Butterkäse (Buttercheese)

[CheeseSnipe]

Yep those are the other two recipes I used to blend with philipc's translated one. It seemed they all had similarities but with some distinct differences.

I haven't heard of the red but I know that brick cheese (very similar to butterkase) has a red washed version and a brined version. I've never tried the red washed (b linens) but it's supposed to be similar to a light Limburger. The one I buy locally is very mild and does not have a colored rind of any kind (much less a rind at all). It's not as flavorful as the butterkase and appears to be shipped in plastic so that it doesn't develop a hard rind. But its pretty good to munch on when you aren't looking for a distinct flavor. I also found it to be more dense with less air space than butterkase.

[JeffHamm]

Here's a youtube video link, where the fellow is talking about butterkase.  Early on there's a shot of the cheese in the packaging and you can see the reddish rind.  (The video is quite funny as the guy is obviously struggling to get the cheese out of the wrapper, but keeps chatting away).  Anyway, I've not seen any mention of a wash being put on this and the rind is always described as natural.

- Jeff

[DeejayDebi]

Bella posted a recipe for butterkase about a year or so ago that was very good. You might try searching for it under Bella  maybe?

[JeffHamm]

Hi CheeseSnipe,

Just wondering how this turned out?  Do you have any photos? 

- Jeff

Oh yah, found this recipe as well on DeejayDebie's smoke pit" forum.  She includes a soak in water prior to brining, which I don't think is in the previous recipies.

4 gallons whole milk
1 quart heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon Thermophilic Type B starter
Calves Rennet
 
Warm  milk to 96°F
Add starter stir and allow to ripen for 30 minutes.
Raise heat to 107°F
mix rennet with 1/4 cup of pure water
check for clean break then cut curd into 1/2 inch cubes.
Allow curds to rest for 5 minutes then stir gently for 15 minutes.
Allow curds to settle to the bottom then remove 1/3 of the whey.
Replace whey with equal volume of water at 140°F.
Stir curds for about 45 minutes then drain into cloth line mold.
Press lightly with 10 pounds of weight
Soak in plain water for about 20 minutes then brine in 1/2 gallon water and 2 cups of salt for 2 hours.
Air dry and age at 50°F and RH of 80% for 1 to 2 months or more.
 
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[CheeseSnipe]

Jeff I'll give this one a try too.

As for the other recipe it turned out ok. A bit too firm from pressing too heavily and a tad bit bland, so I'm letting it age another month to try again. But overall its ok. I have made some changes to the recipe and hope to make it again soon, just been too busy.  (A whole week of no cheese making is giving me the twitches)

[JeffHamm]

It is supposed to be quite mild, so bland compared to other cheeses.  It should have a cheesey flavour though.  I've seen that it's eatable at 1 month, but is mature at 3 when the flavours start to develope more. 

I'm working on combining the 4 recipies posted here as well.  Will be interesting to compare notes.  I've not tried to make it yet, but I probably will after I try and distill the idea from these variations.

- Jeff

[philipc]

I made the butterkaese on 1/8/2011 and tried it on 3/14/2011. I wanted to wait exactly 3 months before trying it (oh well).
Yes it has a very mild taste. Milder than Gouda, but this is how the German ButterKaese is supposed to taste. Northern Germans eat it sliced on rye bread topped with tomatoes or pickles, or Schinken, (German equivalent  to Prosciutto). Some even use it on homemade pizza.
I waxed it to keep it from drying out in my cheese cave (garage refrigerator). I used direct set meso culture and direct set thermo culture. The initial milk temp was raised to 108F before adding the cultures. I believe the meso only kicks in during the aging process as the initial temp is a bit too high for it to aide in lowering the PH.
For me the hardest part was maintaining 108F while draining it for 3 hours. Actually I reached the the end PH of 5.3 after only two hours.
 

[JeffHamm]

Thanks for the update philipc.  As you can see in the previous discussion, we wondered about the meso as well given the temperatures.   

- Jeff

[JeffHamm]

Hi,

Ok, here's what I've come up with based upon combining the 4 recipies listed earlier.  I've tried to indicate why I've made the choices I have, so that if my reasoning is incorrect I can be corrected.

- Jeff

Butterkase
Ingrediants
Whole milk
200 ml mesophilic & 100 ml Thermophillic (meso for aging; flora dancia)
CaCl
Rennet

1)   Heat to 35 (low temp for slow acid development)
2)   Add culture
3)   Ripen for 20 minutes (not too much acid, don’t want a “tang” or crumbly cheese)
4)   Raise temperate to 40 (middle of the ranges)
5)   Add rennet
6)   Use 3.5 floc multiplier, trying to get a moist cheese
7)   Cut into 1 cm cubes (perhaps first into 3 cm cubes, then wait, then cut again)
8 )   Let curds rest 5 minutes
9)   curds settle and remove 1/3 whey
10)   add 60 C water until you reach 42 C
11)   stir 45 minutes
12)   move to mold
13)   press lightly 4.5 kg (10 lbs) 6 hours
14)   20 minutes fresh water then 1/2 gallon + 2  cups salt brine for 2 hours

