Author Topic: Parmesan Curd draining TA  (Read 1934 times)

Tomer1

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Parmesan Curd draining TA
« on: April 07, 2011, 03:20:21 PM »
I got this lovely dutch press from alex yesturday and its begging me to do a parm,
my first thermo cheese.
I was looking at peter dixon's site since he adds TA+PH notes in most of his recipes.

There wasnt a parm recipe but a romano cheese and states the following:
"The curd is pushed to the back of the vat and the whey is drained off. The whey should test .20% titratable acidity (pH 5.80).
The curd is cut into large pieces the size of a whole cheese, which is placed into the cloth-lined hoops. After filling the hoops, the whey should test .30% titratable acidity (pH 5.50"

This is confusing,  I need to drain,cut ,allow for additional whey to expell and mold when it reaches TA .30%?
Or maybe drain,cut,put into cheese cloth to drip,monitor the remaining whey which is continuing acidifying and start pressing when it reachs .30%?


Is there any difference in making parm other then using sheeps milk in pecorino romano?
Im planning on doing skimed raw milk mixed with store bought 1% to get the 2-2.2% butterfat.
Using a mixture of yogurts for starter trying to achive a blend of L. helveticus, L. bulgaricus and S.thermophilus.
« Last Edit: April 07, 2011, 03:39:52 PM by Tomer1 »

linuxboy

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Re: Parmesan Curd draining TA
« Reply #1 on: April 07, 2011, 03:41:14 PM »
Yes, it's about the same. Whey drain for parm should be 0.2-0.22. But that's not a pH pf 5.8. Maybe a typo on his site? .2 is a pH of something like 6.3. I've never seen 0.2 be 5.8.

Quote
This is confusing,  I need to drain,cut ,allow for additional whey to expell and mold when it reaches TA .30%?
Or maybe drain,cut,put into cheese cloth to drip,monitor the remaining whey which is continuing acidifying and start pressing when it reachs .30%?

It's standard stuff. The timing is because of the commercial volumes. When you pack the curd under whey and then cut it to fill the molds, by the time you take all the curd pack and have it be in the molds, that takes about half an hour. And in that time, acidity is increasing. So you start with the whey drain and cut at .2 and by the time you're done, you're at .3. And then when you're done, you start stacking the molds and then you start pressing. Nothing really special about this, except the timing is written down based on a commercial process and volumes.

You can press right away making one cheese. Make sure you pack the curd/prepress under whey to bind it all together, then drain around .2-.22 (.25 is also not bad, but no more). And then take the curd mass and press it. Press in a warm room, you need the acidity to keep building.

Look at it another way. The critical things are the drain pH (meaning pH at which the curds fuse) and the room temp. The drain pH is for the paste, the texture, and calcium level. But with packing under whey, that already partially happens, so if you press at .2 or .3 it does not make a huge difference. The huge difference, though, is in the temp (and drain pH as already said). Packed under whey or left to rest undisturbed, the curd is warmer, fused better, and develops acidity faster. When you start pressing, the follower is cold, the room temp is less than the whey, etc. So it loses heat quickly, and acidification can slow down. That's what the timing is all about, to get the right level of calcium to coincide with the acidity. Process and time markers reflect that. Adjust to your situation based on the dynamics, because you can't follow that recipe as is making only one wheel.
Quote
Is there any difference in making parm other then using sheeps milk in pecorino romano?
Rennet is lamb paste, and the cultures are different. They're very similar, though. Oh and size of wheel.
« Last Edit: April 07, 2011, 04:18:52 PM by linuxboy »

Tomer1

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Re: Parmesan Curd draining TA
« Reply #2 on: April 07, 2011, 04:41:29 PM »
Thanks!
I hope I get the cooking time right to correlate with matting under whey and drain TA.  :o
I'l consulte with make logs of other forum members making smaller wheels.  ^-^


Another thing,
I noticed in one of the videos about traditional romano making that after gathering the matted curds with cloth they give the matted wheel a quick dip it in what seems to be a water bath and then hooping it.
Is this is meant to cool down the curds and seginificantly slow down acidification?
 
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linuxboy

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Re: Parmesan Curd draining TA
« Reply #3 on: April 07, 2011, 04:47:53 PM »
No, to prevent sticking. That's likely not plain water. Likely adjusted brine or whey.
« Last Edit: April 07, 2011, 04:55:43 PM by linuxboy »

Offline JayW

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Re: Parmesan Curd draining TA
« Reply #4 on: April 20, 2011, 03:37:14 PM »
Yes, the dip is heavy hot brine to:
1> smooth and consolidate the surface 
2> add salt to the cloth and surface because as you can see by the height in the mold there is much bacteria activity to be done yet in the warm cheese. As this goes on there is a tendency for the curd to shrink but the cloth can be pulled into the cheese and stick. The brine on the surface slows the surface bacteria down to prevent this.
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Sailor Con Queso

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Re: Parmesan Curd draining TA
« Reply #5 on: April 21, 2011, 05:52:21 PM »
When doing thermos in particular, I normally soak my cheesecloth, Plyban, or even Kadovas, in an acidic whey with extra calcium. However, the extra salt of a brine solution sounds brilliant. That would certainly help the surface to develop a quick "skin" to avoid sticking. On a small scale, this could even be applied as a spray.