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CHEESE TYPE BOARDS (for Cheese Lovers and Cheese Makers) => RENNET COAGULATED - Pasta Filata (Pulled Curd) => Topic started by: caciocavallo on November 18, 2009, 04:32:34 AM

Title: New batch of Caciocavallo 2009
Post by: caciocavallo on November 18, 2009, 04:32:34 AM
Well I made some cheese on the weekend with my "teacher", 55 gallons of raw milk (didn't want to try it alone with that quantity of milk). We started at 6 am and finished at 5:30 pm. It was a long day but well worth it.

I know you want me to post the "recipe" but I still want to go at it alone before doing so to validate the notes I have taken. This will also help me answer any questions which may arise from any of you trying it.

Take a look at the pictures and will be back on soon with more info.

Cacio
Title: Re: New batch of Caciocavallo 2009
Post by: caciocavallo on November 18, 2009, 04:35:47 AM
More pics.
Title: Re: New batch of Caciocavallo 2009
Post by: Sailor Con Queso on November 18, 2009, 04:40:09 AM
Very cool. Must have been a very satisfying day.

Are they hanging at room temperature? How long will they age like that? Did you brine? Traditional southern Italian Caccio Cavallo is smoked. Are you planning on smoking any? Are the gourd shaped ones wrapped in some sort of plastic?
Title: Re: New batch of Caciocavallo 2009
Post by: handyface on November 18, 2009, 10:48:22 AM
They look fantastic, what a sight!
Title: Re: New batch of Caciocavallo 2009
Post by: Boofer on November 18, 2009, 05:20:12 PM
Most impressive!  They're beautiful!

Were the ones in netting just another way to shape and hang them? Did your "teacher" offer any suggestions on keeping them dust-free and bug-free over the course of their hanging/aging? Also, did he/she offer any guidance on smoking them or not smoking them? As they age, will you be rubbing them with olive oil?

I want to make this cheese.

-Boofer-
Title: Re: New batch of Caciocavallo 2009
Post by: Tea on November 18, 2009, 07:31:43 PM
Quote
I want to make this cheese.

Me too.  Sad thing though, I can't think where I would hang them without something or someone getting into them?
Title: Re: New batch of Caciocavallo 2009
Post by: DeejayDebi on November 19, 2009, 04:46:17 AM
I'm with you Tea! If I hang them in the open I'd have kittys swinging from the strings munching them!

Great looking cheese hon! Welcome back!
Title: Re: New batch of Caciocavallo 2009
Post by: caciocavallo on November 19, 2009, 11:20:04 PM
Hello Gents,

The cheese you see just came out of a salt brine where they were in for about 12 hours. That's why they look a little "gooey" if I can say that.

I plan on smoking some of them in about 7-9 days, it will be the first time I do it. I would have done it 1-2 days after but it is a friend of mine who has the equipment and he didn't have time this week.

The gourd shape ones are simply in a plastic netting and it is only to demonstrate that if you can't get the proper shape of a caciocavallo to hang then this is an option. Easier to form obviously.

They are currently hanging in my cold room so I wont have any animal problems and relatively little dust. Anyhow, after 3 months I will clean them and lightly oil them on the outside and then vacuum pack them to keep them fresh (my kids like them fresh and not too strong tasting). I will keep some hanging for 8 to 9 months and get some nice Strong "picante" cheese which I like. This of course if I can keep my hands away from them.

More info coming soon.
Cheers.
Cacio


Title: Re: New batch of Caciocavallo 2009
Post by: mosborn on November 19, 2009, 11:42:49 PM
Wow!  Now that's cool!  Thanks for posting the pics.

How much cheese did you get from 55 gallons of milk?
Title: Re: New batch of Caciocavallo 2009
Post by: caciocavallo on January 25, 2010, 03:39:40 AM
Usually will yield 1kg of cheese + 1 kg of ricotta for every 10 litres of milk.

Here are some more pics from another batch I made with some Camembert and hard cheese.

Cacio
Title: Re: New batch of Caciocavallo 2009
Post by: Tea on January 25, 2010, 08:16:43 PM
Well it certainly looks like you have mastered that cheese.  Congrats.  Did you get around to smoking some from the last batch?  Interested in how that went.

With the cheeses in the container, are they just the hard cheeses, and not the cams?  Have you rubbed them with oil?  Just wondering what you have done there.
Title: Re: New batch of Caciocavallo 2009
Post by: caciocavallo on January 26, 2010, 02:31:41 AM
Thanks Tea.

