John's Cheese #046 - Havarti #2, Caraway Flavored

[Cheese Head]

This is my second Havarti cheese making, records of first posted here. This one with the addition of caraway seeds.

MILK CULTURING

• Aug 28, 2009, 11:20AM: Poured four 1 US gallon jugs of store bought pasteurized homogenized whole cow's milk from store into stockpot on smallest gas burner ring on stove. Started warming slowly (stirring occasionally to reduce hot spot on bottom).
• Aug 28, 2009, 11:40AM: Readings 65F/18.4C & 5.78 pH (on my uncalibrated cheap gauge). Measured 1.07 gram Danisco's Choozit Brand DVI Mesophilic Starter Culture MM100 onto mini digital scale, (roughly 3.5 times manufacturers up to recommendation as mine is now 1 year old). Tapped off onto milk, let rehydrate a few minutes, stirred with slotted ladle.
• Aug 28, 2009, 12:30PM: Milk warmed to target 31C/88F, measured ph at 5.79, turned off heat, covered and set aside 30 minutes for culture to ripen.

CARAWAY SEED PREPARATION

• Aug 28, 2009, 12:30PM: While waiting for milk to ripen, measured 3 tablespoons of Caraway Seeds on digital scale, weighed 20.5 grams. Placed in small saucepan with 1 cup water and boiled for 15 min, tasted, semi-soft, set aside.

CURD MAKING

• Aug 28, 2009, 1:00PM: Measurements 31C/88F, 5.78 pH, additives time:
• As milk pasteurized, to standardize - help coagulation, trickled and stirred in 1 teaspoon/5 ml diluted CaCl2.
• To give cheese the typical Havarti cream colour, diluted 20 drops Annatto food colouring in 2/3 cup water, trickled and stirred into milk.
• Measured 0.38 gram CHR Hansen Brand powdered rennet onto mini digital scale, diluted in 1 cup cool water, trickled into milk and stirred in thoroughly for 1 minute and then stopping swirl with ladle. Covered, set aside for curd to set, set timer and went for afternoon nap. Sugar! Realized forgot to add cooled Caraway water before adding rennet, too late now, will have to add later.
• Aug 28, 2009, 2:00PM: Good curd set, cut curd into ~0.4"/10 mm square rods with bread knife, let rest 10 minutes, then stirred gently intermittently for 15 minutes. Let rest at end for curds to sink. Measurements 88.0F/31.0C, whey pH at 5.65.

CURD WASHING

• Aug 28, 2009, 2:30PM: With measuring cup, removed whey equal to one third of original milk volume.
• Aug 28, 2009, 2:35PM: Boiled water in kettle, poured boiling water and cold tap water into bowl to bring up to 130F/54.4C and added to curds until volume of whey replaced and curds-whey-water at slightly higher than target at 102F/39C.
• Aug 28, 2009, 2:50PM: Stirred in 30 grams of salt and then stirred intermittently, gently for 30 min to stop matting, then let curds settle to the bottom of vat for 5 min.

PRESSING

• Aug 28, 2009, 3:20PM: Removed and drained whey until 2 in/5 cm covering over curds, stirred curds hard, drained remaining whey. Curds are consistency of scrambled eggs. Drained remaining whey, poured in Caraway Seeds and boiling water, moxed with slotted laddle, had to slice up curds as knitting and forming a mat.
• Aug 28, 2009, 3:30PM: Placed drained curds in new 1.5-2.0 kg Kadova mold, placed follower on cheese and pressed with 10 pound/4.5 kg weight for 10 minutes.
• Aug 28, 2009, 3:40PM: Turned cheese, replaced weight and pressed for another 10 minutes.
• Aug 28, 2009, 3:50PM: Turned cheese, changed weight to 30 lb stepladder.
• Aug 28, 2009, 4:15PM: Turned cheese, replaced 30 lb stepladder weight.
• Aug 28, 2009, 6:00PM: Turned cheese, replaced 30 lb stepladder weight.

SALTING

• Aug 28, 2009, 9:30PM: After 6 hours, removed cheese from press, placed in saturated brine bath for overnight bath.
• Aug 29, 2009, 7:30AM: Removed cheese from saturated brine after 10 hours (2.5 hours per pound of cheese) and placed on mat to dry.

AGING

• Aug 29, 2009: Age 1 day. Weighed 1.86 kg/4.09 pounds, placed cheese on mat in plastic box with Havarti #1 in cheese cave fridge with lid cracked to control humidity.
• Sep 1, 2009: Age 4 days. Checked, no mold, have been bathing in saturated brine bath from kitchen cold fridge for 4 mintes every 3 days and placing on clean mat in clean plastic box back in cheese fridge with lid on but cracked.
• Sep 17, 2009: Age 20 days. Checked, good wild Geotrichum candidum mold getting stronger (picture below).
• Sep 30, 2009: Age 33 days. Checked, good wild Geotrichum candidum mold getting stronger, but also let stay too moist and have some blue mold, brushed off (picture below).
• Oct 08, 2009: Age 42 days. Checked, heavy wild white Geotrichum candidum mold and some bad blue mold (picture below), also found cheese was getting too moist on bottom, presumably as high humidity cannot escape welll on one thin mat. Brushed off and placed back on mat in humidity box in cheese cave fridge.
• Oct 19, 2009: Age 53 days. Checked, still fine wild white Geotrichum candidum mold blue mold (picture below), cut cheese with cheese wire, very hard rind, needed knife to start. Pate is harder than store bought Havarti, caraway seeds seem to have shrunk leaving small vacancies in cheese, taste is great, too many caraway seeds, overpowers flavor of cheese.

NOTES

• Next time, use ~30% less Caraway Seeds and oil rind to try and get moister interior.

[Cheese Head]

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Pictures #6 to go here . . .

[johnmelanson]

What was the ph when it went into the brine, and what was the ph of the brine?  I've had a problem with too low of ph at the brining time (about 4.5)

[Cheese Head]

zenith1, good question/obseravtion, I just split off your post into a new thread here as I thought it was worth it's own subject.

[Cheese Head]

What was the ph when it went into the brine, and what was the ph of the brine?  I've had a problem with too low of ph at the brining time (about 4.5)

JohnM, sorry, I only have this cheapo pH gauge and I think it only reads liquids' pH at least I don't know how to read a solid cheese's pH, so I don't have that reading.

Also, dumb, I did not but should have taken a pH of brine before and after. The brining was done overnight in my cheese cave @ 55F, but the brine I used was previously used in 3 other brined cheeses and stored in large plastic container in cold household fridge.

Wow, 4.5 is very low!

[susanne]

john that looks great.
what kind of weight did you use?
i normally use the disc for body builder
sometimes i have to stack so high and is difficult to balance it right.

[DeejayDebi]

Looks really nice John. I have never tried caraway seeds in my Havarti might be a nice change. I think I am hooked on dill though.

How'd you like the molds? Easy to use aren't they?

[Cheese Head]

susanne, I initially used a 10 kg hand dumbell, then removed and went with one end of heavy folding stepladder in picture above, it's very stable as I'm afraid of more balanced type weight systems as can topple over doing damage.

Debi, new molds from you worked great, made a new thread about them .

[DeejayDebi]

I can't wait for the tasting! Gee I wonder how fennel would be in cheese?

[Tea]

John that cheese looks like a winner.