made my first parm, a few notes and questions

[Justinmctavish]

I made my first Parm yesterday. There were however a few problems  which I will explain after I describe my procedure.

- I used 4 gallons of 2% milk and let the milk reach 90F
- added the required amount of TA thermo culture and Calcium Chloride
- 1/2 tab of rennet and required lipase
- Floc 20 min and used 2X multiplier
- heated milk slowly to 100F over a 20 min period
- heated milk quickly to 120 over 20 min period
- Pressed at low pressure for 30 minutes flipped pressed at medium pressure for 30 minutes, flipped pressed at medium pressure for 2 hours, flipped and pressed at a high pressure for 12 hours.

First problem was my Floc time I was aiming for about 15 minutes and instead took just over 20 minutes. Any idea why this could be? I have previously used 3/4 of a tab of rennet for 4 gallons of milk, but found this to give me a floc time of about 10-11 minutes. Which I assume is much to quick.

Second problem was the inability to raise my milk temperature to the 124F which the recipe called for instead I got the temperature to around 118-120F. This was due to the issue of using a double boiler method in my sink ( could not keep the outside water temperature hot enough)

As you can see from my photos I achieved a decent knit on the sides of the cheese, The one face of my cheese is perfectly smooth with no defects. The problem is the bottom of the cheese has small fissures which I am having a problem with all my cheeses. It seems that everywhere else gets a good knit except for one face. I am not able to press under whey or keep the heat up around my press as I do not have a big enough pot to hold my press. I assume the not so good knit is due to lack of heat, but I have no way to keep the curds warm under my press. Any ideas?

Quick note he small fissures are disappearing after being in the brine for the last 8 hours which is good. the Cheese is about 2.5-3 pounds how long should it be in the brine for?

[Scarlet Runner]

Regarding keeping curds warm in the mold, I know that Sailor Con Queso has recommended using seedling germination mats wrapped around the mold.  I tried this yesterday for the first time- I have a 6" mold and I wrapped a Sunbeam heating pad + seedling germination mat around the mold, tied a ribbon around it to hold it in place and this seemed to work quite well. They seem to produce temps around 80F, at least on the surface.  I don't know how deep into the cheese it penetrates.

[cheezwhizz]

  Justin,  Ive done a few 4 gal. parms and think a 12 hour soak is just about right for that size cheese. Comes out very tasty but not salty.

    I see in your recipe you used "TA Therm culture" ?    Does that include Lactobacillus helveticus  and Lactobacillus lactis ( LH series)?   or did you use only Streptococcus thermophilus ?

[Justinmctavish]

 hey cheezwhizz I am not exactly sure, I used the only Thermo I have which is the Choosezit TA 62 lyo 50 dcu.. not exactly sure what this entails. Maybe you can tell me
so 12 hours is long enough in the brine? I just weighted my cheese and it is 3 pounds 7 ounces. Considering I only added the TA type culture, what will be the outcome of my poor cheese!!?

[zenith1]

I believe that the TA series is only S. Thermophilus. Do enhance the flavor and get a truer Parm flavor you probably need to add a little L. Helvetius to the party. You can use Danisco's LH series.

[Boofer]

What did you use for a mold? Your cheese appears to have an appendix. 

-Boofer-

[cheezwhizz]

   Justin.  TA62 is straight S. thermophilus.  In order the achieve a Parm flavor, you MUST add LH to the recipe. Heres a very good explanation why, from one of Sailors earlier post.
   
Dairy Connection (and others) recommend a 20/80% blend of TA61(TA62) & LH100 for Italian type cheeses and a 50/50% blend for Alpines. Why? Well the TA61 is a monoculture with just S. thermophilus. It is a fast acid producer, but is not capable of complete lactose breakdown. So, you would never use TA61 by itself. The LH100, used as an adjunct culture to complete the lactose breakdown, contains L. lactis ssp. lactis, a mesophile (also found in MM100) that can withstand higher temperatures in the presence of S. thermophilus. By itself, or in a mesophilic mix, L. lactis typically starts dying off at 104F. However, when L. lactis (with S. thermophilus) is slowly exposed to higher temperatures, a plasmid carrying a unique heat shock gene from the thermophile S. thermophilus is cloned into L. lactis. So even at 130F, the majority will survive. (Lactococcus was once classified as a Streptococcus so they are very similar). Note - this does NOT happen with L. cremoris.
  You don't find this stuff in the simple "recipes".

        If you dont have LH you should get some. Its used in many recipes for hard Italian and Swiss cheeses. Also, The temps are very important. If you miss by a degree or 2 i dont think its a big deal. But 4-6 degree swing sounds like alot. ....If your tap waters not hot enough...Can you turn up the thermostat on the hot water heater??? Or CAREFULLY finish the heating on the stove.

[cheezwhizz]

  Heres my make recipe...Hope it helps

 3 gal. 2% milk  +  1 gal. whole milk...  (or) 4 gals whole milk + 3/4 cup dry non fat milk powder. (this will give the same protein to fat ratio and give a better yield)

  1/4 (-) tsp  TA61

  1/2 (+) tsp  LH100

  1/2 tsp Lipas ( extra sharp)

  1.5 tsp  CACL

  1/2 tsp Veal Rennet
 
  Warm milk to 90F ...add CACL, Lipas, and Cultures....let rippen for 40-45 mins....add rennet and multiply floc. (12 mins. optimal) x 2.25...cut curds to 1/2 inch and let rest 5 mins...then cut to 1/4 inch cubes and let heal for 10 mins....begin to warm slowly and raise temp to about 112-114 in 40 mins..wisk curds to rice size at this point if needed..then raise to 124 in 20 mins....continue at 124 for aprox. 30-40 mins until curds are cooked to proper doneness.( curds will be firm and will crumble rather then smear)...put in warm mold and press under warm whey (maintain 125 degrees) at 20 lbs. for 20 mins...flip and press at 30 lbs. for 30 mins...Final press 60- 80 lbs dry for at least 12 hours (24 hours is better)....do not brine for at least 24 hours from time of make (leave cheese at room temp  for this 24 hours to give cultures a chance to work).

   Brine for 12  hours = 3 hours for each lb of cheese.  Using 1/2 cup mortons coarse kosher salt to 4 cups of whey. And 1/4 tsp of CACL.

   Take out of brine and give cheese a light  dry salt rub..At 30 days oil the rind. Oil again 1 week later. At 60-70 days vac seal. Age at 50-55 degrees for 6 - 24 months.

[Justinmctavish]

Thanks for the detailed reply! I will order some of the culture today. Is the cheese a lost cause? Or should I continue to age it? The appendage is a result of a tiny hole on the top my my follower in my cheese press, at high weight some of the cheese gets forced through!

[cheezwhizz]

  Absolutely continue to age it.   You might be pleasantly surprised after 3-4 months.