Recipes - Different For Same Cheeses?

[Annie]

I have the Skoel book, which left out a Key Ingredient in one recipe, so I tend to look foor other recipes just to make sure I don't run into that problem again, and what I have found is a wide variation on instructions!

One is how long to wait for the curd to set--anywhere from 1/2 hour to 90 minutes. This is slightly confusing as they usually add "or when the curd has set" so it's ambiguous.

The second is wrt cooking the curds. Skokel has a lot of times when you have to raise the temp extremely slowly, like 2* every five minutes, while stirring!!!! so you end up over a hot stove for up to an hoir and a half.

Others just say to raise the temp, without being so particular.

Do these things make any difference? I'm going to do the 90-minute curd set for parmasan because I looked up why my cheeses were so dry and it was excess acidity from being allowed to set a long time (i'm easily distracted!) so I have been more careful, but the parm of course I want to be dry.

Thanks so much

[Helen]

Hi Annie,

While I cannot speak of the temperature raising, I can say a word or two about the set time of your milk.

Most recipe books give you a time period to wait for your milk to solidify but the recipe does not account for your milk quality. I would recommend that you look up "floculation time" in the forum. This method will give you a good idea of when you can cut your curds.

- Helen

[Tomer1]

The second is wrt cooking the curds. Skokel has a lot of times when you have to raise the temp extremely slowly, like 2* every five minutes, while stirring!!!! so you end up over a hot stove for up to an hoir and a half.

Others just say to raise the temp, without being so particular.

There is a fine balance between temp (bacterial activity) and moisture release (which happends more rapidly in warm temp).

If you feel your losing too much moisture during cooking just cut larger.

Regarding 2 degres, are we talking C or F?  if it celsius then it makes sense.
Going from 30c to 38-40c in 30 minutes is reasonable.

[Annie]

Hi Annie,

While I cannot speak of the temperature raising, I can say a word or two about the set time of your milk.

Most recipe books give you a time period to wait for your milk to solidify but the recipe does not account for your milk quality. I would recommend that you look up "floculation time" in the forum. This method will give you a good idea of when you can cut your curds.

- Helen

Ah, the set time varies with the quality of the milk? I do hope it's the faster the set time, the better the milk

And folculation is the amount of time it takes to set, so if you keep an eye on it one time (or whenever you need to know, because I read about 3 or 4 x folculation on the mozz board) then you have an idea of how long it takes, and you don't have to wait? I was thinking that waiting before cutting might sometimes be better, as a couple of instructions have mentioned waiting til the curd pulls away from the wall of the container.

Thanks so much

[Annie]

The second is wrt cooking the curds. Skokel has a lot of times when you have to raise the temp extremely slowly, like 2* every five minutes, while stirring!!!! so you end up over a hot stove for up to an hoir and a half.

Others just say to raise the temp, without being so particular.

There is a fine balance between temp (bacterial activity) and moisture release (which happends more rapidly in warm temp).

If you feel your losing too much moisture during cooking just cut larger.

Regarding 2 degres, are we talking C or F?  if it celsius then it makes sense.
Going from 30c to 38-40c in 30 minutes is reasonable.

Ahhh, the warmth and moisture thing is good to know

Yes, I'm talking about Fahrenheit, going from 90* to 124* by 2* every five minutes, which I figured would take close to 90 minutes; I think Celsius degrees are about 2.5 of F degrees.

Maybe the author get mixed up with C and F?

Anyway, wow, I can see why people call cheesemaking at art... all these variables!

Thanks very much!

[Helen]

Ah, the set time varies with the quality of the milk? I do hope it's the faster the set time, the better the milk

Annie, quality may not have been the correct word. I think characteristic should be a more accurate description.

Using the flocculation time instead of a given time will allow you to have more consistent results in spite of farming practices, feeds and seasonality. I am sure more experienced cheesemakers have expanded on the advantages of floc time in prior posts.

- Helen

[Cheese Head]

Just FYI, I've summarized some of the flocculation posts in the Wiki: Curds, When to Cut article.

[Gürkan Yeniçeri]

Annie I think it is time for you to get a pH meter.  Especially, if you are dealing with raw milk.

And yes Flocculation technique is a must.

These two increased my consistency a lot.