Made this yesterday, but just getting round to posting it now. I've been pretty pleased with this make, and Vanessa noted we're almost done the last batch, and that's close enough to a request for me, so time to make more! I forgot myself, however, and launched right into stirring without starting slow. That inevitably results in my busting up the curds to rice sized. As a result, I'm pretty sure this will be drier than my previous makes. And, when I was draining it prior to putting it in the mould, it wasn't far off curd soup and it was impossible to really get curds without taking all the whey, so I'm pretty sure this will be wetter than my previous makes (anyone see what I did there? :) )
In the end, though, got 1424g after an extended drain in the mould. The brine is only around 10%, so it won't be too salty. I tend to shift it to oil after a while anyway. I'll brine it at room temp for a 4 or 5 days, then into the fridge for a couple weeks. After a month or two, into the oil.
- Jeff
Feta (Sunday, Apr 6, 2014) fr. 200 Easy Homemade Cheese recipes
11 L Homebrand Standard (3.3%fat, 3.1% protein; past/Homog)
Heaping 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.)
0.55 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 CaCl2 while setting up
2) Add culture
3) Warm to 30 C (reached at 6:55 am; 30.2 C)
4) Add lipase (I added during the warming, around 22 C)
5) Ripen 1 hour (6:55 – 7:55; final temp 30.2 C; remove milk from water bath, wrap with towels)
6) Add Renett (7:57:00? ; floc time 8:17:00 = 20m 00sec 3x = 60m 00sec = cut at 8:57:00)
7) Cut into 2 cm cubes (9:00 – 9:05)
8) Rest 5 minutes (9:05 – 9:15)
9) Stir 20 – 30 minutes (for softer-firmer result) (9:15 - 9:35; stirred too hard at first, broke curds up)
10) Rest 5 minutes (9:35 - 9:40)
11) Ladle in to cloth lined colander ; drain 5 minutes (10:14 - 10:30) Took a long time to get the curds into the colander because it had broken up. Basically transferring curd “soup”.
12) Move to mould (10:30-10:35)
13) Flip every 15 minutes for 1 hour (flip at 10:50; 11:05; 11:20; 11:35 - back to upright for long drain)
14) Let drain for 18-24 hours at room temp, without flipping (??:??pm Sunday – 7:30pm Monday ; 1424g – late getting home from work)
15) Put in container with 10% brine solution (1100g water, 122g salt, 1 tsp vinegar, ¼ tsp CaCl2). Leave at room temp 3-4 days.
16) Move to fridge (4th day, Apr 10, 2014; pm; I think, I forgot to record the actual date)
Made Ricotta from whey, heated to 92 C, added 1/4cup cider vinegar, waited 15-20 minutes, scooped into cheesecloth and drained 1.5 hours: Got 334g, added 4g salt.
Checked it on May 5th, and it's still firm, not melting.
Taste on ??day; poor/ok/good/excellent/fantastic result.
