired flavour. Use within 2 weeks.

English Coulimmers (aka English Farmhouse Cheese)

INGREDIENTS

• 10 Litres (10 qt) Full Cream Cow’s Milk, preferably pasteurised/unhomogenised.
• ¼ teaspoon (Tad) Mesophilic Starter Culture (I used MO30 by Sacco)
• 1.5 ml (¼ tsp) Calcium Chloride in ¼ cup non-chlorinated water
• 1.5 ml (¼ tsp) Liquid Rennet in ¼ cup non-chlorinate water
• Cheese Salt

EQUIPMENT

• 6 Camembert Hoops
• Cheese drying mat or Bamboo mat
• Ripening Box
• Dairy Thermometer
• Stainless Steel Ladle
• Stainless Steel Stirring Spoon
• Mini measuring spoons (for cultures)

METHOD

ADDING INGREDIENTS

1. Sanitise all of your equipment.
2. Heat milk to 32°C/90°F. Turn off heat.
3. Sprinkle Mesophilic starter culture over the surface of the milk and allow to rehydrate for 5 minutes. Stir culture through milk using an up and down motion for 1 minute.
4. Add Calcium Chloride and mix thoroughly.
5. Add Rennet solution and stir for 1 minute. Cover and allow to set for 1 hour and 15 minutes.
6. Check for a clean break. If necessary, wait another 10-15 minutes then test again.

CUTTING THE CURD

1. Cut the curd into large vertical squares.  Move pot over to draining area.

PRESSING AND Salting THE CHEESE

1. Using Skimmer or Ladle, place thin slices of the curd into the 6 moulds or hoops.  This may take up to 6 hours, but don’t be tempted to add more hoops.  The curd will fit.
2. Once filled, let drain for 12 hours.  Flip each cheese top to bottom and allow to drain for another 12 hours.
3. Unmould each cheese and sprinkle ½ teaspoon of cheese salt on the top and bottom surface of each cheese.

AIR DRYING AND MATURATION

1. Place each cheese on a cheese mat in the ripening box and ripen for 2 days at 4°C/42°F and 80-90% humidity.  The kitchen fridge will be fine for this cheese.
2. Drain any collected whey daily and wipe the box dry with paper towel.
3. Eat and enjoy!  You can wrap each cheese in foil to store in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

Coulommiers is French for columns, and the regular mould is two stainless steel hoops with the top hoop fitting into the bottom one, standing 15.25 cm (6 inches) tall and 10cm (4 inches) wide. They are filled with curd and once it sinks below the level of the top hoop, it is removed and the bottom hoop is flipped.

As you can see, I substituted Camembert hoops/baskets, which were perfectly fine for this cheese, with a bit more patience for refilling every hour for six hours until all the curd was used.

If you are interested in making this cheese, I recommend our Camembert Kit (plus two more moulds).  You will then have enough equipment and ingredients to make this cheese.  The added bonus is that once you’ve made this simple cheese, you can then advance to making Camembert which has a similar process!