Author Topic: Parmesan #2  (Read 1904 times)

BobE102330

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Parmesan #2
« on: March 10, 2013, 07:43:23 PM »
I made Parmesan # 2 following the 200 easy cheeses recipe Friday.  I used 3.75 gallons of my favorite P/H milk, being too lazy to make the trip to get raw.  The make went pretty much according to schedule until the cooking phase when My stove started acting up and took 90 minutes to reach 124 degrees rather than the scheduled 60.  Draining and pressing were nominal.  First pressing was at 70 pounds/ 1.4 psi, the second at 150 pounds/ 3 psi.  After a night in the press, into the saturated whey brine (cooled after making ricotta) in the cave for a day. 

Two brining observations: The cheese did not float in the brine. Whey brine is less dense than  Coming out of the brine was a bit slimy.  Missing calcium from making ricotta, right? 

Nubbin city - took some coaxing out of the mold.

Sailor Con Queso

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Re: Parmesan #2
« Reply #1 on: March 11, 2013, 02:34:51 AM »
If the cheese did not float, you did not have enough salt in the brine. And yes, brine needs proper calcium balance or it will pull calcium out of the surface of the cheese

BobE102330

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Re: Parmesan #2
« Reply #2 on: March 11, 2013, 03:18:49 AM »
Thanks Sailor.  I thought I'd worked in as much salt as I could and then added more.  Guess I'll add salt when the whey is still warm.

Should I avoid using post ricotta whey to make brine?

Sailor Con Queso

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Re: Parmesan #2
« Reply #3 on: March 11, 2013, 03:42:37 AM »
Post ricotta is OK but you do need to add calcium back in. And if you are adding vinegar to coagulate the ricotta, the whey and your brine will also be too acidic.