Little Green Cheese

Cheese making at home with Gavin Webber the Cheeseman

Parmesan Cheese

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This well-known Italian cheese is one of my favourites and I have made it about 8 times, with each wheel being a success.  In fact, I try to make one about every 3 months to keep up with the constant supply necessary for our appetite for this strong, flavoursome cheese.  Parmesan cheese.

Parmesan cheese  is really called Parmigiano Reggiano, named after the two regions in Italy where it is made.  It is one of the world’s most famous grating cheeses.  Normal sized wheels of Parmigiano Reggiano weigh about 46 kg each, but this recipe is modified to make about 1 kg of this delicious cheese.

It certainly beats the crappy, smelly, powered cheese you can buy in those green containers!  Everyone in my family gives it a massive two thumbs up, and we eat it shaved or grated on many types of pasta dishes.

I have made a video tutorial for this cheese in two parts, so to get a feel for how I made it, sit back, relax and enjoy the show.

Part 1

Part 2

Parmesan Cheese

Ingredients:

  • Brine solution (1 litre water plus 2 tablespoons non-iodized salt, boiled for 5 minutes)
  • 4 litres full cream milk, at least 3.4% fat
  • 4 litres lite or semi skimmed milk, no more than 1.4% fat.
  • 1 quarter teaspoon direct set Thermophilic starter culture
  • 1 quarter teaspoon Lipase powder, mixed with 20 ml of unchlorinated water
  • 2.5 ml rennet mixed with 60 ml unchlorinated water
  • 2.5 ml Calcium Chloride mixed with 60 ml unchlorinated water

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.  People are often surprised to discover that it is made with low-fat milk (no more than 2.5% fat), because it has such an intense flavour.

Once sterilised, I put the big pot on a small saucepan of water to act as a double boiler.

Add the milk and alternate a litre of each type to so that it mixes well, and then bring the temperature up to 35°C.  Once at temperature, add the Thermophilic culture and mix well.  Cover and allow to sit for 15 minutes.

Add the Calcium Chloride and mix well.  Then add the Lipase mixture and stir for a minute.  Keeping the mixture at 35°C, add the Rennet mix and stir for at least 1 minute.  Remove from heat.  Cover and allow to set for 45 minutes.

When you get a clean break, cut the curd by using a balloon whisk.  Push the whisk all the way to the bottom of the pot and lift back out.  Do this all the way around all over the surface for 3 times.  This will ensure that you have cut the majority of the curd to about 4mm.  Let stand for 5 minutes, then stir at 35°C for 10 minutes

Increase the temperature to 42°C over half an hour and hold this temperature for 15 minutes continuously stirring with the whisk to prevent matting.  You will notice that the curd will start to shrink into smaller grain sized pieces.

Increase the temperature to 52°C over half an hour stirring regularly.  When the temperature has been reached you should notice that the curd will have a very small grain size and that it will be dry to touch and squeaky when you chew them to test for doneness.  Let the curds rest for 5 minutes off the heat

Drain the curds and whey into a cheese cloth lined colander.  Be careful as the whey is quite hot.  Gather up the cheesecloth and form a ball of curd big enough to fit into your 900 gm mold.  Cover one of the corners of the curd with the cheese cloth and top with the follower then press at 2.5 kg for 15 minutes.

Remove the cheese from the press, and slowly unwrap the cloth.  Turn the cheese over, rewrap it in the cloth, and press at 5 kg for 30 minutes.  Repeat this procedure, press at 7.5 kg for 2 hours.  Repeat again, pressing at 10 kg for 12 hours.

Remove the cheese from the mould and unwrap.  Immerse the cheese in the brine solution.  I use a 2 litre ice-cream container, add the cheese first then pour over the brine.  The brine should be at room temperature and not hot or the cheese will begin to break up and absorb too much salt.

Leave it at room temperature (21°C) for 24 hours, and flip the cheese occasionally.

Take the cheese out of the brine solution and pat it dry with paper towel.  Here is your chance to smooth the cheese with your hands if there are any rough bits.  Then place on a sushi mat and put it into the cheese cave at 13°C/80% humidity for 10 months.  Turn the cheese daily for the first week, then weekly after that.  Remove any mould that forms on the exterior with some leftover brine and a bit of cheese cloth.  This also helps to harden the cheese as it ages.

