... so I'm making one. The recipe is from Tim Smith's book "Making Artisan Cheese" but I'm making some adjustments as I go. I've reduced the amount of lipase and I will reduce the brining time as both seemed excessive in the recipe. I'm also adjusting the pressing weights and times.
This is an unusual recipe as it calls for the cheese to be milled several times but not dry salted. I really don't know what the reason for this is.
The make so far:
INGREDIENTS
8 L whole milk
2/5 tsp. (2 tads and a pinch) of thermophilic culture
2/25 teaspoon (1 dash) lipase powder dissolved in 40 ml cool, unchlorinated water (1/2 tsp in the recipe)
2 ml of liquid rennet diluted in 40 ml cool, unchlorinated water
2.5 ml of calcium chloride diluted in 50 ml cool, unchlorinated water
Brine
PROCEDURE
Heated the milk to 33°C, then stirred in the starter culture. Covered to ripen for thirty minutes.
Added lipase and CaCl2 5 minutes before renneting.
Added the diluted rennet, and stirred for two minutes.
Covered the pan, and allowed it to set for forty-five minutes at the target temperature. (Flocculation time = 15 minutes x 3 = 45. Target in the recipe was 40.)
Cut the curds into 6 mm cubes.
Slowly heated the milk to 38°C over thirty minutes. In order to get the curds to the proper size, used a whisk. Stir frequently with the whisk, using an up and down twisting motion.
Poured the curds into a cheese-cloth-lined colander, and quickly transferred from the colander to a 900 g cheese-cloth-lined mould. Covered the curds with a corner of the cheese cloth, and placed the follower on top.
Pressed at 4.5 pounds/0.14 PSI for ten minutes. (10 pounds in the original recipe)
Removed the cheese from the mould, unwrapped the cheese cloth, and use broke the cheese into small pieces in a bowl. Repacked the cheese into the cheese-cloth-lined mould and pressed again at 4.5 pounds for fifteen minutes.
Removed the cheese from the mould, unwrap the cheese cloth, and break into pieces again. Repacked, and press at 16 pounds, increasing to 27 over 35 minutes. (30 pounds over 15 minutes in the original recipe)
Repeated this procedure, and press at 43 pounds for 22 hours.
This is where I am up to so far. The cheese is back in the mould but, given the poor knit at the end of the last stage, I can see that I will have to increase the weight for the last pressing. The plan from here is:
Repeat again, and press at fifty pounds for twenty-four hours. (This will be increased.)
Remove the cheese from the mould, and unwrap the cheese cloth. Immerse the cheese in the brine solution for six (twenty-four in the original recipe) hours, turning it half way through.
Take the cheese out of the brine solution, pat dry, and place on a cheese board.