Never did get to smoke some of the cheese from last batch. Its a friend of mine that has the smoker and I wasn't able to hook up with him while they were still fresh. Maybe next time.

You are correct the cheese in the container are hard cheese, I made some cams at the same time which I posted in the soft cheese topic. The hard cheese are simply aging in my cold room and after 5 weeks of aging I put some oil and vinegar with some ground hot chilie in a container then I simply roll them in the mixture daily to keep them "wet" and will do this for another 3-4 weeks. This helps prevent mould from forming and from drying too quickly before I vacuum pak them.

Below are pics of my caciocavallo's, what left of them (fresh batch pics posted earlier, in November 17, 2009) which are vacuum packed with some of my hard cheeses which I keep very preciously. Some date back to 2006 and are wonderful. Take those out to share with only close family and friends.

Let me know if you have any more questions.

Cacio

PS still working in the recipe, and more confused than ever since 2 people now have showed me there way to make them. Although the recipe are similar I will have to make at least one batch with the combined notes and see what happens.
Title: Re: New batch of Caciocavallo 2009
Post by: Tea on January 26, 2010, 08:49:03 PM
Cacio thank you for that.  You always give me something different to try.  In regards to the recipe, yes I am still interested, so when you have one, it would be most appreciated.

Just a question if I may.  Do you use fresh milk when doing this?  Just that I have found that fresh seems to be much easier to work with when doing these cheeses.
Title: Re: New batch of Caciocavallo 2009
Post by: caciocavallo on January 27, 2010, 04:40:42 AM
Tea,

I am lucky to have found a farmer which sells me fresh raw milk. It makes more economic sense for the quantity of cheese I make a year which is about 400L.

Cacio
Title: Re: New batch of Caciocavallo 2009
Post by: Tea on January 27, 2010, 08:28:24 PM
Lucky you.  I have been making 10lr batches every weekend and started doing some mental arithmetic's on what is was going to cost me over the year ... oh my  :-X  ... decided that I would only think of it in weekly batches.
Title: Re: New batch of Caciocavallo 2009
Post by: DeejayDebi on January 29, 2010, 03:07:22 AM
Great looking cheeses Cacio!
Title: Re: New batch of Caciocavallo 2009
Post by: caciocavallo on January 29, 2010, 03:59:49 AM
Thanks Deejay!

Cacio
Title: Re: New batch of Caciocavallo 2009
Post by: WhiteSageFarms on February 23, 2010, 01:35:52 AM
What temperature do you keep your cold room? Your cheeses are lovely to look at, I'm sure they are fabulous to eat!

~Laurie
White Sage Farms
Owyhee County, Idaho
Title: Re: New batch of Caciocavallo 2009
Post by: caciocavallo on February 23, 2010, 03:27:11 AM
Hello Laurie,

Thanks for the compliments. Not to brag or anything but the cheese our family makes are a real delight to eat. Our family and friends can attest to that. They just love it when we serve it at dinner occasions.

My cold room varies from 5-10 deg Celsius with about 60 to 75% humidity. 

Take care.

Cacio
Title: Re: New batch of Caciocavallo 2009
Post by: DeejayDebi on February 25, 2010, 01:39:28 AM
Well Tea look at it this way - It's not wasted money it's god food and you know it's quality!
Title: Re: New batch of Caciocavallo 2009
Post by: peno17 on January 15, 2014, 10:00:17 PM
Hey just wondering if you ever figured out a master recipe cacio?
Thanks!
Title: Re: New batch of Caciocavallo 2009
Post by: caciocavallo on January 16, 2014, 03:05:36 AM
Hi peno17,

I have not yet mastered it enough to post something here. This is the period in the year I start making cheese (cold weather in Montreal) and not much else to do, so I hope to be able to post something.

I guess its because I don't make it often enough. Last year I went to a friend of mines to see him make the cacio and he had it down tee. I tried to repeat it 2 weeks later and was moderately successful. I used his whey as a culture instead of critic acid and it work. Now a week later I tried a recipe using the citric acid recipe and got a surprise, it worked. It stretched very well and was able to make the cacio''s. However after leaving in a brine solution overnight I got a big surprise. I woke up and went to see my cheeses and they had lost their shape and looked as if they melted in the brine. Not sure what happened but hope it wont happen again. I guess its a trial and error process for us amateurs.

Cheers.