Author Topic: My First Belper Knolle  (Read 8468 times)

Offline Al Lewis

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My First Belper Knolle
« on: February 12, 2016, 06:50:23 PM »
Inspired by AnnDee I had to make some of these beautiful little balls of taste and delight.  When I first looked at them they didn't seem to make sense but after watching the video of a Chef using a truffle shaver to shave them onto a dish they made perfect sense.  Small cheese with immense flavor.  I used the recipe from New England Cheese Making and even used their packets of Chèvre. Picked up a gallon of raw milk from my local source.  Ordered the fine Pink Himalayan salt, which it turns out you can buy almost anywhere, and picked up a fresh head of garlic.
« Last Edit: February 12, 2016, 06:57:47 PM by Al Lewis »
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Offline Al Lewis

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Re: My First Belper Knolle
« Reply #1 on: February 12, 2016, 06:54:02 PM »
Following the recipe I heated the milk to 86° F and added the packet of Chèvre.  I then removed the pan from the heat and covered it to allow it to sit overnight or for 12 hours.  At the end of the 12 hours I lifted the lid to find a beautiful cylinder of curd floating in its whey.
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Offline Al Lewis

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Re: My First Belper Knolle
« Reply #2 on: February 12, 2016, 07:00:00 PM »
The coolest thing about this make is, because it's only a one gallon make and it forms such a beautiful cylinder of curd, you can cover the pot with a sheet of butter muslin, place the colander on it, upside down of course, and flip the entire thing over in the sink catching the curd in the muslin and colander while dispelling the whey.  No scooping!!
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Offline Al Lewis

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Re: My First Belper Knolle
« Reply #3 on: February 12, 2016, 07:02:02 PM »
I gathered up the four corners of the cloth and tied them off so I could drain the remaining whey from the curd.
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Offline Al Lewis

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Re: My First Belper Knolle
« Reply #4 on: February 12, 2016, 07:05:43 PM »
After hanging the curd to drain I turned my attention to the garlic and salt.  The recipe calls for three cloves but, as I couldn't get three nice size cloves, I improvised and cleaned what I thought would equal them.  If you lay these on a chopping board, lay a chef's knife on top of them, the side of course, and smack it really hard all of the skin can be removed quite easily.
« Last Edit: February 12, 2016, 07:17:13 PM by Al Lewis »
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Offline Al Lewis

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Re: My First Belper Knolle
« Reply #5 on: February 12, 2016, 07:07:36 PM »
Next step is to crush the garlic with the salt into a paste.  This is actually done quite a bit in cooking as the grains of salt help to grind the garlic much the same as sand paper would.
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Offline Al Lewis

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Re: My First Belper Knolle
« Reply #6 on: February 12, 2016, 07:09:09 PM »
Okay, with the curd drained, I probably should have drained it a bit more, I placed the ingredients into the mixer using a spatula to make sure I got everything.
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Offline Al Lewis

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Re: My First Belper Knolle
« Reply #7 on: February 12, 2016, 07:12:12 PM »
Now for a good mixing.  I used the second speed setting on my mixer, not very fast, and it seemed to whip up quite nicely.
« Last Edit: February 12, 2016, 07:22:12 PM by Al Lewis »
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Offline Al Lewis

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Re: My First Belper Knolle
« Reply #8 on: February 12, 2016, 07:13:10 PM »
With that done I put the entire contents into a piping bag and piped out six semi-equal piles onto parchment paper.
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Offline Al Lewis

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Re: My First Belper Knolle
« Reply #9 on: February 12, 2016, 07:14:47 PM »
I've placed the cooking sheet into my drinks fridge where I will let it set and chill until it reaches a firmness that allows me to form it into balls and coat it with roasted pepper.  This is something that Kern found in the video showing the pros making these.
« Last Edit: February 12, 2016, 07:33:34 PM by Al Lewis »
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Offline Al Lewis

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Re: My First Belper Knolle
« Reply #10 on: February 12, 2016, 09:28:12 PM »
So with the cheese rolled into balls and tumbled in the pepper they are ready to finish drying out in the cave and age to perfection.  I hope!!  Thanks again to AnnDee for showing me this neat cheese and Kern for helping to sort the details!!
« Last Edit: February 12, 2016, 10:17:07 PM by Al Lewis »
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Kern

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Re: My First Belper Knolle
« Reply #11 on: February 13, 2016, 12:46:45 AM »
Al, take a peek at the video (around the 4:23 mark) and you'll notice that the peppered balls sit in a slightly warmer and drier room than the cheese cave and get fanned for a couple of days.  This really firms up the outside.  I did this with my earlier makes and probably could have done them longer:  After a couple of weeks in the 55/85 cave they developed some blue mold spots.  I found the mold this morning and now have them out of the cave under the fans to chase the blues away.  The make of three days ago is now in the cave.  I'll watch this closely and if the balls seem to be getting damp they will come out for a day for some of fanning.  There is no way to wipe the blue mold off with all the pepper on the ball.  :(

Offline Al Lewis

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Re: My First Belper Knolle
« Reply #12 on: February 13, 2016, 02:08:46 AM »
Yes, I remembered that and moved them into a 70 degree room with a fan.  Should be fine for a while.  ;D
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Re: My First Belper Knolle
« Reply #13 on: February 13, 2016, 03:49:02 AM »
So far, this is where I am on my new batch of BK. I am using raw cow milk and flora danica following Kern's recipe but I follow NEC on the steps of the make.

Offline Al Lewis

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Re: My First Belper Knolle
« Reply #14 on: February 13, 2016, 04:33:42 PM »
Well I left mine with a fan blowing on them overnight and you can see the crust starting to dry.  The room they're in smells incredible by the way! :P
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