My First Parmesan

[pliezar (Ian)]

Today I made my first Parmesan today, it was suppose to another project with my son, but he is sick this weekend.  I used the recipe out of 200 easy cheeses.

I used 11.2 Litres of 1 % and 2.8 L of Whole Goat milk (thanks Wayne for posting the milk blending spread sheet)
1/2 tsp calf rennet
CaCL2
Home Made mother culture Thermo starter

I used the roaster vat and and actually was able to maintain temperature and times relatively well.  I had a flock time of 12 min and use the multiplier of 2.5 for 30 min at curd cut (I still think this is too fast).  I used a whisk to get the curd to the right size. 

Then came the stirring, OMG the stirring, my arm is so sore now.  It took almost an hour (55 min) to reach 124 F and matted well at the end.  It is in the press now, I will post a picture after it comes out and before the brine bath.

My son has declared that we have to have pasta and parm for Christmas Dinner.

[mikeradio]

What yield did you get from 14l of milk?  I am making a parm tomorrow, what are you using for a brine solution?  Did you save the whey for the brine?

Thanks

Mike

[pliezar (Ian)]

I save my brine solution(whey too) from the the last cheese I made, stuck it into the freezer.  I used the whey, some salt, and some CaCl2 with a bit of vinegar, I got the directions from the board.  Can't remember where the post was.

According to the recipe I am suppose to get about 2lbs, I think I got about that maybe a bit less.  I am planning to weigh it after it comes out of the press in the morning.

[pliezar (Ian)]

So the Parm came out of the Brine this morning, and it looked OK, in spite of the few chunks that came off the cheese from the cheesecloth (this happened when it came out of the press)  so I was happy and I put it to air dry today on top of the microwave (it was not used today at all). 

I came home to see that it is dry to the touch and has swollen a bit on the top and bottom...should I be concerned?  Should I consider this an opportunity to create some swollen parm hybrid?  Does anyone have any suggestions or help on this?

I think I am going to put it into a container and stick it into the cheese fridge. It weighs 1.13 kgs or 2.5 lbs  Here are some pictures

[JeffHamm]

That looks really good.  Good job.

- Jeff

[zenith1]

Congratulations Ian-looks nice. I hope that you are planning on fresh pasta for that meal, anything less would be a discredit to your efforts. Cheers!

[pliezar (Ian)]

Thanks Jeff and Keith,

I guess I am just being paranoid about this. 

Yes the plan is fresh pasta and a home made bolognese sauce too. My son and I like to tinker in the kitchen and I am quite happy to forgo the Turkey this year at Christmas if it means he gets to cook with me.  I learned by helping my dad, my son has taken a keen interest in cheese making and cooking in general.

Cheers

[Marta]

I've made a few small parms and they swell just a little bit like that.  This is the point at which I typically panic and seal it so it doesn't crack.  I assumed it was the rind drying out and shrinking, but if the experts have a different explanation I'd be interested in it too.