Author Topic: semi lactic cow's milk  (Read 2415 times)

clherestian

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semi lactic cow's milk
« on: October 24, 2010, 09:01:28 PM »
I have made a few batches of semi-lactic cheeses with my jersey milk. They are basically like semi-lactic French style goat cheeses made with cow's milk. One thing I am wondering about - the cream rises to the top before the the milk has coagulated. My question is what should I do with the cream? Here are the options I think I have - not sure which is best:

1) Can I just mix the cream in with the curds as I ladle them into the hoops? The cream is thickened, so it does stay in the hoops.

2) Should I try to ladle off the cream? I've tried that, and it is tough to get it all. If I do ladle it, when should I do it?

3) Can I add a little more rennet to make the milk coagulate before the cream separates? Right now, I am adding one drop per gallon or two. How much more rennet would I add and how does that affect the final cheese?

Thanks in advance.

linuxboy

  • Guest
Re: semi lactic cow's milk
« Reply #1 on: October 24, 2010, 10:19:27 PM »
I homogenize with a mixer after draining. But, I drain in bags for lactic cow milk.

Another option for you is to acidify to 6.0 before adding rennet and add 4-5 ml/100 liters milk. You'll get a faster set and more even distribution. Still will have layers, though.

clherestian

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Re: semi lactic cow's milk
« Reply #2 on: October 25, 2010, 12:14:33 AM »
You mean with a kitchen mixer? Like an electric egg beater?

linuxboy

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Re: semi lactic cow's milk
« Reply #3 on: October 25, 2010, 12:53:08 AM »
Anything you have on hand that mixes at a low enough speed to not introduce too much air into the mix. Think cheesecake, similar idea, slow mix... not supposed to be whipped, just homogenized. Even spoon or whisk would work. Point is to get the fat and moisture and protein all distributed evenly. It will make the curd creamy and very very delicate, so mold and demold carefully. Put on a mat so there's air circulation because it's tough to flip the first few days.
« Last Edit: October 25, 2010, 01:29:42 AM by linuxboy »

tnsven

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Re: semi lactic cow's milk
« Reply #4 on: October 27, 2010, 05:24:52 PM »
I've had success with semi lactic cow's milk cheese and a spoon. Post some shots when you do it!


clherestian

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Re: semi lactic cow's milk
« Reply #5 on: November 14, 2010, 01:07:21 AM »
I made some of these semi-lactic cow's cheeses again. I tasted one after about three weeks, and it is ok, but a little bitter or sour. I was wondering if someone can help me figure out why. For the culture, I used MM100. I only added one drop of calf rennet for two gallons of milk. For the surface I added PC, little geo and a little KL71. The surface bloomed nicely, and I am happy with the rind.

I drained the curds around 4.5 ph - maybe a tad lower. Then I put them in 3" chevre hoops for around 12 hrs, flipping several times. I took them out of the hoops and salted. Then I let the surface dry at room temp for two days. Then let them dry in fridge for another day. At that point, I put them in the 90-95% humidity chamber. Its now been three weeks, and they are covered in a nice bloom and just got wrapped yesterday.

Does anyone see anything that might make my cheese bitter/sour?
« Last Edit: November 14, 2010, 10:37:48 AM by clherestian »

Myrrh

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Re: semi lactic cow's milk
« Reply #6 on: November 14, 2010, 07:56:33 PM »
How long do you leave the culture and rennet before draining, and at what temp? I make this cheese a lot and have used quite a few different permutations of the recipe. It pretty much always turns out good, so I am not quite sure what would cause the problem. I hope you can solve the problem, because I find it to be a tasty and usually easy little cheese.
With respect to your earlier questions, I generally mix after draining to homogenize everything, but you can definitely try going higher then 1 drop rennet per 2 gallons of milk. I have used that amount before and things turned out fine, but I generally use 1 drop rennet per liter (from Alex's recipe) these days.
Good luck!

clherestian

  • Guest
Re: semi lactic cow's milk
« Reply #7 on: November 14, 2010, 10:43:59 PM »
It was room temp, about 70F. I let it sit about 10 hours after adding culture and rennet. I added the amount of culture that I thought would get it right in 10 hours.

Myrrh

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Re: semi lactic cow's milk
« Reply #8 on: November 15, 2010, 03:29:18 PM »
It's hard to imagine that those temps/times would give you a sour or bitter flavor, but you might try longer or warmer next time. I've used two different recipes as a starting point for this type of cheese. The first is Alex's recipe that goes for 24 hours at about 72 degrees, and the second comes from Ricki Carol's book that suggests starting at 86 degrees and going for 12 hours. It's hard to believe that too short or too cool an incubation would give you a sour or bitter cheese, but that is pretty much the only thing I do differently other then not adding the KL71 (not familiar with that one). Maybe someone more knowledgeable then I (which is most people around here) will pipe in. I hope you get it to work!