I usually wax this cheese at about the three-week mark, because otherwise, even if rubbed with olive oil the wheel is just too small to hold the required amount of moisture and it will dry out.  The first wheel of Parmesan made in May 2009 turned out very well and had that sharp flavour that Grana cheeses are well-known for.

The trademark texture and flavour of this cheese is obtained through the lengthy maturation process which results in a cheese with a hard, gritty texture.  I guarantee that this cheese is well worth the wait.

Cheese Book Review

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So where do I mainly get my cheese recipes from?  Well I have two (actually three) wonderful cheese books that I utilised equally as much.  It’s time for a cheese book review!

Home Cheese Making – Recipes for 75 Homemade Cheeses.
By Ricki Carroll.

The first thing that struck me about this book was that there were no photos in the entire book. All the pictures are illustrations which are quite well done, but not the same as seeing a photo of the cheese the recipe is describing. The only real problem with this book is that all the measurements are in Imperial with no metric equivalent in the recipes. There is not even an Imperial/Metric conversion table as is present in most cookbooks. That struck me as very odd in this modern-day and age and obviously geared towards US audiences.

With this book being the 3rd edition, you would think that they would have corrected this oversight to appeal to an international audience. I have converted each recipe myself and add the metric measurements, weights and temperatures in pencil. Not an easy job, and one that the reader should not have to do.Other than these two issues the book is well written for the novice, starting with the history of cheese, what all of the ingredients are, and equipment you might need. Then the author describes the process of cheese making with illustrations which was a good guide to help you understand what you are in for. There is even a section on how to smoke a cheese with a kettle BBQ.

The recipes are divided up into sections which start at Soft Cheeses for the novice, and then Hard, Italian, Whey, Bacteria and Mould-Ripened, Goat’s-Milk Cheeses, all which have ample instructions and are simple to follow. I do like the occasional page dedicated to ‘A Cheese Makers Story’ in which the author has interviewed many prize-winning cheese makers throughout the U.S.A.

To finish off this book, the author chose to include 47 pages about serving, enjoying and cooking with cheese. Some of the inclusions are how to cut different cheese, a little bit about what wine to serve it with and then pages and pages of recipes. These recipes cover off how to include your home-made cheese into simple, yet delicious fare. They even mention a few ways to utilise the whey into some of the dishes. I have often wondered what to do with the whey besides making more Ricotta!

Overall, a very good book which would certainly whet your appetite and put you onto the right path for creating your own wonderful and tasty cheese. You just won’t know what they are supposed to look like!

Making Artisan Cheese – 50 Fine Cheeses That You Can Make In Your Own Kitchen,
By Tim Smith

This book is truly a delight to read. With lots of colour photos to tantalize the taste buds, my first impression was that this book was going to be a great tool in my cheese making journey. I am a firm believer that if you are just starting out in something, you will more than often need a picture to compare to your finished product. Maybe it is just the way I learn, I am a visual kind of guy.

The book is divided into three main parts, Part 1 – How Tradition Influences Modern Cheese, in which the author give a brief history of cheesemaking and cheese-making basics. I found these the two chapters in this part very informative, even for an intermediate cheese maker like myself.

Part 2 is titled ‘Making Cheese’ and covers of how to make Basic (Fresh & Soft), Intermediate (Intermediate, Washed-Curd, Cooked, Pasta Filata, and Whey), Advanced Cheese-Making (Mold & Bacteria-Ripened), and Butter & Ghee making. The good feature about each chapter is that it describes the techniques for each level and the equipment needed. I found this a good addition, because if you only want to make basic cheeses you don’t have to wade through a myriad of equipment types to figure out what you need.

Each recipe have both Imperial and Metric conversions and the majority have a colour photo of what the final cheese should look like. I really liked both of these features, as it helps add to the experience and you can make an informed decision about each type of cheese before you take the next step and actually make it. For me, it was the photograph of the Pepper Jack that enticed me to give that recipe a go.

