A Fetta style

[OzzieCheese]

Well,  Here is a departure from the normal Cheddars and wash rind cheeses, a Fetta. This make is an adaptation of that in Gianaclis Caldwell's wonderful book "Mastering Artisan Cheesemaking".

My wonderful wife loves smooth and creamy so I'm going to press lightly overnight.  This should be fun

Yes.... I'll post photos..

- Mal

[OzzieCheese]

what a nice easy cheese.. Pictures - Step by Step.

1. Of course the Kitchen.  Cleaned and de-cluttered.
2. All the stainless getting boiled.
3. Laid out and ready to go..
4. Milk at Temp.

I know it takes time to put things away but, I find that it really help the cheese making process. However, it's not wasted either as during the cleaning process I place my milk in a warm bath and by the time the cleaning is done, the milk is getting up to temperature.

5. Bath Time.
6. Ready to cook.

[OzzieCheese]

1. The curds are cut quite large as there needs to be a lot more moisture retained for the eventual long draining period to get the curds down to the required pH. 4.5 - 4.8.
The curds are very delicate so stir them initially as if they are soap bubbles that you don't want to break.

2. After resting and then a further 20 minutes stirring the curds have rounded like little pillows but are very fragile.

3. 8 litres it enough to fill 4 of these Fetta forms. 

4.  After 1 hour, I flip the cheeses in their forms - the same way I flip my Malemberts - you can see how far they drain even after 1 hour.

5. They are flipped every hour for four hours.  I was hoping that the pH would have dropped to the required range but even after 6 hours the pH was still way too high to put into the brine. This picture is taken in the morning and the pH was 4.8.  I was happy with that.

6. Each cheese was between 360gms and 380 grams so I'm going to put them in saturated brine for 3 hours (supposed to be 4 hours per 500 gms).

[OzzieCheese]

Finally how the whole event played out.. Hope that helps.  Pizza with fresh fetta this evening.

-- Mal

[OzzieCheese]

Back in the bath - not sure how long these will stay here.  This is a wonderful cheese for beginners to make as you get to learn how to
1.Basically heat the milk
2. cut and handle the curds
3. use of forms and draining.
4. Use of pH measurement to determine when the next step needs to occur

Best of all

5 you get to eat the cheese from any time after you have salted the cheese - though I would wait a week.

if you really want to make the use of your milk you can make whey Ricotta though, 8 litres of milk will give you only enough whey for about 250 gms of Ricotta. 

-- Mal     

[Defkalionas]

Fetta might looks easy to be made..but..you have to get the taste and texture right..otherwise you got some soft cheese in brine.
Fetta needs to stay in brine from 40-60 days..then its ready to be eaten. Thats where the secret of the feeta cheese is..the cultures keep working for
30 or more days. also..you need to cut the cheese in pieces of about 200gr and packed them in your brine container..You need to open it every day and keep an eye for gas bubbles on the top of the brine.. meaning the cultures are working..
Hope that helps

[OzzieCheese]

Awesome information - much appreciated.  I had to struggle with the brine leaching out calcium and making the cheese slimy. I redid the brine and redressed the cheese by removing the 'slimy' bit and placing back in the brine. It's been there a week now with no further leaching.  I plan to age the cheese out to 4-5 weeks.
The cheeses in the photo are about 350 gms.

-- Mal

[Defkalionas]

The slime in the brine can be mostly 3 things i think.
1. Your cheese has too much humidity inside.
2. The cheese is undercooked..
3. The brine solution is week..
Use 12% brine for feta.
Try those and let me know.
Thanks