I'm making my first foray into the world of pulled cheeses. Provolone yesterday and mozzarella tomorrow. That was fun! Didn't really need to pull anything... it was doing it all on it's own. It was all I could do to keep it from pouring out of my grasp! I was surprised by how different the recipes I looked at were from each other. I think this make went well, but I have no basis for comparison yet.
Provolone 1/26/12
Floc x 3
Yeild: 2 lbs, 2 oz
2 gallons raw Brown Swiss cow milk pH 6.7
1/8 tsp MA11
1/8 tsp TA61
1/8 tsp Chymosin
1/32 tsp lipase
Warm milk to 97 degrees (I warmed to 96 degrees), add cultures and let rehydrate 5 minutes, and then ripen for 45 minutes. pH 6.6, temp 97 degrees
Added lipase and stirred, then added rennet and waited for floc. Floc occurred in 12 minutes --12 x 3 = 36 minutes. Checked for clean break in 36 minutes and then cut curd into ½ cubes ( took 10 minutes to cut). Let rest 30 minutes at 97 degrees. temp was 96 degrees, forgot to measure pH.
Raise temp to 108 over 35 minutes. Stir 10 minutes at 108 degrees and let rest 15 minutes and drain. pH 6.1, temp 109 degrees
While curds are draining, raise temp of water bath to 115 degrees. Put curds back into pot and keep warm, curds should be kept at 102 - 105 degrees, and the mass should be turned twice during this time—it may take a few hours. temp 105 degrees, pH 5.6
Given the sudden drop in pH, I began checking pH every 15 minutes.
15 min – 5.5 pH
30 min – 5.4 pH
45 min – 5.3 pH
60 min – 5.2 pH
75 min – 5.1 pH
Pour whey off curds and let drain 10 minutes.
Cut into 1 inch cubes and submerged into 175 degree water.
Worked into a ball and stretched one foot, looped back and stretched again 3 times. Made two balls by stretching the top and folding it under.
Submerged in ice water for 10 minutes, then brined for 2 hours.