Water Bath Havarti Experiment

[DeejayDebi]

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 dill

Transfer 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

[deb415611]

Thanks Debi.  I am planning on Havarti for my next cheese and I think I'll stay away from this recipe for the time being.  Is the Peter Dixon recipe you use the one on his website?   (interesting, the address he has on his website is probably 10 minutes away from where my parents live)     

Also, is there an area on the forum with known or possible errata for the different books & websites? Debi's question on the culture amount above and the temp question on the gouda post this week made me go looking for one.     If there is I missed it , if not it might be a good idea for for a section in the  or some stickied threads.   

[DeejayDebi]

As an update .... I think I saved the cheese. This morning it was nice and firm yet rubbery as havarti should be. Now it's just a matter of what it will taste like in a month or so.
 
I think this procedure has to be watched very carefully and timing is something that can't be set by the watch but by experience and careful observation.  It did seem to work well even though I felt I had to change some of the parameters.  I think the cheese would have dissinigrated if I waited for the timing markers as listed in the recipe. I felt I saw visual indications that the cheese needed to move to the next step and proceeded accordingly.

I think I will try to combine this process a bit with Peter Dixson recipe but shorten the timelines. Ricci's cultures are way to expensive. I did shave a piece and it tastes about right for this phase.

[Tea]

Watching this one Debi.  Mine were only in the water 2 or 3 hours from memory, and I have none of the experiences that you mention.  The cheese never felt bloated, or slimy.  Interesting to see how it goes from here.  Are you going to let a natural rind form, or bag it?

[DeejayDebi]

I am not sure bloated is a good word but it felt so delicate that I almost though my fingers would punch through the cheese at the water step. Like you I did not leave it "overnight" I think that would have been to much. AFter drying for a day it seems very nice. I wouldn't have believed it. It looks and feels normal now.

I will let it sit in the cave for awhile then bag it. My mini cave is not big enough to have more than 6 cheeses aging at a time. I will probably not make anymore until next week - although I am in the process of another experiment right now.

[Quesa]

My Havarti felt slimy too, like if I had left it in the water one more minute, it would've dissolved in it.

I would describe it as being "creamy" on the outside.

I thought I would have problems with it, being my first Havarti and all. My problem was the wetness of it and a weird milky smell.

But, as it's aged over three weeks now, it smells like good cheese but still has a little oozing.

That I helped by placing a folded paper towel inside the vacuum bag. I change it every two days and it keeps the bag from loosing the suction and the cheese from being wet.

I had air dried it after the brining, when I first made it, and then after two weeks. I salted according to directions.

Anyhow, I'll keep posting about how it goes.

[DeejayDebi]

Thanks Quesa. I did find that creamy slimy feel kind of strange but once I dried it and let it sit over night it looks and feels great. I can't imagine doing the water bath over night you have creamy whey by morning.