CheeseForum.org » Forum

CHEESE TYPE BOARDS (for Cheese Lovers and Cheese Makers) => RENNET COAGULATED - Semi-Hard "Sweet" Washed Curd => Topic started by: Alpkäserei on September 14, 2012, 05:34:02 PM

Title: Alp-Raclette Recipe
Post by: Alpkäserei on September 14, 2012, 05:34:02 PM
http://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,10178.0.html (http://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,10178.0.html) Raclette, discussed on this thread, and a cheese called Ziger, which is made by recooking the whey, similar to ricotta.

Here is a simple Raclette recipe as it might be produced in the mountains of the Canton of Bern. This recipe is also very similar to the Walser recipe, but it is based largely on the Oberland style cheese making traditions. To better understand some of the steps, you may wish to view the page linked above.

This cheese should be aged a minimum of 3 months.
In the context of the Oberland cheesemaking tradition, the culture is a whey culture preserved during the entire season.
If you can obtain a culture with the following bacteria, you should be good.

Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. lactis
Streptococcus salivarius subsp. thermophilus
Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis

When pressing, keep the cheese covered to retain the heat.
Title: Re: Alp-Raclette Recipe
Post by: bbracken677 on September 14, 2012, 06:06:00 PM
Very cool!  1 question...how much time passed between step 2 and step 4?  I see that the milk is heated up to  97F in step 2, but then in step 4 it says the milk is heated back up to 91F. Ergo there must have been a significant cooling down period...like overnight (since it is reheated after the evening milk is added...or perhaps heated up in the evening after the addition of the evening milk?
Title: Re: Alp-Raclette Recipe
Post by: Alpkäserei on September 14, 2012, 06:15:05 PM
Traditionally, the cheese is made early in the morning, the whole process starts while the cows are being milked. The cream is skimmed from the evening milk and added to the vat, then the morning milk is put directly from the cows into the vat (through a straining funnel) without undergoing any cooling. Once the morning milk is all added, the culture is added (whey) and it is warmed up and stirred thoroughly. Then, the evening milk is added. The evening milk is left in shallow pans called Gebse overnight, and as it get rather cold on the alp at night this milk will be 50 to 60 degrees. The idea is that the adding of this cooler milk should bring the milk pretty close to the target temp of 26 R, which is the temperature at which the rennet and culture work the best. The rennet is added to the milk as soon as it reaches the target temp.

If you are using refrigerated milk, and aren't working with a milking cycle, then you might do things a little differently. Instead, all milk can be added at once, heated to 26 R (91 F) and cultured, then after 1/2 an hour rennet is added. This should APPROXIMATE the conditions of the traditional process.
Title: Re: Alp-Raclette Recipe
Post by: bbracken677 on September 14, 2012, 08:01:38 PM
Thanks!  I wasn't sure if the evening milk was from the night before the morning milk, or from the same day's.