Author Topic: Parmesan, washed?  (Read 1900 times)

tnbquilt

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Parmesan, washed?
« on: August 26, 2013, 12:49:03 AM »
I have been comparing parmesan recipes and I was surprised to find out that Caldwell's book calls to wash the curd, but none of the other recipes that I have found do. It's only one wash, but it still seems odd.

I know that washing the curd with cold water causes the curd to absorb the water and add moister to the cheese, but no one else does this.

Have any of you made Caldwell's recipe?

Have any of you used a recipe that calls to wash the curd on a parmesan?

I plan on making on a parmesan in a few weeks so I thought that if I asked now I might get some more home based theories.

mjr522

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Re: Parmesan, washed?
« Reply #1 on: August 26, 2013, 03:11:36 AM »
I'm also planning on making a Parmesan soon (next weekend, in fact).  I just pulled out Caldwell's MAC and found 2 grana style recipes.  On page 288 she's got one for classical italian-style extra-hard cheese.  On the next page she has the extra-hard washed curd.  I'm using the first one as the start of my comparison, as I believe it is closer to Parmesan.

Do you have pH targets you're working with?  Caldwell has 6.4-6.5 for draining and 5.4-5.5 for brining.  I'm going to open another parm thread shortly that will describe what I intend to do and hopefully I'll get some feed back.  I'd appreciate any incite you've gathered in your recipe comparisons.

tnbquilt

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Re: Parmesan, washed?
« Reply #2 on: August 26, 2013, 11:31:07 PM »
I have a hard time determining which recipes are which in her book because of the way she names them. I decided that the first recipe was Asiago because when I looked up Asiago in the index it leads me to that page, and that the second was parmesan because the index leads you to that page.

I agree with you, that the first recipe seems like the right one for parmesan. I compared all of the recipes from all of my books for parmesan and I see the basic parameters for the cheese, other than the washed part.

I think I'll just forget about that recipe for awhile and use the first one for the comparison notes.

Caldwell also does not let the culture ripen for very long before she adds the rennett. She explains this theory at the beginning of the chapter, how you need to get started without the PH level dropping very far. All of the other recipes ripen for 30 to 40 minutes, but she only ripens for 5 minutes.

I might make parmesan on Sunday, if it works out well. I will watch for your notes on your make to appear as well. I love knowing what other people did and how it turned out.

mjr522

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Re: Parmesan, washed?
« Reply #3 on: August 27, 2013, 02:29:58 AM »
I also appreciate the experience I gain from other people's...experiences.  Hopefully my upcoming one won't be a huge disaster.

I reviewed 4 different recipes and found 3 of them very similar and caldwell's the most different.  For some reason, though, I still like hers better.  Funny thing is, it really doesn't matter what recipe I follow, because nothing ever goes quite like I want it to.

tnbquilt

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Re: Parmesan, washed?
« Reply #4 on: August 28, 2013, 12:41:54 AM »
I agree, with all of that. I read the recipes but I like Caldwell's better, and who needs a plan when it goes to hell in a hand bag anyway?