Author Topic: Brown stains / blotch / on Halloumi  (Read 4827 times)

kupros

  • Guest
Brown stains / blotch / on Halloumi
« on: February 27, 2014, 04:57:45 PM »
Hi there first post and all... i just cant figure this out at all so ANY help would be amazing...

ive made half a dozen batches of halloumi using supermarket (unhomogenised / homogenised cow/goat full fat / semi-skimmed) milk using kid rennet and calcium chloride for every single batch... the cheese is okay i know i need to get hold of decent quality raw farm milk before i will see the results i want etc.. but the only thing that is consistent is i keep getting brown patches on my cheese once its been cooked and left to cool.

This happens every single time no matter which milk / supermarket / i use, it doesnt effect the flavour / texture and it seems to be just on the surface only, its not on this photo taken just after making but it appears once fully cooled and before and whilst in brine.. so its not the brine that is effecting it.

the photo with the ricotta shows halloumi 2 hours after being made with no spots but 2 hours later they appear i used unhomogenised pasteurised jersey / guernsey full fat milk here

the other 2 photos show semi-skimmed pasteurised goats milk supermarket bought once curd had set before being cooked and  a few hours later with the infamous brown stains on it...

please any help its driving me crazy i have no idea what it is!


Maybe i thought its somehow oxidising as i leave them uncovered at room temperature (around 20C) left to cool.
the ricotta is made in the same batch and this never has any brown spots.


Matthewcraig

  • Guest
Re: Brown stains / blotch / on Halloumi
« Reply #1 on: February 27, 2014, 05:00:42 PM »
How hot were the curds when you cut them?

kupros

  • Guest
Re: Brown stains / blotch / on Halloumi
« Reply #2 on: February 27, 2014, 05:05:09 PM »
hey,.

ive cut them at different temperatures.... 31 / 32 / 33 / 34 and this batch 35...all have the same results,

Matthewcraig

  • Guest
Re: Brown stains / blotch / on Halloumi
« Reply #3 on: February 27, 2014, 07:20:31 PM »
And you say you have been keeping them at 20c do the brown spots come after it's dry or is it a couple days later?

kupros

  • Guest
Re: Brown stains / blotch / on Halloumi
« Reply #4 on: February 27, 2014, 08:16:32 PM »
theyre only at 20C uncovered (my room temperature) until they have cooled so between 3-4 hours then i put them in 15% whey brine (which i boiled strained and cooled in that time) with calcium chloride and put them in the fridge which is at around 3-4C. But i tried leaving it a whole day not putting them in the brine after cooking and the brown patches still appear after being the in the fridge

the brown patches appear as soon as they have cooled at room temperature but become more prominent the following days.... in the fridge

its very strange, something is happening on the surface only... whats your initial instinct?

 

Matthewcraig

  • Guest
Re: Brown stains / blotch / on Halloumi
« Reply #5 on: February 27, 2014, 08:28:15 PM »
Well it sounds like it's something in the cheese rather than an outside element maybe a salt reaction, what's the recipe for your Hallumi?

kupros

  • Guest
Re: Brown stains / blotch / on Halloumi
« Reply #6 on: February 27, 2014, 08:43:09 PM »
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« Last Edit: March 11, 2014, 04:35:59 PM by irma »

Matthewcraig

  • Guest
Re: Brown stains / blotch / on Halloumi
« Reply #7 on: February 27, 2014, 09:34:43 PM »
From that recipe I don't see any problems with it except the brine, because it's a whey based brine there could be problems, what I would recommend is heating 600ml water to 60c add 1tsp vinegar and 2ml of calcium chloride then place a raw egg, shell intact into the water and add enough no iodised salt till the egg floats, then try brining your cheese this is the only idea I have, good luck, also brine it for half the time :)

kupros

  • Guest
Re: Brown stains / blotch / on Halloumi
« Reply #8 on: February 27, 2014, 09:47:51 PM »
thanks for tht i will try it for sure... and report back ,...