Second butterkase

[JeffHamm]

Hi,

Well, I decided to try Butterkase again.  I was going to do Caerphilly when I  bought the milk, but changed my mind by the time I got home.  Hence, 10 L full milk and no cream.  I also tried a few other tweaks, like doubled the ripening time.  Tried draining the curd using a piece of needlepoint plastic mat to hold the curds back, and although that worked a fair amount of curd got stuck in the mat.  My estimated yield is much less than the first time I made this (about 500 g less), but I think the difference is mostly moisture.  The first time I made this the curd was so soft I had to just dump the whole pot into a cheesecloth lined collander.  This time I was able to drain much of the whey.  A shame, I quite like the barrel shape that resulted due to it sagging as it air dried.  Anyway, will post a photo of the finished cheese.  Hmmm, I suspect the difference in moisture will mean this will air dry quicker, and may not develope the wild b.linens that the first did.  Well, I can work on that with a brine wash. 

Anyway, here are my make notes.  Still in the midst of the press, but the last bit is just the brining. 

- Jeff

Butterkase : Saturday, July 9th, 2001 (sunny, med. Pressure; cool < 18 C)
10L homebrand standard milk
½  tsp CaCl (30% solution)
0.6 ml Rennet
2 ice cubes Flora Danica (meso) 1.5  ice cube ST B01 (Thermo)
Start time: 9:55
1)   Warm to 35 C ( hit 35 at 10:13; continued to climb to 36.4)
2)   Add ½ tsp CaCl (10:13)
3)   Add 2 ice cubes Meso (FD) and 1 ice cube thermo (10:13 – stirred until melted 10:16)
4)   Ripen 40 minutes (target time 10:53 actual time 10:53; Temp:  37.4 (temp crept up in sink)
5)   Raise temperature to 40 C (reached at 11:01 actual temp: 40.1)
6)   Add 0.6 ml rennet (11:01)
7)   Floc time = 11m 30s  3.5 * floc = 38m 30s min until cut
8)   Cut at 11:39:30 into 3 cm cubes wait 5 min (start 11:40) then cut into 1 cm cubes (curd not as soft as first make)
9)   Curds settle 5 minutes (start 11:50min), then remove approx 3 1/3 litres of whey (1/3 orig. volume of milk)
10)   add 60 C water until you reach 42 C
11)   stir 45 minutes (start time: 12:15 – until 1:00)
12)   drain and move to mold
13)   press lightly (10 kg) 6 hours (start time: 1:10 –
14)   flipped/redress at 2:05 ;
15)   flipped/redress 3:50  ; ESTIMATED WEIGHT 1284g (at 1 g / cc)
16)   Finish Press Time 7:10 - actual time 7:00; actual weight 1230g)
17)   20 minutes water (7:00-7:20)
18)   Brine (saturated 8 hours )??:??-??:??)

[JeffHamm]

And, here it is after the 20 minutes in plain water just before going into the brine.  The knit is excellent, though the yeild quite low (1234g - a sequential cheese).  The first one I made was over 1800g, though again, that would have been mostly due to moisture retention.  I'll be curious to see how this one turns out.

- Jeff

[susanky]

Jeff,
That looks great.  Thanks for sharing.  I don't think I've ever tried a butterkase cheese.  But just the name makes me want to try it.  May have to put that on the list!
Susan

[JeffHamm]

Hi Susan,

It's German for "Butter Cheese".  The make above is one I put together by combining 3 or 4 different recipies that can be found on the web.  CheeseSnipe was working on a version as well.  My first one was made with 9 L whole milk and 1 L full cream, so it was very well recieved!  It also came out of the press at over 1.8 kg, so over 600 g heavier than this one.  The first one, however, I couldn't drain the whey before transferring the curd to the cheesecloth for molding, so I just had to pour it all through.  That caused it to retain a lot of moisture and it eventually drained down.  However, it was a very tall cheese, and as it air dried it collapsed out and formed a very barrel shape.  I'm curious to see how the difference in these initial conditions affects the final cheese.  Mind you, I've changed a number of parameters (bit more thermo culture, longer ripening, drained more whey for the curd washing, and heavier press weights) so not a very good experiment.

Anyway, this really should be aged 2 or 3 months at least. 

- Jeff

[MrsKK]

So what does a properly made and aged Butterkase taste like?

It does look very good, Jeff.

[susanky]

Sometimes I wish we could all get together somewhere for a wine and cheese party and try each other's cheese.  It would be so much fun, after hearing all the details, trials and tribulations of that very wheel of cheese! Let us know about this one.  We will have to live vicariously...
Susan

[gemma.tyson]

It looks beautiful Jeff.  Well done.
Be interested to know how much of a difference it makes to the cheese to leave out the cream.

