Author Topic: Suggestions for a simple, quick rennet curdled cheese?  (Read 2381 times)

TimT

  • Guest
Suggestions for a simple, quick rennet curdled cheese?
« on: May 18, 2014, 07:01:27 AM »
I'm working on a proposal for a short - maybe three, four hours - cheesemaking course to be run through my local council (Whittlesea, in Melbourne's north) and I was wondering if you guys could help. Though I can't cover everything in any course I thought it might be good to run through a few basic cheesemaking skills and have every participant end up with a few basic cheeses they can nosh on :)

So far these seem pretty obvious:

- a simple cheese curdled with heat and acid: ricotta, naturally.
- whey bread - for those times when you're left with a heap of whey and you don't want to waste it.

But I also wanted to do a simple rennet-and-culture-curdled cheese, and for this one I'm a bit stuck. It's in many ways the most important - amongst other things, it's going to have to be done first, since you always have to wait a bit for it to culture and curdle.

I would LOVE for fellow cheesemaker's suggestions on a simple curdled cheese to make.

POSSIBILITIES:
The obvious one is 30 m mozzarella, which I'm not too fond of - amongst other things, I'm still not sure I've got the recipe quite right! (And it always takes me quite long, closer to 1 hr 30 mins).
Cottage cheese is a possibility, though the recipes I've dug up recommend a 4-8 hour curdle time.
I made a few crescenzas last year, and this recipe seems very attractive, since it would give me an opportunity to talk about brine and brining too, but my recipe (from Mary Karlin's book) does make it sound like it might go on for a bit too long.
Rikki Carroll has a recipe for 'quick fresh cheese' which sounds doable - 1/2 gallon milk, curdled with the aid of rennet, is let set for an hour; it is then drained through a cheesecloth lined colander.

Do any readers have suggestions?

Geodyne

  • Guest
Re: Suggestions for a simple, quick rennet curdled cheese?
« Reply #1 on: May 18, 2014, 08:27:44 PM »
Feta? It's one of my go-tos when I'm in a hurry. You could also consider one of the faster makes of Lancashire or Tomme. You'll only get it to pressing stage but you'd at least demonstrate the make.

TimT

  • Guest
Re: Suggestions for a simple, quick rennet curdled cheese?
« Reply #2 on: May 18, 2014, 09:45:39 PM »
Maybe fetta. It would be good to do a goat's milk cheese. I think some of the steps may have to be shortened though? I'll check a few of the recipes.

I was thinking of doing this as a first course, and seeing how many people are interested, and inviting all participants in the first course to come along to a later one where we could do slightly more complicated, slightly more adventurous stuff. For instance, I was thinking of an all-day cheese session at my house doing Mysost - a kind of spreadable cheese made from caramelised whey; the process of making it can take up to 12 hours, and maybe more, depending on set up and clean up!

So many cheeses, so little time!

WovenMeadows

  • Guest
Re: Suggestions for a simple, quick rennet curdled cheese?
« Reply #3 on: May 19, 2014, 03:29:13 PM »
I think you could do a Gouda/Edam or Havarti make in that time frame. Approximate time:
0:00 - Add culture to warmed milk (if you used a premade mother/bulk culture, you could get by with removing this step and shaving off 20-30 minutes)
0:30 - Add rennet
1:00 - Cut curd, heal, stir gently
1:30 - Remove 1/3 whey, then cook by gradually adding hot water
2:30 - Let settle in whey, drain whey to just above curd level, mold, press under whey
3:00 - Remove molds from whey and move to press

So in approximately 3 hours (+/- 30 minutes, say), you could move from warm milk to pressed cheese. Being a "sweet" cheese, you don't need to cook and hold it very long to develop much acidity, nor heat it too high which also would take longer.


Tallpoppy

  • Guest
Re: Suggestions for a simple, quick rennet curdled cheese?
« Reply #4 on: May 20, 2014, 02:16:57 AM »
express Halloumi?
while not cultured  its something different.  i have a book with a recipe in it but from memory (i'll look at the exact recipe when i get home).

but essentially
warm milk
4x+ rennet so your ready to cut curd in 5-10 minutes
cut curds with whisk
let sit for a bit
drain and press for 5-10 minutes while whey is heating up
cook in whey
into saturated brine or roll in mint/salt.
cool
enjoy

TimT

  • Guest
Re: Suggestions for a simple, quick rennet curdled cheese?
« Reply #5 on: May 20, 2014, 03:39:54 AM »
Ooh la la! I'm liking all these suggestions, keep 'em coming :)

Spoons

  • Guest
Re: Suggestions for a simple, quick rennet curdled cheese?
« Reply #6 on: May 20, 2014, 04:39:35 AM »
If your cheesemaking class is a success and you want to re-invite your guests, this cheese would be an awesome addition to your followup cheesemaking class. It's quite unique and takes about 1 hour 45 minutes to make and is best served fresh... with coffee! Coffee is the perfect pairing for this cheese. A nice after-class reward.

http://beyondjuustoa.blogspot.ca/2011/07/juustoa-recipe.html

Juustoa is not a well known cheese, so it's best kept for a class with people who have previously followed a mozz or beginner class and want to learn about more cheeses.

TimT

  • Guest
Re: Suggestions for a simple, quick rennet curdled cheese?
« Reply #7 on: May 20, 2014, 07:42:33 AM »
Intriguing; is the rennet really necessary? For instance I used cornstarch to thicken a kind of moussey dessert the other week - milk, cornstarch and heat (same as in that recipe). Does the rennet encourage the milk to thicken more and separate into curds and whey? I had thought it only operated alongside lactic acid bacteria....

TimT

  • Guest
Re: Suggestions for a simple, quick rennet curdled cheese?
« Reply #8 on: May 20, 2014, 07:44:43 AM »
Actually what I really want to do is a Mysost workshop - Mysost is a kind of cheese where you boil whey down for hours and hours until you get some caramelisation happening. It takes about 6-12 hours, and you have to give the pot fairly close attention for some of that time. I kind of thought it would be fun to make a cheese day out of it, and also I wanted an excuse to try it myself. But that, like Juustoa, is one for more advanced/dedicated people. Not just a beginner's workshop.