Author Topic: Halloumi whey thickens  (Read 1939 times)

Ross

  • Guest
Halloumi whey thickens
« on: April 15, 2012, 04:17:31 AM »
I wonder if someone can answer this for me, or give some sort of explanation as to why this is happening.
I made some Halloumi a few weeks ago, and again yesterday, and while the cheese was in the press, the whey became thick after about two hours, almost to the consistency of dishwashing liquid, I even tried to make ricotta from it, but that did not work , and I put a fair bit of vinegar in. It was only 1.5 litres of whey.
I also made an Havarti cheese yesterday, but discarded the whey during the wash stage so I don't know if that would have done the same thing and become thick as well. The rennet is only a few months old.
Any suggestions from anyone.

Ross

linuxboy

  • Guest
Re: Halloumi whey thickens
« Reply #1 on: April 15, 2012, 04:26:38 AM »
Sounds like a great strain of Streptococcus or other similar bacteria with texturizing properties. Thickens the liquid.

Ross

  • Guest
Re: Halloumi whey thickens
« Reply #2 on: April 15, 2012, 08:27:20 PM »
Thanks for the reply linuxboy,
The Halloumi recipe that I use does not use a starter, so, my Q is, how would something like Streptococcus get into the milk/whey ? Is this Streptococcus, the same as the one in a thermophilic starter ? The finished cheese tastes great but the whey I am to cook it in needs to be watered down quite a bit so I am not cooking in 'whey soup'.

linuxboy

  • Guest
Re: Halloumi whey thickens
« Reply #3 on: April 15, 2012, 08:45:21 PM »
Could be same one, or more likely ambient from your environment. Could also be some other bacterium, like lactobacillus.

If you want to prevent it, boil the whey as soon as possible.

cheeseslovesu

  • Guest
Re: Halloumi whey thickens
« Reply #4 on: April 16, 2012, 05:10:02 AM »
Hi there, I only gently press the curd for an hour. During this press time gently raise the temp of the whey to 85C adding a little more whole milk to get a better yield.

More vinegar is not best, it will be too acidic. You need to use the whey as soon as possible to make a decent ricotta. Use approx 100ml of vinegar per 10 litres milk, drizzle the vinegar slowly as you gently stir they whey.

I have posted my foolproof recipe on this site, the next post down.

Ross

  • Guest
Re: Halloumi whey thickens
« Reply #5 on: April 16, 2012, 07:18:45 AM »
Thanks for that.  My recipe calls for pressing for 6 hrs with 2 kg. Will give your way a try.
Cheers