Hi,
I've never made feta, so I thought it was time to rectify that. So far, the make seems to have gone ok, although the curds broke up a fair bit when trying to stir them. I find they will tend to break up if the curds are cut large and then stirred, but not too bad for smaller cuts. Oh well, will see how it turns out.
I do have a couple questions for those with more experience than me with this one. First, how long should I age it in the brine until it's ready to use? and Second, how long can you keep it in a 10% brine?
Thanks.
- Jeff
Feta (Saturday, March 16, 2013) fr. 200 Easy Homemade Cheese recipes
9 L Homebrand Standard (3.3%fat, 3.1% protein; past/Homog)
1/16th tsp calf lipase (in egg cup of warm water)
3 icecubes MW3 (Mad Millie; mesophillic; Lactococcus lactis subsp. cremoris and Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis.)
0.54 ml 750 IMCU rennet
¼ tsp 50% CaCl
10% Brine Solution (800 ml water + 88gl salt + 1 tbls white vinegar + 1 tsp CaCl
1) Add culture
2) Warm to 30 C (reached at 11:10 am; 31.0 C)
3) Add lipase
4) Ripen 1 hour (11:10 – 12:13; final temp 30.1 C)
5) Add CaCl
6) Add Renett (12:13:30 ; floc time 12:28:0 = 14m 30sec 3x = 43m 30sec = cut at 12:57:00)
7) Cut into 2 cm cubes
8) Rest 5 minutes (1:03 - 1:08)
9) Stir 20 – 30 minutes (for softer-firmer result) (1:08 - 1:30)
10) Rest 5 minutes (1:30 - 1:35)
11) Ladle in to cloth lined colander ; drain 5 minutes (1:47 - 1:52)
12) Move to mould (2:00)
13) Flip every 15 minutes for 1 hour (flip at 2:15 ; 2:30 ; and 2:45)
14) Let drain for 18-24 hours at room temp, without flipping (3:00pm Saturday - 2:15pm Sunday; 1230g)
15) Put in container with 10% brine solution. Leave at room temp 3-4 days.
16) Move to fridge (moved to fridge on Thursday, March 21, 2013, 6:00 pm)