Hi,
Finished off my first feta today (see photo below). It was getting a bit soft and slimy in the brine, so I think the next time I'll shift to storing in oil after a few weeks in the brine. Anyway, after I started and grabbed my previous make notes I noticed the first batch was 9 L and this was now going to be 11. The curds filled the mould to the very brim, but they are in there. Tomorrow, we'll see how it's formed up. It's draining down quite a bit, but still a way to go (lots of time). I was very pleased with this the first time so hopefully it's good again.
Feta (Sunday, June 16, 2013; raining) fr. 200 Easy Homemade Cheese recipes
11 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.)
0.6 ml 750 IMCU rennet in egg cup water (might have been a touch under)
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 8:10 am; 30.3 C)
3) Add lipase (put in warm water around 7:50 ish)
4) Ripen 1 hour (8:10 – 9:10; final temp 29.5 C)
5) Add CaCl and warmed back up to 30.2 C
6) Add Renett (9:15:30? ; floc time 9:34:00 = 18m 30sec 3x = 55m 50sec = cut at 10:11:00) – yes, under
7) Cut into 2 cm cubes (10: 17)
8) Rest 5 minutes (10:22 - 10:27)
9) Stir 20 – 30 minutes (for softer-firmer result – 22 minutes last time) (10:27 - 10:52)
10) Rest 5 minutes (10:52 - 10:57)
11) Ladle in to cloth lined colander ; drain 5 minutes (11:20 - 11:25)
12) Move to mould (11:30)
13) Flip every 15 minutes for 1 hour (flip at 11:45, 12:00, 12:15, and 12:30)
14) Let drain for 18-24 hours at room temp, without flipping (12:30 pm Sunday - 5:30pm Monday; 1714g)
15) Put in container with 13.5% brine solution (140g salt + 900 g water). Leave at room temp 3-4 days.
16) Move to fridge (??day, June ??, 2013; ??:?? am/pm)
Taste on ??day;.
Made ricotta, got 420ish g. Added 6g salt.
And here was our supper. Prawns in olive oil, with onions, garlic, garden fresh parsley, tomatos (froze them, then put boiling water on them to remove the skins, and when they thaw they are mush and perfect for sauce), bit of salt and pepper. Basically, cook the sauce up in a large cast iron fry pan, simmer for 30 minutes to thicken the sauce, add the prawns, cook to almost done. Move to a oven dish, crumble 100g of feta on top, bake at 170C for 12 minutes or so, and enjoy! Both Genesta and Gregor gobbled this down, which was nice. Vanessa and I were not shy either.
- Jeff