Parmesan Recipe question

[woodsman]

In the recipe posted at the end of this forum it says:

Dilute rennet in 1/2 cup cool water, then slowly trickle into the milk stirring constantly with a whisk. Stir for at least 5 minutes.

http://cheeseforum.org/Recipes/Recipe_Parmesan.htm

Is it really necessary to stir the milk for 5 minutes? The last time I stirred the milk this long after adding rennet the resulting curd had very grainy structure and was falling apart when I was cutting it.

[mtncheesemaker]

I'm no expert but most of the recipes that I have used call for stirring the rennet in for 1 minute. I stir with an up and down motion using my flat perforated ladle.

[woodsman]

I'm no expert but most of the recipes that I have used call for stirring the rennet in for 1 minute. I stir with an up and down motion using my flat perforated ladle.

That's exactly what I've always been doing. 1 to 2 minutes at the most, depending on how soon after I started mixing I glanced at the clock and then how vigilant I was to check the clock again while stirring the milk.

[Gina]

That exact parm recipe was one of the first cheeses I ever tried to make and I thought 5 min was what I was supposed to do, so I did it. Either because of that, or something else I had done wrong (many possibilities back then), during that long stir, the whole pot seized up into a big gluey glob in liquid.

Something obviously had gone very wrong, but I proceeded with the 'cooking' and eventually put the glob into a mold, and pressed it for the experience. It came out small and much like a hockey puck. If I had dyed it black, I could have sold it to the NHL.

After aging for a couple months I was able to chisel off a piece, and it had a surprisingly nice taste. It's still in the cheese cave and someday it might make it into a graveyard lasagne for other 'lost' cheeses. Or I might just use it as a doorstop.

Since then I've made other parms and only stir for 1 minute using a timer.

[Sailor Con Queso]

I stir aggressively for just 15 or 20 seconds and then stop the motion of the milk. 5 minutes is just wrong.

[Alex]

I'm doing the same Sailor, that's very correct!!!

[wharris]

I concur with most here.
I stir for no more than 1 min. I make sure that I stir top to bottom as well as side to side.

Also, I use a 40:1 dilution ratio.
That is, if you decide that you need 1ml of rennet, then dillute that 1ml rennet into 40ml of cool distilled water.

[DeejayDebi]

I usually stir for abput a minute or 2. Don't want the milk moving once it starts to gel.

[Gina]

I coincidentally read this earlier today in the book American Farmstead Cheese, The Art of Cheesemaking chapter, by Peter Dixon:

"After rennet is added to the milk, it should be stirred in for a period of time relative to the size of the vat being used. This can be anywhere from 30 seconds for a pot of milk to five minutes for a 3,000-gallon vat. ... The swirling milk should then be slowed down so that it comes to rest as soon as possible. Spend another 30 to 60 seconds using a flat-bladed tool,... to 'break' the motion of the milk."

[linuxboy]

I don't know of anyone who stirs for 5 mins, even when using 20,000 liter vats. Usually, it's dilute, add rennet evenly from the bucket into the vat, and then 2-3 passes with the agitator, paddles turned off. So paddles off, agitator on, and it travels the entire length of the vat up and then back to the original position, and that's it (depends on vat type, sometimes it's 2 passes). Then stop motion with shovels. That doesn't take long, maybe a little over a minute total. Maybe he's seen it done differently. I can't think of a good reason to take 5 minutes, though. I usually take under a minute.

[woodsman]

Perhaps the recipe should be corrected then? Just in case another newbie decides to follow it to the letter?

[DeejayDebi]

Oh Giovanni! We need an edit!

[susanky]

I'm a newbie and appreciate the clarification.  I would've stirred for 5 min.     But already stuck on step 2.  It says get to 100.  Let ripen for 45 min.  Am I holding it at that temp for that 45 minutes it is ripening?

[MrsKK]

Yes, you hold the milk at that temperature, as best you can.  I use a hot water bath to heat my milk and the temp holds pretty well in that situation.  Better than being on a stove burner...which heats the milk up unevenly and cools off too quickly if it is shut off completely.

Good luck!

[susanky]

Thanks Karen.  Holding a temperature is an issue I have been working on.  I tried it in the sink with hot tap water (comes out about 110).  But it cooled too quickly.  I'm thinking of putting some insulation around the sink bowl under the sink.  I still need a 'cheese cave' but working on it.  Then I'm going to branch out.  Can't wait!
Susan