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CHEESE TYPE BOARDS (for Cheese Lovers and Cheese Makers) => RENNET COAGULATED - Brine Ripened (Aegean Sea) => Topic started by: Al Lewis on April 19, 2015, 09:28:12 PM

Title: My First Halloumi
Post by: Al Lewis on April 19, 2015, 09:28:12 PM
Well the wife wanted some of this so I dug up the recipe from Mary Karlin's Artisan Cheese Making at Home and decided to have a try.  I managed to pick up a gallon of goats milk from Trader Joe's.  Decided to mix that with a gallon of PH cow's milk as that is listed as an alternative milk and my mold was too large for a 1 gallon make.  The finished cheese is cut into squares do it made total sense to use my square Tallegio mold.
Title: Re: My First Halloumi
Post by: Al Lewis on April 19, 2015, 09:34:20 PM
With the milks mixed in the pot, along with the teaspoon of CaCl, I heated the milk to 90° F over 20 minutes.  Once the milk reached temperature I added the teaspoon of rennet let the milk sit, undisturbed, for 45 minutes.  At that point I had a clean break in the curd.
Title: Re: My First Halloumi
Post by: Al Lewis on April 19, 2015, 09:36:26 PM
With the clean break achieved I cut the curd into 3/4" pieces and allowed it to sit for 5 minutes maintaining the 90° F temperature.
Title: Re: My First Halloumi
Post by: Al Lewis on April 19, 2015, 09:41:16 PM
The next step calls for bringing the curds to 104° F over a 15 minute period without stirring.  Once you reach the 104° F it calls for you to gently stir the curds for 20 minutes with a rubber spatula.  I used silicone.  After stirring allow the curd to rest, maintaining the temperature, and allow them to sink to the bottom of the pot.
Title: Re: My First Halloumi
Post by: Al Lewis on April 19, 2015, 09:43:25 PM
At this point you should drain off enough whey to expose the top of the curd, be sure and keep this, and spoon the curd into a butter muslin prepared colander layering the curd with dried mint.  Allow the curd to drain in the colander for 15 minutes collecting the whey for later use.
Title: Re: My First Halloumi
Post by: Al Lewis on April 19, 2015, 10:00:27 PM
Now place the curd into the mold and press for 3 hours using an 8 pound weight.  Flip and press for another 3 hours with an 8 pound weight.  I filled a gallon milk jug with the whey and used it to press with.
Title: Re: My First Halloumi
Post by: Al Lewis on April 19, 2015, 10:02:54 PM
Now you need to put the whey back into a pot and heat it to 190° F.  Do not allow it to boil.  Remove the cheese from the mold and cut into squares.  I ended up with 9 squares from this 2 gallon make using the Tallegio mold.
Title: Re: My First Halloumi
Post by: Al Lewis on April 19, 2015, 10:04:51 PM
Once the whey reaches the target temperature you place the blocks into the hot whey and allow it to cook for 30-35 minutes.  The blocks will initially sink but then rise to the top as they cook.
Title: Re: My First Halloumi
Post by: Al Lewis on April 19, 2015, 10:11:47 PM
Once cooked move the squares to an area where they can cool down and air dry, to the touch.  Should take about 45 minutes.  While waiting mix 26 ounces of salt with a gallon of water and cool it to 55° F.  I made mine ahead of time and put it in the cave.  The cheese blocks can now be placed into a non-corrosive container filled with the cool brine.  They will keep in there for up to 2 months.
Title: Re: My First Halloumi
Post by: Stinky on April 19, 2015, 11:25:27 PM
If you followed the recipe this should be delightfully salty in that you can't put it on anything and if you do it almost kills you it's that salty.
Title: Re: My First Halloumi
Post by: TimT on April 19, 2015, 11:55:20 PM
I don't even bother with the amounts of salt the recipe calls for in my haloumi these days. I just sprinkle some on a plate after I take the hot haloumi chunks out of the whey, and when they've cooled and drained a bit I toss them about on the plate.

Not only does my recipe actually call for so much salt that when you chew on the haloumi it tastes like solidified ocean, it also says you should keep the haloumi in a brine - even more salt!
Title: Re: My First Halloumi
Post by: Stinky on April 20, 2015, 12:03:07 AM
I don't even bother with the amounts of salt the recipe calls for in my haloumi these days. I just sprinkle some on a plate after I take the hot haloumi chunks out of the whey, and when they've cooled and drained a bit I toss them about on the plate.

Not only does my recipe actually call for so much salt that when you chew on the haloumi it tastes like solidified ocean, it also says you should keep the haloumi in a brine - even more salt!

Ah, that's a good description... grilled ocean sandwiches.
Title: Re: My First Halloumi
Post by: Danbo on April 20, 2015, 07:27:35 PM
Ummmmmm... I gotta try to make Halloumi... AC4U!

Title: Re: My First Halloumi
Post by: Al Lewis on April 26, 2015, 11:34:24 PM
Well get yourself a square mold Danbo.  Makes the final steps a lot easier. ;)
Title: Re: My First Halloumi
Post by: Stinky on April 27, 2015, 02:15:47 AM
Well get yourself a square mold Danbo.  Makes the final steps a lot easier. ;)

Have ya ate any of it yet?
Title: Re: My First Halloumi
Post by: Al Lewis on April 27, 2015, 02:29:53 AM
I made it for the wife and, no, she hasn't.
Title: Re: My First Halloumi
Post by: valley ranch on July 03, 2016, 08:13:43 PM
Greetings Al, Were you pleased, you wife, with the Halloumi? Did she fry it or eat it with bread, olives and wine. Was it better than what she had, that she'd eaten before, if she had?

