Author Topic: Halloumi Cheese Making - Tips & Tricks  (Read 4899 times)

Chicken man

  • Guest
Halloumi Cheese Making - Tips & Tricks
« on: September 18, 2010, 01:46:28 PM »
Hi folks!!
I wonder if anyone has made Hullomi cheese??
I seems that no starter is required.
Is this the case ?
Have some milk in the pot now and still no curd!!
Ian  :-\

Offline DeejayDebi

  • Old Cheese
  • *****
  • Location: Connecticut
  • Posts: 5,820
  • Cheeses: 106
    • Deejays Smoke Pit and DSP Forums
Re: Halloumi Cheese Making - Tips & Tricks
« Reply #1 on: September 18, 2010, 05:10:09 PM »
Cypriot Halloumi
white, with a distinctive layered texture, similar to mozzarella, and has a salty flavour. It can be fried until brown without melting due to its higher-than-normal melting point Halloumi is the cheese which you will find broiled in a Cypriote, Greek or Middle Eastern mesa. Instead of melting on heating, Halloumi cheese simply hardens. Our Mt Vikos Halloumi is from Pafos on Cyprus and is made from fresh sheep's and goat's milk. The cheese is made in small batches. The curds are hand-filled into individual molds and turned by hand. After an initial cooking, each cheese is hand-folded into a half-moon shape after a sprinkling of local mint is added. Halloumi can be grilled as and appetizer, but when you serve it with honey it becomes a delicious dessert.

Ingredients:
8 pints fresh milk, either goats or ewe or cow
1 Teaspoon Rennet or special cheese rennet 
a little salt if desired


Procedure:
To fresh milk add rennet and leave till set (about 30 minutes.)

Break up and place resulting mass into muslin in about two lots (this depends on the amount of milk used.

Drain any whey from curds back into pan, leave to stand in muslin for about half an hour after which they will be firmer and in oval shape.

Meanwhile bring whey to the boil (any curds which form on the top may be gathered and used fresh (add sugar and cinnamon or placed in muslin and hung to dry to form a hard cheese suitable for grating onto pasta etc.

Once milk has come to the boil, remove soft curds from muslin and place into boiling pan. Simmer gently until the cheese floats to the top, but certainly for approximately 20 minutes. Remove cheese, if liked, sprinkle with salt and fold in half and place a weight on top. Leave in fridge for at leave 2 hours before use. It may be stored in a jar with a small amount of the whey (keep cool).

The remaining whey may be used to boil spaghetti in, when cooked, cooked chicken may be added to form a soup, serve with bread (this is a typical Cypriot lunch, nothing is wasted)

The soft curds which form on the top to which sugar and cinnamon are added can be made in to 'cakes' phylo type pastry is filled with the mixture and then deep fried for a few moments, delicious!

Yield
2-3 rounds of cheese.



Halloumi is a firm squeezes its origins in Cyprus where it is made from sheep or goat milk or a
mixture of both. It can also be made from cow milk.
Starter is not used.
About one kilogram of cheese will be obtained from nine liters of milk (cow)
About one kilogram of cheese will be obtained from four liters of milk (sheep)
Method:
1. If necessary pasteurise the milk by heating to 72°C and cooling immediately to 32°C.
2. Add rennet extract to firm curd in 40–45 minutes.
3. Cut the curd into inch cubes.
4. Stir the curds and whey mixture gently and heat to 38–42°C. Stir for 30 minutes after this temperature
is reached.
5. Allow the curd to settle.
6. Ladle the whey off the curd and scoop the curd into a mold lined with cheese cloth. Press lightly for about
one hour.
7. Heat the collected whey to 80–90°C.
8. Remove the cheese from the press and cut it into 10 cm x 10 cm x 2 cm pieces.
9. Place the curd pieces (flaps) in the boiling water. At first the curd pieces sink but when properly textured (well done)  they float
to the surface (not less than 20 mins). Transfer the pieces to a draining table to cool down a bit.
10. After about 10 minutes the curd pieces are little bit cool. Sprinkle the curd with 3–5% salt and fold
each piece over. to make closed U shape.
And enjoy a wonderful nice squeezy cheese, warm and cold


If the pH of the final curd before boiling is below 6 it will cause texture issues and it may start to loose shape when heated.  Acidity should be low and pH quite high.  It is a forgiving cheese because there is no affinage.  The cultures don't matter much since you really are just getting the milk flavor.  Salting the curd before pressing will help keep the pH up.  Salt levels should be 1.5 to 2% depending on your tastes.


Sorry I can't remeber where this came from...

Cheese Head

  • Guest
Re: Halloumi Cheese Making - Tips & Tricks
« Reply #2 on: September 19, 2010, 02:46:43 AM »
Ian, several threads on Halloumi in the Brine Preserved Board. Once you are in that Board, just search on Halloumi.

No rennet coagulated curd is not a problem specific to Halloumi, some ideas here.

FRANCOIS

  • Guest
Re: Halloumi Cheese Making - Tips & Tricks
« Reply #3 on: September 19, 2010, 03:38:30 AM »
Use citric acid to coagulate.  Rennet at 6.25.  Don't let the curd get below 6 or the cheese will melt when cooked.

Chicken man

  • Guest
Re: Halloumi Cheese Making - Tips & Tricks
« Reply #4 on: September 19, 2010, 04:05:12 AM »
Hi all...
Thanks for your support with this.
Unfortunately i don't have a PH meter !!!
This batch was a  Fail!!.... Oh Nooooo!
Never mind ...I put it in a press and we will see what we get!...lol
will check out the links John...Ta!
Cheers
Ian