I tried the water bath Havarti last night. So Far I am not impressed but we shall see after it ages if it doesn't go sour first. Unless it some how tastes incredible good after aging I will stick to my normal recipe with is basically the one from Peter Dixson.
NOTE: To make it a fair test I bought NE Cheese ingredients from the local brew shop. They are pricey for what you get. As prices as Ricci's site.
Water Bath Havarti - by Jim Wallace
- Heat 7 Gallons of raw milk to 86°F
- Add 3.5 packs C101 culture and let the milk ripen for 45 minutes.
(the recipe claims 1 pack for 4 gallons but the packets claim 1 pack for 2 gallons - another typo?)- Add 1-3/4 teaspoons calf rennet diluted in 1/4 cup cool water, stir in for 1 minute. and let rest quiet for about a 36 minute set. Took about 40 minutes.
- Check for curd firmness and Cut to 3/8", let rest 3-5 minutes and then stir for 15 minutes.
- After initial stir 1/3 (total milk volume) of the whey is drained off and curd stirred for 15 minutes.
- Then 15-25% (total milk volume) hot water at 130°F is added over 10 minutes.
- The temp of curd should reach 95-100°F, depending on the final moisture content desired.
Temperature 98°F- Add 1 oz salt and stir curd for another 15-30 minutes.
- Drain whey from curd by transferring to a colander and keeping curd well broken up ... this is the point where any herbs should be added.
Added 2 tablespoons fresh chopped dillTransfer to a cloth lined mold (M-19) and add 8 lbs of weight for 15-20 min then increase to 16 lbs for the next 2 hours.
(Used the 2.4 kg kadova moulds instead of a tomme mold)... turn the cheese and rewrap at 15_15_15_60_60_60_90 minutes. (5.25)
Do to a late start (I was also smoking pastrami, chicken, ABTs and a point) it was pressed overnight for about 10 hours with about 10 pounds.- At pH 6.0-5.8 molds submerged in 65F water until next morning.
Soaked in plain water for 5 hours and pulled it due to the cheese looking and feeling strangely spongy and bloated. Proceeded to the brine step. -The next day the final pH at 24 hours = 5.2.
24 hours from when??-The cheese should be brined for 5-6 hrs and then the surface dried off.
Now I would normally brine in the whey but I think after soaking in plain water "to stop acidification" I am guessing they intended this to be just salt water. So I brined the cheeses in a mixture of 1.25 pounds of salt to 1.5 gallons of water. The brining was cut short after for 4 hours and pulled it due to the cheese getting slimy and looking like it might self destruct if I didn’t.
It is air drying now. - The cheese is ripened while turning daily and wiping with a light brine (1tsp salt in a quart of water) every 2-3 days.
- Keep temperature ...59°F and 90% RH for 5 weeks (young) or 10-14 weeks (mature).
Then 1 Week @ 54F 80% RH