I got this recipe out of 200 Easy Homemade Cheese Recipes by Debra Amrein-Boyes. I've been wanting to try a different type of cheese and just started reading recipes. Really thinking I want to jump into Alpine types (Swiss, etc) but need to order the bacteria first.
Anyway, this one sounded different enough and really quite easy, as far as hard cheese goes. No need for a culture and you set it up the night before you have to do all the work of cheesemaking. I'll post the recipe in normal font and will italicize my notes for what I did.
Raw Milk Tomme
4 gallons raw milk - 5 gallons raw milk
3/4 tsp liquid rennet - 1/8 tsp powdered calf rennet
Cool 18% saturated brine solution (I'll post that at the end of the recipe)
1. Sterilize a large stainless-steel pot - I do this by rinsing with 1 tsp bleach to about a half gallon of hot water, then rinse thoroughly to remove all bleach. In pot, ripen milk in a cool (50* F/10*C) room for 12 hours. As my milk is cold from the fridge, I wasn't too worried about my room being 56*F, but if I do this in summer, I might put the pot in a sink of cold water to help keep it cool overnight.
2. Sterilize all other equipment. Set pot of ripened milk in a hot water bath over low heat. Warm milk to 81*F (27*C), stirring gently. Turn off heat. I cover the pot with the lid and fill the sink with hot tap water. I then put a board across the top of the sink to help keep the warmth in. It takes about 45 minutes to an hour to warm the milk, depending on the room temperature.
3. Dilute rennet in 1/4 cup cool water. Using skimmer and an up-and-down motion, gently draw rennet down into milk, without breaking surface of milk, until well blended. Cover pot and let set for 1 hour, maintaining the temperature at 81*F (27*C).
4. Check for a clean break. If necessary, let set for anothe r10 to 15 mlinutes or until you achieve a clean break. Using a long-handled whisk and skimmer, cut curd into very small bits, about the size of rice grains, usng the skimmer to lift and move the curds gently to ensure all are cut. Let stand for 10 minutes to firm up.
5. Pour contents of pot into a cloth-lined colander. Cover curds in the colander with the pot lid to keep warm. Let drain for 2 hours, breaking curds up and mixing with your hands 3 times during this period to aid draining. The curds were still quite "fluffy" and I had to start out with two colanders to get it drained enough to finally fit into one. At that point, I quarter-filled my kettle with hot tap water and also put some hot water in the sink surrounding the kettle, to help keep the curds warm. As we were moving hay bales during this phase, it ended up being three hours. I did break up the curds three times and each time noticed that the curds had firmed up quite a bit more from the previous.
6. Fill prepared mold with curds. Pull cloth up neatly around curds and fold excess snugly over top, with as few wrinkles as possible. Put on the lid. Here is where the curd bag works really nicely. I turn it over the edge of the cheese mold and have another piece of cloth that I wrap around my follower. This results in a lot fewer wrinkle marks on the cheese.
7. Place mold in cheese press or place a weight on top. Press at low pressure for 30 minutes. Remove from press and re-dress. Continue pressing at medium pressure for 30 minutes. Re-dress again and continue pressing at firm pressure for 12 hours. I use 20 lbs for low pressure, 40 pounds for medium pressure and 60 pounds for firm pressure on my cheese press, with a six inch pvc cylinder as a cheese mold. This has resulted in a nicely knit cheese every time. The first pressing was 30 minutes, the second ended up being just over an hour and the last pressing on this cheese ended up being 14 hours because I was able to sleep in a bit this morning.
8. Remove cheese from press. Unwrap and place in brine solution for 20 hours, turning over after 10 hours. It will end up being in the brine for probably 22-23 hours, as I don't intend on getting up at 3:30 tomorrow morning just to remove it from the brine.
9. Remove cheese from brine. Dry cheese on a cheese mat placed on a rack at room temperature for 2 to 3 days, turning daily to aid drying, or until fairly dry to the touch. Her tip on this says: The rind should be fairly dry, or, as someone explained it to me, "like a clammy handshake." If completely dry, the closed rind could crack, allowing bacteria to enter the interior of the cheese.
10. Place cheese on a clean cheese mat in a ripening container. Ripen at 54*F (12*C) and 85% humidity, turning every second day, for 5 to 15 months or until desired sharpness is attained. Remove any collected whey, wiping bottom of container with paper towel. The rind should harden and may devellop onr or more kinds of mold. Wipe weekly with a cloth or soft cheese brush to help develop the rind. Once ripened to your tase, wrap and store in the refrigerator.
18% Brine solution
Mix 1 part salt to 5 parts water. It may be necessary to warm the water in order to dissolve all the salt. So, to make about a gallon of brine, I dissolve 2 1/2 cups of salt into 12 1/2 cups of water. I usually put the salt into a gallon jar and half fill it with hot tap water, then stir until all or most of the salt is dissolved. I then addthe rest of the water cold so that the brine is fairly cool. Let it sit for an hour or so before brining your cheese so that the brine is room temp. The brine can be reused, just strain it before storing it to remove any cheese bits. Keep it in the refrigerator and add more salt to it after brining several cheeses.