Part 3 – Beyond Cheese Making gives you tips on how to serve your cheese to bring out its full potential. It has a detailed advice on how to best present your cheeseboard, what wines go with which cheese, and something I really liked was which beer paired the best with each type of cheese.

I also liked the ‘Artisan Advice’ that featured in the sidebar of some recipes, and additional tips on how to add herbs to various types of cheese. For instance, the addition of green peppercorns to Pyrenees, or cumin or mustard seed to Gouda. All of these variations actually take the number of cheese recipes to 55, which is a bit of a bonus for the reader.

I would highly recommend this book to novice and advanced cheese maker alike. It is well written, simple to follow, and has more than enough information to get you motivated to run down the store and buy 10 litres of milk and make your first wheel of cheese!

Now just to see if there were any variance in each book, I compared the Monterey Jack recipes. Both are identical in ingredients and method until you get the pressing section. Also, one book recommends 1-4 months maturation, the other 1-3 months. Similarly, one book stated the method would yield 2 pounds (900gm) and the other 1 pound. When I made this cheese, it yielded 878gm, so both were wrong. I suppose it all depends on how much whey remains in the finished cheese.

I hope you have enjoyed this cheese book review as much I have in writing them. Both book are informative and well written, but if I saw them both in the same bookstore, I would only purchase Making Artisan Cheese if I was strapped for cash. Unfortunately, the title is misleading and suggest some form of experience is necessary to use it, and maybe it is the reason why the other book is so popular.

Update: After being frustrated by both of the books for various reasons over many few years, I decided to author my own cheese making book.  I have had excellent feedback for it and it has sold over 1000 copies (as at January 2015).

Keep Calm and Make Cheese – The Beginners Guide to Cheese Making at Home
by Gavin Webber

Keep-Calm-and-Make-Cheese-3D-T

 

Have you ever wanted to make real cheese at home, but didn’t know where or how to start?  Well look no further, as this book makes it easy for the beginner to jump right in and make cheese.

Keep Calm and Make Cheese steps you through the process of home cheese making with 27 tried and tested recipes for the budding home cheese maker to follow and create.

 The eBook contains recipes for these cheese types;

  • Quick Mozzarella
  • Whole Milk Ricotta
  • Whey Ricotta
  • Yoghurt Cheese
  • Cream Cheese
  • Italian Bag Cheese
  • Feta
  • Marinated Feta
  • Halloumi or Helim
  • Colby
  • Cotswold
  • Caerphilly
  • Drunken Cow
  • Farmhouse Cheddar
  • Farmhouse Cheddar with Peppercorns
  • Farmhouse Pepper Blue
  • Komijnekaas
  • Monterey Jack
  • Pepper Jack
  • Pyrenees (Ossau-Iraty style)
  • Wensleydale
  • Parmesan
  • Romano
  • Romano Pepato
  • Emmentaler style
  • Camembert
  • Stilton
With over 60 pictures, detailed instructions, and resource links to the Author’s extensive cheese making video tutorial series and cheese making podcast, the whole process becomes much easier to achieve success than you would by reading a normal cheese making book.
After reading this book you too will be able to “Keep Calm and Make Cheese”, in your very own home.

This second edition contains three new recipes, four new video tutorials, and a resource section.

You can purchase this eBook in our ebookstore, or if you live in Australia, you can purchase a booklet version at Little Green Workshops.

You can also purchase all these cheese making books at Little Green Workshops.

Marinated Feta

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From this…..

before feta

To this……

Marinated Feta

Marinated Feta is very simple to make, once you have mastered the art of the cheese itself.  Wash a large jar, then sterilise it and the lid.  This ensures that no bad bacteria start growing in your marinade.To this marinade, I added a sprig each of rosemary, thyme and oregano,  2 dried  and crumbled birds-eye chilies, and a liberal grinding of black pepper.

Then top it all off with half extra virgin olive oil and half sunflower oil.  If you just use olive oil, it solidifies in the fridge and doesn’t look very nice.

The recipe I followed recommended at least a week in the fridge for the flavours to infuse into the cheese. I  gave it two and it tasted fantastic!

The only ingredients that were not home-grown was the milk in the cheese and the olive oil.  Give me a few years and I might figure out how to milk chickens!  I wonder what cheese will be next?

Little Green Workshops