Making Cheese

[shain]

Here's my first attempt at actual cheese making (I only made yogurt, paneer and ricotta before).

This is acid set cheese (the acidity coming from sour cream, buttermilk and cream of tarter). The acidified milk was cooked until curdles, drained well and salted. Then mixed with a bit of store bought blue cheese dissolved in sour cream. Pressed, salted and left to age in a closed container in the fridge. 5 days later I flipped it, punched holes and salted. Another 5 days and it was flipped, punched from the other side and salted again. I've been draining and letting some air in every couple of days.

 

It now has a light blue mold scent, and the drained water is tasty (if very salty) with pleasant blue mold and lactic acid flavor. You can see some blue bits in spots.

 

 

Edited December 8, 2020 by shain (log)

[shain]

Cheese update. Seems to be doing well, which is to say it looks blue and gnarly. Smells pleasant (assuming one finds blue cheeses to smell pleasant).

I think I'll open it up soon, my technique was not perfect, and I'm worried that letting it fully age might result in off flavors or even spoilage, and I prefer it to be mild rather than risk it being inedible (am I being paranoid?).

 

Edited December 16, 2020 by shain (log)

[cdh]

On this topic, I've recently fallen down this Youtube rabbit hole: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCE31MqUy6nIMJ_f8y4R3_AA  Australian cheesemaking fellow who shows the process very comprehensively.  Lots of inspiration material. Now I need to go shopping for molds and mold cultures. 

Edited December 23, 2020 by cdh (log)

[chromedome]

2 hours ago, shain said:

Cheese update. Seems to be doing well, which is to say it looks blue and gnarly. Smells pleasant (assuming one finds blue cheeses to smell pleasant).

I think I'll open it up soon, my technique was not perfect, and I'm worried that letting it fully age might result in off flavors or even spoilage, and I prefer it to be mild rather than risk it being inedible (am I being paranoid?).

 

I would say "prudent," rather than "paranoid."

 

After you've tried this one, and have a sense of how it was progressing, you can try another and let it go a bit longer. Eventually you'll find the point of diminishing returns.

[shain]

So it was time to try it out.

At about 3 weeks of age, there is nice blue mold growth on the outside, and I'm pretty sure there's also some Camembert mold there.

It's quite mild, the interior is between a Sainte Maure style cheese and a very rich ricotta - it's nutty, creamy, a bit flaky, with a mild blue cheese note, and a bit too salty. The crust is a bit like a young Camembert, which is to say it is separable with a pleasant bite. It has a bolder flavor of blue cheese and Camembert but is still quite gentle.

Overall I'm super happy, next time I'll apply what I learned.

We ate one quarter of the 280g wheel (almost 10oz). We'll let the reminder age a bit more and have another go.

 

 

The mold pattern resembles a drawing of a stormy ocean, I think.

 

I'll be happy to share the instructions if anyone is interested, it was a fun experience and require no special ingredients.

Edited December 23, 2020 by shain (log)

[shain]

It's been 2 years already? Sheesh.

 

Started another batch.

The acid curdled cheese is mixed with sour cream and some store bought Danish blue, and salt.

I've pressed it for a day, salted it, and left to firm up and lose water.

Punctured with a skewer that was dipped into the same blue cheese (I don't think the latter part is needed, given there is mold mixed in already). The holes allow some air in.

It's now maturing in the cold storage room.

 

 

Edited January 23, 2022 by shain (log)

[shain]

Cheese update. Very blue. Mild smell.

 

 

SO named it Shaimembert.

Edited January 31, 2022 by shain (log)

[shain]

Cheese is ready.

 

 

 

 

 

Gnarly and delicious.

 

 

[mmlstarr]

On 10/27/2010 at 2:22 AM, Honkman said:

We followed the basic recipe from Ricki Carroll's "Home Cheesemaking" and used the direct-set Fromage Blanc starter. Overall we liked the slightly sour taste of the fromage blanc.

One of the ingredients we really miss from Germany is good "Quark". There is some quark commercially available in the US but it tastes lousy. So it was time to make our own which tasted actually better and fresher than most of the quark you will get in Germany. It's very versatile - you can eat it with salt and pepper on bread, mix it with fresh fruits, mix it with jam and use it as a crepe filling or use it for quiche dough.

Can you post your recipe for Quark? I'm baking my way through Classic German Baking (Luisa Weiss) and I'm looking for a good recipe or substitute. My oven only goes down to 170F and all the recipes I see (including Luisa Weiss's) says it should be at 150F. 

 

Any thoughts/help would be appreciated!

 

Thanks!

Edited August 4, 2023 by mmlstarr
typos (log)

[gfweb]

4 hours ago, mmlstarr said:

Can you post your recipe for Quark? I'm baking my way through Classic German Baking (Luis Weiss) and I'm looking for a good recipe or substitute. My oven only goes down to 170F and all the recipes I see (including Luis Weiss's) says it shouls be at 150F. 

 

Any thoughts/help would be appreciated!

 

Thanks!

 

Got Sous Vide?

[mmlstarr]

@gfweb

 

I don't, but that's a great idea. Maybe I'll get one!

[jbates]

1 minute ago, mmlstarr said:

@gfweb

 

I don't, but that's a great idea. Maybe I'll get one!

I'd recommend having one, so many uses - excellent for heating and holding the milk for yogurt at an exact temperature. I have the Joule, and love how the app reminds me when the program is done.

[Honkman]

On 8/4/2023 at 7:14 PM, mmlstarr said:

Can you post your recipe for Quark?

Here is our old post

http://twofoodiesonejourney.blogspot.com/2010/10/homemade-quark-staple-in-german-cuisine.html?m=1

[mmlstarr]

@Honkman

 

Thank you!

[RWood]

Tried fresh mozzarella and ricotta today. The mozzarella seemed firmer than I had thought, more like regular. Good flavor though.  Ricotta was good. May put it on a pizza this week. I bought some only pasteurized milk from a dairy in Georgia, so it definitely tasted different from store bought milk.

[donk79]

@RWood, Mozz takes practice in my experience.  I used to live about a mile from an Amishish raw milk dairy and made mozz semi-regularly.  At first I kneaded it too much and got a tougher, almost store-bought skim-milk mozz result.  Then I learned to knead it as little a possible to get it to cohere and got a much moister, softer, more pleasing result.

[RWood]

18 minutes ago, donk79 said:

@RWood, Mozz takes practice in my experience.  I used to live about a mile from an Amishish raw milk dairy and made mozz semi-regularly.  At first I kneaded it too much and got a tougher, almost store-bought skim-milk mozz result.  Then I learned to knead it as little a possible to get it to cohere and got a much moister, softer, more pleasing result.

Thanks, I think that's what happened.