Author Topic: 2nd cheese of the season...parmesan  (Read 2816 times)

Likesspace

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2nd cheese of the season...parmesan
« on: October 27, 2009, 11:43:46 PM »
Although I had planned on making a swiss today I instead decided to go with a parmesan. My reasoning behind this was.....well, a parmesan just felt more right than a swiss did (shrugs).
This is only the 3rd parmesan that I've tried and so far I haven't had a lot of luck.
My first was a total failure. When I read that it was made with skim milk, I took this literally. I used ZERO fat milk and the resulting curd was comparable to gravel. Needless to say, this parmesan went into the trash.
My second attempt looked a lot better right up until the time that it became infected with proprionic shermanii.
After about a month in the cave I noticed some pretty decent swelling and could not for the life of me figure out why it was happening.
Well after several months I cut into this cheese and gave it a taste. Guess what, it tasted exactly like a swiss and had a pretty decent swiss texture. Of course it also had the tiny little eyes that I've become accustomed to but that's another story.
Well today I followed the same recipe as before with the exception of adding lipase and using animal rennet instead of vegetable rennet.
I also used a mixture of both 2% and whole milk in equal proportions.
The resulting curd was one of the best I have ever gotten and the cheese went into the press really looking good. I have high hopes for this one as long as it doesn't become infected with unwanted bacteria.
I have to say that I never understood why some chose to use animal rennet over vegetable.
When I first started making cheese I went with the liquid vegetable, probably because it was less expensive.
Well after using this type today, I've decided that I now understand the reasoning and from now on this will be my rennet of choice.
Okay, I'm starting to ramble and my dinner is ready.
I'll keep everyone updated on this cheese once it's ready to cut.

Dave

Sailor Con Queso

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Re: 2nd cheese of the season...parmesan
« Reply #1 on: October 28, 2009, 02:42:23 AM »
Looks like your back in the swing of things. What's next?

Tea

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Re: 2nd cheese of the season...parmesan
« Reply #2 on: October 28, 2009, 08:46:18 PM »
A Parm is what I am hoping to make this weekend.  My recipe calls for half full cream and half skim, so that is what I am going with.  Any pitfalls I should know about before I start on this one.  Oh what pressure should I use?  The mould is a 7in, and hopefully the cheese will be about 2-3 inches when pressed.  My recipe just says, press overnight.  Not much help.

Haven't tried the animal rennet myself, but might have to after reading your post.

Likesspace

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Re: 2nd cheese of the season...parmesan
« Reply #3 on: October 30, 2009, 01:18:38 AM »
Sailor:
I'm not really sure what I will do next. I have to work this weekend so my time in the kitchen will be limited.
I'm thinking probably either a Manchego or a Stirred Cheddar but right now everything is up in the air.
I'm dying to make a batch of Camembert and also a Stilton. One of those styles might be more suited to the time I have available this weekend.

Tea:
As for the pressing weights to use, my recipe gives the following information:
Press at 10 lbs. for 30 minutes.
Flip and re-dress and then press at 25 lbs.  for 12 hours.
Now although I usually follow directions pretty closely this time I did variate from the recipe.
Since I use an air press, I was concerned with the line pressure coming out of the regulator but the equivalent weights and times I used for my 7-1/2" mold were:
35 lbs. for 20 minutes
flip, re-dress
35 lbs. for an additional 20 minutes
flip re-dress
88 lbs. for 6 hours
flip re-dress
100 lbs. for 6 hours
I did take these weights a little beyond what I normally use for this size of mold but I wanted to make sure that all whey was expelled from this cheese.
For the first couple of hours a LOT of whey came out of the wheel.
On the final 2 presses I probably didn't get over a teaspoon of whey out of the wheel.
I don't know that this was the correct thing to do but it will only be about 10 months or so before I can give you a definitive answer. :)
Hope this helps and good luck with the parm.

Dave

Likesspace

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Re: 2nd cheese of the season...parmesan
« Reply #4 on: October 30, 2009, 01:21:35 AM »
Tea....
I just re-read my post and wanted to add something else...
I really don't know that you need to use the extreme amount of weight that I used.
I do feel that with a 7" mold you will need to increase your weight but the main thing is to keep the curd nice and warm right up until the time that you press the cheese.
I try to drain the curd really quickly and then hit it with the first press as soon as possible. Since I've been doing this I have not had a problem with the wheel knitting together nicely.

Dave

Tea

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Re: 2nd cheese of the season...parmesan
« Reply #5 on: October 31, 2009, 10:09:47 PM »
Ok going to give this a go today.  Curds setting as I type.