[JeffHamm]

Oh, and here's the information collated : a) b) etc, refer to the different recipies, in case anyone else wants to look them over:

Butterkase:
Ingrediants
a) 10 L cow milk b) ? c) 4 gallons whole milk + 1 quart cream d) 12-15 L milk
a) 200 ml mesophilic & 100 ml yogurt / b) Thermophillic c) Thermophillic d) “culture”
CaCl
Rennet

1)   Heat to a) 42 b) 35 c) 36 0C D) 39
2)   Add culture
3)   Ripen for a) 8 minutes b) 20 minutes c) 30 minutes d) 45 minutes
4)   Raise temperate to a) 42 – maintain b) 40-42 c) 42 d) 39 - maintain
5)   Add rennet
6)   Wait a) 12 minutes until clean break b) ? c) clean break d) clean break
7)   Cut into a) 5 cm cubes, then again to 1 cm b) small squares c) ½ inch d) ½ inch
8 )   Let curds rest a) short while b) ? c) 5 minutes d) Stir 15 minutes
9)   a) move curds to mold … goto 14
10)   b) curds settle and drain excess whey c) remove 1/3 whey d) remove 1/3 whey
11)   b) add in water c) replace removed whey with 600C water d) add hot water until 420C
12)   b) stir 45 minutes c) Stirr 45 minutes d) stir 10 minutes & settle
13)   b) move to mold c) move to mold d) drain whey and move to mold
14)   a) flip mold every 30 minutes slowing to 1/hour until 6 hours past B) C) press lightly (10 lbs) 6 hours d) press at increasing pressure until 45 lbs 12 hours (flip & redress twice)
15)   a) 16% brine solution 5 hours or dry salt B) C) 20 minutes fresh water then 1/2 gallon + 2  cups salt brine for 2 hours d) brine 12 hours / 2 lbs

[JeffHamm]

Well, I've tried making this using the recipe I listed 2 posts earlier.  For starter, I put in 2 ice cubes of meso (FD) and 1 ice cube of thermo.  The floc time was about 11.5 minutes, and when I cut the curds they were very very soft and fragile.  Next time I think I'll double or even tripple the amount (1 ice cube, I realised later, is only aobut 30 ml).

Anyway, I still think it went pretty well, so I'll researve judgement until the day of tasting.

- Jeff
P.S. Here are my make notes.  It's still in the press and a lot of whey is being pressed out (5 kg weights).  Hope I don't fall asleep before it's time to take it out of the press.

Butterkase (mine): March 19th, 2001
9L homebrand standard milk
1L homebrand cream
¼ tsp CaCl
0.7 ml Rennet

Start time: 12:45
1)   Warm to 35 C ( hit 35.5 at 1:17)
2)   Add 2 ice cubes Meso (FD) and 1 ice cube thermo
3)   Ripen 20 minutes (target time 1:37 actual time 1:37)
4)   Raise temperature to 40 C (reached at 1:38 actual temp: 40.2) (added CaCl here)
5)   Add 0.7 ml rennet (1:42)
6)   Floc time = 11m 30s  3.5 * floc = 40m 15s min until cut
7)   Cut at 2:18:15 (oops! 4 min short, so this was only 3.1x) into 3 cm cubes wait 5 then cut into 1 cm cubes (curd very soft)
8 )   Curds settle 5 minutes, then removed approx 2 litres of whey
9)   Curds were breaking up when stirring (next time use more starter; 6:3 cubes)
10)   add 60 C water until you reach 42 C (actual 42.5)
11)   stir 45 minutes
12)   move to mold quickly
13)   press lightly (5 kg) 6 hours (flipped after 1 hour)

[CheeseSnipe]

I made my Exp v2 of this last weekend. I started at 108F rather than 95 and then raising. I also split into two batches, one pressed and one just flipped. The unpressed on turned into a slimy mess after a couple days. The pressed I only used ~5lbs since the last batch I made was too firm. Seems ok. Will report back in a month or so.

[CheeseSnipe]

Jeff, I tasted my first butterkase again last night. Much better than last month. Still not as buttery but the texture had softened up quite a bit. Initially I was worried it was too firm.

[JeffHamm]

Hi,

That looks really good.  So by is that 2 months and it's much imrproved over 1?  I think most recipes seem to indicate improvements up to 3 months, so if you save a bit and try again in another month it should be at its best.  I used Flora Danica as the meso, which should increase the buttery notes, provided it continues to work during aging as the temperatures of the make are a bit high for it.

Thanks for the update.

- Jeff

[JeffHamm]

Hi CheeseSnipe,

It's been warm and humid here the past few days, so I had moved mine into the "cave".  Today, however, it cooled down so I brought it out again.  It has a very strong buttery aroma, so if that's indicative of the flavour this one seems to be living up to it's name.  I'm very curious about how this one turns out, and yours has given me some hope.  I still have over 3 weeks to go before reaching the 1 month mark, but there are promising signs already.

- Jeff