My 5 gallon parm was too thin when pressed in an 8 inch mould, so I decided to try my first 8 gallon make. All of my previous cheeses have been heated in a double boiler over a gas cooktop. This make was my first using direct heat. I felt like my first batch might have been slightly over-cooked, so I worked on speeding up the process this time. The recipe was the same as for the first make, only scaled up.
Ingredients
8 gallons 2% pasteurized non homo milk
2 cubes TA61
8 cubes LH100
1/2 teaspoon lipase powder
2 teaspoon calcium chloride
96 drops rennet
Dry salt to 2-1/2 to 3%
1. Add CaCl
2. Warm milk to 94F and add culture once there.
3. Let ripen until pH drop of 0.05 to 0.1, maintaining temp at 94F. (Start pH was 6.61. After ½ hour, pH was 6.56).
4. Add lipase dissolved in 1/4th cup water.
5. Dilute rennet in 1/4th cup R/O water and add after ripening.
6. Using 2 floc multiplier cut curds after 26 minutes from the addition of rennet. (13 minute floc time).
7. Cut curds initially to 1/2 inch and rest 5 to 10 minutes then stir with a whisk reduce to lentil sized pieces.
8. Remove approximately 2-1/2 gal whey for easier heating. (The bailer I use to remove whey is an Oxo fat separator/strainer. See pictures. The best device I’ve found to date for removing whey).
9. Heat curds and whey to 130F fairly quickly…30 minutes would be optimum. Keep stirring to distribute heat. (This took about 25 minutes. A lot faster than with a double boiler).
10. Once you have reached the desired temp, maintain temp until curds begin to clump together. The final curd needs to be dry, but not so dry that they do not hold together when pressed. (Curds were clumping, so even though pH was 6.49, I decided to settle the curd).
11. Settle pH target 6.45. Drain target 6.4.
12. Consolidate settled curds with mat and hand pressure. Gather into cloth.
13. Transfer to warmed mould.
14. Press under warm whey at 1/2 psi for 30 minutes. Flip and rewrap, press for another 30 minutes.
15. Remove whey, flip, rewrap and press at 2 psi for 30 minutes. Flip, rewrap and press for another 30.
16. Flip, rewrap and press at 4 to 5 psi for 12-16 hours.
17. Weigh cheese and start dry salting. (Weight 2900 grams 2-1/2% salt = 72 grams).
18. Continue dry salting until salt is used up (1 to 2 days).
Affinage:
Age at 50°F to 55°F and 85-90% humidity. Flip cheese daily for the first couple weeks and then once weekly thereafter. After 1 month rub rind with oil. Repeat a couple times. Plan to bag at 3 months.
If mold appears on the rind, wipe off with a cloth dipped in a vinegar-salt solution.
Notes:
I sped up this make from the first based on a concern that the first was slightly over-cooked. The first make was never sticky during pressing. This one was REALLY sticky. One of the early pressing photos shows the ragged edges from pulling the cloth off. From that point on, used a vinegar wipe at each flip and flipped every half hour for about 3 hours.
The first Parm came in at a 7.9% yield. This cheese came in at 9.2% The differences I can attribute that to are cook time and a different brand of milk. I think both factors had some effect.
Exteriors of both cheeses have been really well formed. The first day of drying for this one was at about 75% RH. I got a couple tiny cracks on 1 side, which I patched with butter. I cranked the RH up to 90% and will keep an eye on it.
Photos to follow.
Larry
