Using the Tilsit recipe from 200 Easy Homemade Cheese Recipes.
After recently
sampling a German Tilsit, I thought I'd like to give it a try. I had some free time in the kitchen this weekend and decided to make Tomme #4 yesterday and Tilsit #1 this morning. In an effort to defray the cost of this make, I selected two expensive ($9.99/gal) milks and two gallons from a new source I located this week. Metropolitan Market in Tacoma is a
wonderful place. Off in the corner I found this delightful creamline milk. It was apparently on sale for $2.99 a half gallon when I bought it.
2 gallons Dungeness Valley Creamery whole raw Jersey milk
1 gallon Twin Brook Creamery whole creamline Jersey milk
1 gallon Twin Brook Creamery 2% creamline Jersey milk
1/2 tsp TA61
1/16 tsp SR3
3/32 tsp dry calf rennet (1/16 + 1/32)
My target culture temp was 95F. Starting from an initial pH of 6.80, I pitched the rennet (dissolved in cold water) when the pH was 6.61. It floc'd in 10 minutes and I used a multiplier of 3 for a set time of 30 minutes. After cutting to 1/2 inch the pH was 6.46, and I rested the curds for 10 minutes. I have been narrowing down the floc time. Yesterday's make was 1/16 tsp and it floc'd in 18 minutes. Previously I have had quick flocs of 5 and 8 minutes. I figured I'd split the difference and use the 1/16 plus a bit more. That brought me to 3/32 tsp and 10 minutes. If I can repeat that with the next make, I will feel a little more confident.
Cook temp target was 110F at the end of 40 minutes. This was achieved by gradually heating the water bath. A half gallon of the initial whey that was removed was saved for brining.
Applied pressure under whey to achieve a smooth rind, rewrapped but forgot to acidify the cloth to prevent sticking. I was able to remove it without significant damage. Then I added vinegar to some whey and soaked the cloth before rewrapping. I attempted to repeat the same procedure but the first time I removed the cloth, the cheese wheel was so soft and pliable that it was impossible. It started to flatten out and bulge at the sides. I thought it was going to split in half. Then I just left it wrapped and flipped the whole Tomme mold over in the pot. The recipe calls for this cheese not to be pressed. That's the reason it was so soft and floppy. It had a lot of whey in it and some of that drained away over several hours. I placed it into the whey-brine where it will be flipped after 5 hours and removed after 10 hours. At that point it will sit at room temperature for 24 hours, being flipped at the midway point.
I have some Swiss and Pennsylvania-Dutch ancestry...thus the subject line.
-Boofer-
