First Halloumi

[boothrf]

Today is my first attempt at Halloumi. After researching my own recipe book (Home Cheesemaking by Neil & Carol Willman), and then comparing to the recipes detailed in John's very useful post http://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,2912.0.html, I decided to use my own recipe, which is the same as Tea's (Recipe"a" in John's post), with some minor variations.

8 litres of fresh cows milk
Heated to 34C
Added 1.6 ml rennet diluted in 100ml cool, boiled water.
Left to coagulate for 45 mins
Cut into 20-30mm cubes
Left to heal for 5 mins
Gradually heated to 40C over a 25 minute period, stirring gently
Left for 5 mins for curds to settle and form a solid mass
Drained all whey
Worked the curd by hand to help it knit together and expel more whey.
Placed into 2 of my square fetta hoops
Placed the hoops on top of one another to act as a gentle press, swapping them every 5 minutes to ensure an even, homogenous knit.
After 45 minutes, removed from the hoops, producing two 650 gram blocks
Cut the blocks into varying size slices, ranging from 110g to 200g, in order to trial different thicknesses and cooking styles.
Boiled the blocks in whey until they rose, then added 15 minutes. Average cook time was 28 minutes
Removed and cooled for 20 minutes
Sprinkled each piece with approx. 1/8th teaspoon of salt
Cooled to room temperature
Placed in saturated brine

A couple of observations: Boiling the blocks made them very soft and pliable, and some of the blocks folded over on themselves. I needed to be delicate when handling them. Getting the curd into hoops while still warm is important to get a good knit.

Looking forward to the first taste test at a BBQ tonight.

[Crystal]

Looks great Bob, I'm quite fond of halloumi and since its ready pretty quick i might whip some up for christmas!

[boothrf]

Thanks Crystal,

It turned out quite differently to how I was expecting it to look. We had some grilled with our BBQ tonight and it tastes bloody terrific! But it was a bit squeaky on the teeth.......my wife thought she was eating dinner in the middle of a squash court

[Crystal]

Right, Squeaky cheese..? What do you think made it squeaky? Just so i dont make the same mistakes lol?

[Melbourne Cheese]

But Bob, squeaky haloumi is good haloumi!

[Crystal]

ha, to me any halloumi would be good halloumi!

[Catie Pie]

Looks great! I think I might have to try this too. Grilled with a little mint and fresh pita, mmmm.

[NimbinValley]

If you would like it less squeaky then cook it for less time - take it out as soon as it floats.  Also try stirring it less - the more moisture you leave in the curd the less squeaky it should be.

[Crystal]

Thanks Nimbin, Ill use your wisdom when i make mine after Christmas, everything is waiting till after Christmas!

[boothrf]

The squeekiness has reduced with some time in the brine. Also, cooking in a frypan so all the surface gets caramelised seems to reduce the squeak as well.

Nimbin, my cook time was determined by my desire to get the core temp of the cheese to around 85C, in order to stop the enzyme activity.  I'll try your suggestion next time and reduce the cook time as well as the stirring.

Thanks all for your comments 

[Melbourne Cheese]

Hey Bob,

What brine mixture did you use, was was the amount of salt to water?  I am trying to find a good ratio that does not make the cheese to salty. 

[NimbinValley]

I use a saturated brine (so as much salt as I can dissolve in the water) then adjust the time that I leave the cheese in there - if its too salty brine it for less next time...

[dttorun]

Heavy salt is needed if you want to store for long time. Otherwise not necessary. Salting is to taste, heavy salting is to preserve... Like feta cheese, you can get rid of some salt by dunking into water bath prior to eat, from a couple of hours to overnite.
Also you need to CaCl2, if you want to store for extended time. Otherwise your cheese gets slimy, mushy.
Tan

[Crystal]

Good to know Tan, im learning so much new stuff all the time!

[boothrf]

Hi Richard,

I use a 12.5% brine, which is 150g salt per 1 litre of water. It is still quite salty (which I dont mind), but you can soak the cheese in milk or water before consumption to reduce the saltiness. As Tam says, you don't need to use a saturated solution unless you want to keep it for a long time, say > 3 months. My fetta and Halloumi won't last that long anyway
 
With my Halloumi, which is stored in much thinner slices than my Fetta, I have taken them out of the brine and just wrapped them in  Gladwrap while still damp. This keeps a salty layer on the outside to help protect them. I'll monitor them closely, but expect they will be consumed quickly.

Bob