Richard
Title: Re: My First Halloumi
Post by: Fritz on July 03, 2016, 09:25:10 PM
Ya'... halloumi can get ridiculously salty ... I made one batch and never again ... Still waiting to hear from someone that found one that works well and balanced... Both Mad Mille and Gavin Green have recipes (don't do the mad Mille one )
Title: Re: My First Halloumi
Post by: Tea on February 18, 2017, 06:41:47 AM
I have just stated making some goats milk halloumi again, but this time I decided to try a 12% salt brine instead of the 20% that the recipe called for.   So far that has met with rave reviews.

However if the cheese is too salty, you know that you can soak it in milk for a couple of days to lessen the salt concentration.

Hope she liked the cheese. 
Title: Re: My First Halloumi
Post by: Al Lewis on February 18, 2017, 04:20:17 PM
Unfortunately, as reported, it was like chewing on a salt lick.  The brining called for in that recipe is totally wrong.  All future efforts will be with a lot less salt.
Title: Re: My First Halloumi
Post by: Stinky on February 20, 2017, 05:33:09 AM
It was likely the most disappointed I ever was about a cheese where everything went right according to the recipe.  :P Now you know, though. +C for, uh, knowledge
Title: Re: My First Halloumi
Post by: Al Lewis on February 20, 2017, 04:38:23 PM
Yeah, not sure if this was a misprint or if Mary Karlin just doesn't know how to make Halloumi but she sure ruined my batch and considering what I had to pay for the goats milk I will be looking at her other recipes with a very skeptical eye. :o
Title: Re: My First Halloumi
Post by: Duntov on February 20, 2017, 04:47:34 PM
Yeah, not sure if this was a misprint or if Mary Karlin just doesn't know how to make Halloumi but she sure ruined my batch and considering what I had to pay for the goats milk I will be looking at her other recipes with a very skeptical eye. :o

Just curious Al.  I haven't over salted a cheese yet but someday I might.  I saw a post that someone said soaking an over-salted cheese in milk will help to draw the salt out.  I know that country ham is soaked prior to eating for the same purpose.  What are your thoughts on this?
Title: Re: My First Halloumi
Post by: Schnecken Slayer on February 21, 2017, 04:45:05 AM
I have seen the same suggestion for overly salty cheeses.
When I make Haloumi I simply vac pac it.
Title: Re: My First Halloumi
Post by: Stinky on February 21, 2017, 06:12:09 AM
Yeah, not sure if this was a misprint or if Mary Karlin just doesn't know how to make Halloumi but she sure ruined my batch and considering what I had to pay for the goats milk I will be looking at her other recipes with a very skeptical eye. :o

I will say that on the whole I haven't been the most impressed with her recipes as far as being accurate to the types of cheese. I think after a while I just started checking multiple recipes for anything I mad and picking the stuff that seemed right from either one as a matter of course.

That said I'd be very surprised if that was intentional.
Title: Re: My First Halloumi
Post by: Al Lewis on February 21, 2017, 02:16:38 PM
Yeah, not sure if this was a misprint or if Mary Karlin just doesn't know how to make Halloumi but she sure ruined my batch and considering what I had to pay for the goats milk I will be looking at her other recipes with a very skeptical eye. :o

Just curious Al.  I haven't over salted a cheese yet but someday I might.  I saw a post that someone said soaking an over-salted cheese in milk will help to draw the salt out.  I know that country ham is soaked prior to eating for the same purpose.  What are your thoughts on this?
  Although this might be a viable means of rescuing a salty cheese, certainly sounds reasonable if the salt is on the surface, I strive to get them right the first time.  I also expect that anyone representing themselves as a professional, and writing a book, should make certain that the recipes contained in that book are correct.  I do recipes every week for Char Griller and actually eat everything I make prior to posting any recipes or videos.
Title: Re: My First Halloumi
Post by: wattlebloke on February 25, 2017, 01:01:07 AM
Yeah, not sure if this was a misprint or if Mary Karlin just doesn't know how to make Halloumi but she sure ruined my batch and considering what I had to pay for the goats milk I will be looking at her other recipes with a very skeptical eye. :o


I will say that on the whole I haven't been the most impressed with her recipes as far as being accurate to the types of cheese. I think after a while I just started checking multiple recipes for anything I mad and picking the stuff that seemed right from either one as a matter of course.

That said I'd be very surprised if that was intentional.

I found her book early in my cheesemaking adventures: luckily I also found the corrections to her recipes on her website: 2 1/2 pages of them...
http://www.artisancheesemakingathome.com/pdfs/ACMH-CORRECTIONS.pdf (http://www.artisancheesemakingathome.com/pdfs/ACMH-CORRECTIONS.pdf)
Title: Re: My First Halloumi
Post by: Stinky on February 26, 2017, 09:06:06 PM
Even with the corrections, which missed a couple of things as far as I can tell, a lot of her makes just aren't accurate representations of the styles they claim to produce.
Title: Re: My First Halloumi
Post by: Defkalionas on October 20, 2017, 06:12:45 AM
Hi..in Cyprus we get 2 kinds of Halloumi..The soft ones..and the harder ones..If you want them to be harder you put them in Brine..then..you wash it with water.
If i can help out anyone please do ask me.
Thanks