Author Topic: My first St. Paul (and testing more stuff)  (Read 1402 times)

John@PC

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My first St. Paul (and testing more stuff)
« on: November 28, 2014, 10:18:13 PM »
I had a request from a customer for a 4" cylindrical clear-mold to do a two-stacked-cheese with.  I made one up and wanted to test it myself first (he agreed to take a once used fully tested :) mold with followers).  I also had a 2nd prototype 1/4" cutter and cutting method I wanted to test, and wanting to go for the trifecta in "new stuff" wanted to try a different way to press under whey that made it easier to transfer the curds en mass to the mold. 

And no, the subject of the post isn't a typo.  The recipe is one I put together for a hot-water washed curd cheese (like a Fontina without lipase).  Thought I'd name it St. Paul in honor of Arnaud (will, of course, have to get his permission first when he gets back from vacation :)  ;))

Ingredients:
1 gal. Hickory Hill creamline milk
¼ tsp. MM100 culture
¼ tsp. Calcium chloride
¼ tsp. single-strength
Med-heavy brine

Make Log:
Warmed milk in sink to 86F
Transferred milk to 2/3 size 6” deep rectangular pan
Sprinkled starter culture; let hydrate for 5 min. then gently stirred in
Ripened 45 min. @ 86F
Added NaCl diluted in ¼ cup cool, non-chlorinated water
Added rennet diluted in ¼ cup cool, non-chlorinated water
Floc time was 5 min!! with 3.5 multiplier: 5 x 3.5=18 min.
    Not sure the reason for short floc time – must have added a bit too full ¼ tsp.
Cut curds 1/4 ”; allowed to heal for 5 min.
Stir for 15 to 20 min; allow to rest and settle 5 min
Heated 2 qts water to 160F
Ladled off 1 qt. of whey
Slowly added  heated water 1 ladle every 1 min. or so
Stopped adding hot water when curds reached 100F during target 15 min while stirring
Stirred at 100F for 10 min.
Let curds settle for 5 min.
Ladled out little over 2 qts whey and reserve (this was too much, explained later)
Lined two 1 ½ to 2 qt bowls with damp butter muslin; added a couple cups of whey to bowls
Stirred remaining curds and whey to break up big clumps
Ladled curds with whey into bowls, trying to make sure curds stay under whey
Pulled up cheesecloth and wire-tied to form two boules
Let boules rest covered in whey for 5 min
Start twisting cheesecloth to tighten and consolidate curds, keeping under whey (you may have to add more reserved whey to keep level high enough.
Twisted a couple more times every 5 min or so until ball is consolidated
Removed cheesecloth, dressed each boule in ply-bond, and inserted into 4” cylindrical mold, stacking cheeses with follower in-between.
Pressed @ 10lb for 10 min., re-dressed and flipped
Pressed @ 20lbs for 30 min, re-dressed and flipped
Pressed @ 30lbs for 2 hrs.; removed cloths
Pressed @ 30 lbs. with fine mesh draining screens between cheese and followers
Continuing to press until whey pH was 5.3 (4 hr.)
Will be placing cheeses into med. heavy brine for 3 hr.
Plan to Air-dried and placed into cave @ 55F and 85% RH

Other than the very short floc time?? everything went well.  Only real problem was I took out too much whey and the curds were more exposed than I would have liked when transferring to the bowls.  Still they consolidated well under the whey in the twisted cheesecloth without adding any additional weight.
« Last Edit: November 28, 2014, 10:45:38 PM by John@PC »