Author Topic: driekus's 1st Feta  (Read 2715 times)

driekus

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driekus's 1st Feta
« on: December 25, 2009, 06:32:17 PM »
Well I finally got around to making my first cheese, a nice feta based on the recipe in the recipe section here. I got a pretty nice clean break so that Im very happy that the rennet worked :) I didnt make a starter for my meso culture but it should be all good I hope :)
So I thought id throw up some pictures of my first cheese making. You will notice the only downside is that the curds dont appear as firm as I would have hoped for, you can see in the first diagram when I went to stir the curds they didnt maintain a nice firm shape. Not sure if this is normal or not though.
I did use lipase, although I lacked Wayne and Johns 1lb bags  ;D

Offline DeejayDebi

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Re: driekus's 1st Feta
« Reply #1 on: December 25, 2009, 06:34:52 PM »
Congrats driekus! Looks to be a very sucessful first cheese!

driekus

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Re: driekus's 1st Feta
« Reply #2 on: December 25, 2009, 07:07:55 PM »
The only difficulty I had was figuring out the whole brining process. The recipe talked about 10-15% brine solution whilst another source quoted 1 1/2 cups per quart of water and then then refrigerated the brine solution. At this point you are right at the solubility point of NaCl in water. I know it is important to have a fairly concentrated brine solution, to limit the dissolving of the cheese into the water.

Cheese Head

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Re: driekus's 1st Feta
« Reply #3 on: January 02, 2010, 09:05:54 PM »
Dreikus, congrats on first cheese, looks great!

I've found that if I cook a little longer before draining then I get a firmer Feta.

Offline DeejayDebi

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Re: driekus's 1st Feta
« Reply #4 on: January 02, 2010, 10:07:38 PM »
After reviewing the photos one more time I have to say. I think I want your kitchen. It looks like a very nicely functional kitchen. And big!

driekus

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Re: driekus's 1st Feta
« Reply #5 on: January 02, 2010, 10:27:46 PM »
One of the advantages of granite is that it is very easy to keep clean and sanitary. :) Im very glad I listened to my wife when we bought this place, a functional kitchen is a must. :)

Offline DeejayDebi

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Re: driekus's 1st Feta
« Reply #6 on: January 02, 2010, 10:35:20 PM »
Yes it is! I have a very small kitchen but for the size of the house it's pretty good. Granite is great for making pie crust too.

Tea

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Re: driekus's 1st Feta
« Reply #7 on: January 03, 2010, 08:15:07 PM »
Driekus, that feta looks good.  The poor set is probably due to the quality of milk.  If it is store bought, it should have CaCl2 added.  This will help with the set.  Also the usual brine for feta is between 12-15%, but not so they are swimming in brine, but just so that it is covering.  If you look back to some of my original feta threads, you will see that the container that I store it in, is almost exactly the same size as the cheeses.  That way the cheese doesn't get too salty.  If the cheese is too salty, just soak in milk for an hour or so, before serving.   HTH