[JeffHamm]

Hi MrsKK,

To be honest, I've never had butterkase except the one wheel I've made!  CheeseSnipe mentioned it awhile back and it just sounded good, so I thought I would try.  We found 3 or 4 recipies, and I combined them based upon what appeared to be common aspects and from what I could gather about this cheese from the web.  My first one developed a very sharp bite after only 8 or 9 weeks, and it was very creamy but not "moist"; sort of had the texture of baked cheesecacke.  It picked up some wild b.linnens and geo as well, so it had a very nice golden orange colour (but not too bright).  It didn't melt, which was a shame.  I think some of the characteristics it picked up was due to the massive amount of whey and moisture that it retained.  My understanding is that it should be a mild flavoured cheese, so I think my first one was not quite it!

Hi Susan,

Yes, it would be fun to have a big tasting session.  I've seen some absolutely fantastic looking cheeses posted here.  The downside to having a share and share a like is that, well, you have to share and some of the cheeses I see people post don't make me want to pass the plate once it reaches me!

Hi Gemma,

I suspect it will be less "cheesecakey" in texture.  The cream added a lot of milk fats, so it was very rich.  This one will be more gouda like I suspect.

- Jeff

[gemma.tyson]

Jeff I read all your previous posts while you developed the booterkaas together.  Very interesting, and am starting to understand cheesemaking better now.
Will continue on with Goudas as I decided to make these for Christmas presents

[gemma.tyson]

dogs stood on lap top and sent my reply before I finished.  I have two very clever black labradors.
Thought I would make some small Goudas for Christmas presents as I can wax them, and even though the first one I cut did not appear to go well initially, I have just had a little taste again tonight and it is changing and I'm liking it.  Waxed the cut pieces and put it away for a couple of months.
Have left the booterkaas alone and it is ageing well.  Have a nice white bloom on the top and just taking the occasional blue spot off with vinegar.
Once I have made the goudas, I will start with the booterkaas again.
You sound like you really have it off pat.  Good luck.  Will try to send without the help of labradors 

[JeffHamm]

Hi,

Just a quick update.  This one is holding it's shape quite firmly, and there's no sagging like the first one.  Does have the same smell as before though.  Too soon to expect to see any geo or b.linnens yet. 

- Jeff

[JeffHamm]

Hi,

This one is doing quite well.  I sprinkled some salt over it last night, and wiped down the brine that formed this morning (hence the slightly pasty look to it).  But, it's been pretty good maintenance actually.  a couple black spots, but nothing major.  It developes a white mold, probably GC, but it turns blue after awhile.  You can still see a spot or two of blue on it.  Anyway, it's developed a coating of wild b.linens, which the last one did as well.  It's much firmer, but I expected that.  At the moment, it's weighing in at 1036g, so over the past month it only lost about 200g (moisture loss). 

Should be ready in 3 or 4 more weeks.  I'm curious to see how the end results differs after the changes in the make.  The most obvious effect was on how I drained it.  Last time I just dumped the whole pot of curds and whey through cheesecloth, which retained quite a bit of fluid.  This time, I was able to drain off much of the whey first, then just transfer the mass of curd to the cheesecloth and mold.  Mind you, there were some other changes, I extended the ripening time, and I didn't add cream.  So could be quite a different cheese, really.

- Jeff

[pliezar (Ian)]

Jeff,

It looks really nice, I particularly like the colour of the rind.  I have had some white mold on my Havarti and then it turned blue as well, but when I decided to scrape a little bit off to see how far the blue went, it was only on the top of the GC.

Maybe your daughter might like this one better than the last one.

Ian

[JeffHamm]

Thanks Ian. 

Yah, the blue doesn't penetrate the rind at all, so it's all just surface stuff.  I'm going to try and age this one out a bit, and may take it to 3 or 4 months rather than just 2.  I've got a dunlop I could cut into soon, so that would help extend this one a bit.  Baby will be arriving very soon, so need to get cheeses stocked up as I doubt I'll have much time to make them once he gets here. 

- Jeff

[JeffHamm]

Hi,

Well, this isn't about the cheese, but since I mentioned baby's arrival being soon in the previous message, here is a place as good as any to show that soon has become now!  Gregor Byers Hamm was born on Saturday, Aug 13th and weighed in at 3.145kg (6 lbs 15 oz).  He and mum are both doing really well.  His big sister is very pleased and has been helping out as much as she can.  Dad is pretty pleased too!   Take care eveyone.

- Jeff