Goat /cow feta #1

[brent]

thanks i still have alot still in brine and i dont mind the saltness but wife finds it too much

[Cheese Head]

Brent, I think the probelm originated in your cheese making when curds after hanging were still too moist .

Good to hear it's still edible .

When you try again, ways to reduce your moisture/whey content that I can think of are:

• Leave the cut curds in the stockpot an extra 15 minutes.
• Scoop dryer curds off of wall of bag to enable moister curds to better drain.
• Use a basket mold like Tea or a hoop system like I do to get more surface area and thereby better drainage.

My first try wasn't good either . . . I added pictures to the Feta Cheese Making Recipe webpage today.

[brent]

i agree i think that is where the trouble started ill try again but im going to basket press it this time 

[narelle]

i find if you leave your fetta to drain after you cut it and spinkle plenty of salt over it you will find more whey will come out and the fetta will firm up i do this for a couple of days turning the fetta as you go and you can control the amount of salt in the fetta when you have finished you must acidify your brine with some vinegar and this will stop your fetta from melting as the fetta is already salted the brine doesn't have to be very strong or it is now ready to marinate in whatever you like puting the fetta in the fridge after all this will also harden it up as well

[Cheese Head]

@narelle, thanks for ideas. Couple follow up questions:

• Do you leave the cheese out at room temperature for an extra couple days when you are dry salting to remove excess whey or do you store in fridge?
• If leave out what is your room temp (I'm at 25 C/77 F)?
• Also, roughly what sort of brine % and what % vinegar do you use to preserve your fetta (or what pH are you aiming for)?

Thanks for you help!

@brent, as far as I know, Tea just gravity drains her feta in the basket, no pressing, I also just gravity drain in my Camembert hoops and mats, no pressing.

[brent]

thanks for the idieas ill try gravity draining next time,a couple of questions.  1) how long do you drain for ,
2) do you just place the curd direct into basket about a half - 1 inch thick (no hanging),
3)will it not form a skin if not stirred ,
4)and after the draining am i right in thinking the cheese can then be out into oil etc or dose it still require brine/vinagar

regards
brent

[Tea]

Brent if you go back and look at the pic in my feta post you will see that the baskets are about 4 inch deep.  I fill to the top and then let drain.  These are turned every 1/2 hour to start with, then down to every 2 hours.  They are then left over night.  The resulting cheese is approx 1inch thick. 

The cheese needs to be brined before it can be marinated.  It is the brining that preserves the cheese.
HTH

[brent]

will do it that way stack and turn next thanks i found some perfect baskets in k mart (our wal mart)

[narelle]

hi john
 i leave it out for 2 days at room temp 25c is good it also helps in maturing the flavour because your fetta is already salted i make the brine to the same salt strenght as the fetta if you make it stonger the fetta will absorb more salt than you want and if you make it weaker you will leach out the salt from your fetta so salt your fetta to the strength you like and all you are doing is maintaining the salt content of the fetta

i usually put about 1/2 cup of white vinegar to 2 litres of either salted whey which prefer to salted water i boil the whey and salt it and let it stand overnight so the milk solids still left after making the fetta will sink to the bottom of the pot or jug or whatever you use to let it stand in then you can pour off the whey and it will be nice and clear

 you can experiment with a small amount of fetta to get the amount of vinegar right so your fetta doesn't melt i do a goat and cows milk combo and i don't know if straight goat or straight cows milk fetta needs different amounts of vinegar

after the salting at room temp and i am  happy with the flavour i put it into the fridge and it keeps for about 1 month with no brine just in an airtight container or it you have a vac sealer i have kept it that way as well

[Cheese Head]

Thanks narelle !

OK next batch I'll 1) leave my drained Fetta out longer for 2 days vs my normal 1 and 2) will sprinkle with salt to expell more whey and get a drier cheese.

I'll conserve my whey and will 1) add salt, 2) boil, 3) cool, 4) decant, 5) add vinegar, and 6) place Fetta in it and then placing in fridge for preserving longer than 1 month without brine.

For brent, the basket/hoop draining method that Tea and I use does not result in a skin or rind on the cheese.

[narelle]

i forgot to say i slice the fetta up into about 1 inch slices to salt it and put it in a plastic container with a lid and turn the slices twice a day salting both sides and drain off the whey that collects