Author Topic: First success  (Read 2254 times)

edgewing

  • Guest
First success
« on: May 29, 2011, 07:31:23 AM »
Howdy all,

I'm very proud of my first lemon cheese. Appears to have formed nicely with good separation and a bit of added lemon zest for flavour. Tis sitting in the fridge now waiting for a taste testing at work tomorrow :)

Ciao
David

Bishop

  • Guest
Re: First success
« Reply #1 on: May 29, 2011, 12:10:07 PM »
looks very nice - let us know how you go tomorrow

edgewing

  • Guest
Re: First success
« Reply #2 on: May 29, 2011, 11:03:44 PM »
They say that pride comes before a fall! :( The cheese looks good but is a bit powdery. Looks like too much whey came out. Would it be ok to use in cooking still? I can think of a few meatball recipes that might go well with that addition :)

I'll try again but won't leave it as long draining and see if I can get a creamier consistency.

Dang, I thought I had it down first go :) Hubris is not becoming!

Ciao for now
David

margaretsmall

  • Guest
Re: First success
« Reply #3 on: May 30, 2011, 12:30:04 AM »
You might try mixing in some cream.
Margaret

edgewing

  • Guest
Re: First success
« Reply #4 on: May 30, 2011, 01:42:06 AM »
Thanks Margaret, I'll give that a punt next time, I never have a problem mixing cream into anything except for chips at McDonalds (my daughter would though :))

iratherfly

  • Guest
Re: First success
« Reply #5 on: May 30, 2011, 03:16:40 AM »
If it's chalky than you might have used too much lemon or kept the curd in the whey and lemon too long before straining, or that your milk was ultra pasteurized and/or homogenized so the calcium separated.

Don't despair! I say, try it again with slight adjustment, or use culture instead of lemon to make other cheese. (You can use yogurt or buttermilk as cultures).  The process is a little different (warm up milk slightly, add buttermilk and wait for it to coagulate for 20 hours, than strain and mix with salt and you got Fromage Blanc basically; or, heat up milk and add yogurt to create more yogurt over 6-8 hours, than cool it, strain for a day in cheesecloth, add salt and you got Labaneh cheese. You can make balls of that and store in olive oil with herbs for long time). It's no more work thanb lemon cheese (except the waiting time) but the results will be more predictable and take you deep into cheesemaking land. Your own Camembert, Colby, Mozzarella, Chevre or Cheddar are just around the corner!

edgewing

  • Guest
Re: First success
« Reply #6 on: May 30, 2011, 03:22:34 AM »
iratherfly, thanks for the hints. I think it might be too much lemon juice as I followed the recipe (followed the recipe in Rikki Carrolls book) waiting 15 minutes after heating the milk before decanting into the cheesecloth. However it has given me the confidence that at least I can get something out of the milk :) I used a biodynamic milk called Paris Creek Farms Unhomogenised (they are very well known here in Australia for their own cheeses and dairy products). It is a nice milk and should make a nice cheese provided the other ingredients are put in correct :)

Ciao
David