This is my first Chaource making, based on Peter Dixon's website's recipe and
Debra 200's recipe.
Before making I researched a little and
posted info here, in summary Chaource is a lactic type cheese with minimum 50% fat in solids portion and a P candidum rind.
Peter Dixon's recipe says to use milk with 5% milkfat, Debra's says to just use whole milk (
which ranges from 3.5-5.5% when raw depending on cow breed). I used 2 US gallons of store bought manufactured Lucerne Brand pasteurized and homgenized whole cow's milk which Wiki says has
3.25% milkfat. To boost the final cheeses fat content I used 1 US pint/0.5 liters of store bought ultra-pasteurized cow's whipping cream whose label said it was 36% milkfat. So I calculate my milk has roughly 7.6 liters x 3.25% milkfat = 0.247 liters of milkfat to which I added 0.5 l x 36% = 0.18 liter milkfat, so I have a total of 0.427 liters milkfat in 8.1 liters which works out at ~5.3% milkfat, so should be good.
RECORDS- Nov 7, 2009, 5:30PM:
- Poured 2 US gallon jug of store bought pasteurized homogenized whole cow's milk from store (that had been sitting in sink 1 hour to warm) into stockpot on small gas burner on stove.
- Added 1/2 US quart/500 ml of ultra-pasteurized cow's whipping cream.
- Warmed slightly over target to 27C/80F, 5.28 pH (on my uncalibrated meter (does UP whipping cream have low pH?).
- On to milk sprinkled 1/8 teaspoon/1.25 ml of Danisco's Choozit Brand DVI Mesophilic Starter Culture MM100 (as have no Aroma type culture) plus few puffs of Geotrichum candidum and Penicllium candidum molds.
- Let rehydrate a few minutes then stirred in with slotted ladle.
- As milk pasteurized, to slight rennet coagulation, trickled and stirred in 0.125 teaspoon/0.6 ml diluted CaCl2.
- Measured ~0.08 gram (75% normal amount) CHR Hansen Brand powdered rennet onto mini digital scale (hard to measure as very small amount), diluted in 1/4 cup cool water, trickled into milk and stirred in thoroughly for 1 minute and then stopping swirl with ladle.
- Covered, set aside for lactic acid to build overnight.
- Nov 8, 2009:
- 9:30AM: Measured temp at 79F/26C and pH at 4.25, below 4.5, good, ladled into my DairyConnection.com 10 liter/2.6 US gallon draining bag, fit but just and no room to do my normal fold over top for hooks, placed bag in colander in sink to partially drain whey and lighten bag. Also, curd shattered as was ladled out, such that final curds I just poured into bag.
- 10:30AM: Some whey drained, hung bag from hook to gravity drain better.
- 4:30PM: Removed cheese from bag, stirred to homogenize the consistency (cheese against walls of bag is drier), and placed half into 2 camembert hoops on mats on draining board. Did not place more as cheese extruding out weep holes.
- 6:00PM: Turned cheeses and added more curd, a mess.
- Nov 9, 2009:
- 6:00AM: Turned cheeses.
- 5:00PM: Turned cheeses.
- 6:00PM: Removed hoops.
- 6:30PM: Cheeses fell and whey expelled
, washed hoops, scooped cheese back into hoops, sprinkled each cheese with 1.5 teaspoons of salt (left out 1 teaspoon for cheese in bowl) and placed in ripening box in cheese cave.
- Nov 9, 2009: Turned and removed cheeses from hoops, very poor shape!
NOTES- I need to install a drawstring on draining bag, or buy a bigger one.
- Next time increase rennet amount to get curds like in French Chaource cheese making video and then ladle directly into molds with no draining bag step.
