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CHEESE TYPE BOARDS (for Cheese Lovers and Cheese Makers) => RENNET COAGULATED - Brine Ripened (Aegean Sea) => Topic started by: brent on February 19, 2009, 07:05:20 AM
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underway with my 1st attempt at feta, useing John,s feta cheese recipe #1
i have 2ltrs organic goats milk,2 ltrs non homoginised cow milk ,60 mls buttermilk starter,3mls renco liquid rennet (7mls per 10ltr) will be a late night as i just started at 20:00hrs so looking at 0:00hrs before i can hang it .
following morning:
removed the cheese from the bag it seems to have formed a thin soft rind ??? hope this is ok as i went ahead and put it into 1inch deep trays in the fridge as per recipe looks good though .
when attempting to brine the cheese it seems very wet so ive re hung it for a bit(this may be a bad idiea!!!) but it wass falling apart when put in brine so i have nothing to loose ??? ???
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Good for you, and let us know how it turns out. Some pics would be nice too.
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Brent, looks great, nice curd set, congrats!
The rind is more a deejayed layer, dried layer of curds, that in my experience, does not let the moister more interior curds drain.
If you mix it up with a fork and then hang some more it should dry out enough for you.
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thats just what ive done looks a lot dryer now so heres hopeing :) :)
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Wow your set looks good, what kind of milk are you using and did you add CaCl2? Oh, you're Brooklyn Cheesemaker, right, if so then I remember you do use raw milk..good job.
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thanks
hope it turns out ok when done
used orgnic non homognised goat milk (2ltrs) and full cream store bought non homognised cow milk (2ltrs) no cacl2 used .as for brooklyn ???? nope im in new zealand
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I know I erased it I had a brain freeze, I was confused by the pic of your cellar. Non-Homogenized is nice.
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wish it was my celler :'( :'( one day maby ill have one
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the fetta has been cut and placed in brine a few bits have fallen off but it looks ok
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Brent, looks good, very similar to my first batch (http://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,63.msg132.html#msg132), thus should be very edible ;D.
If you read through my other Feta making records you'll see how I got subsequent batches drier, basically I've evolved from cheesecloth to draining molds like Tea uses as more surface area to drain from and thus drier curds. Also see Tea's records and the general Feta Making Recipe, tricks and traps (http://cheeseforum.org/Recipes/Recipe_Feta.htm) webpage I built.
Let us know how they taste!
PS: I mis-typed in my post above I meant de-wheyed not deejayed, I should use the Spell Check button more often :-\.
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I was wondering about that. I didn't say anything because maybe I missed something.
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well the cheese is looking good so far its starting to firm but im unsure as to weather i should stir it in the brine?? had a taste god its salty but i guess that will change i plan (after 15 days ) to put half in herbed olive oil and give the remaining 1/2 the full 30 days to see what its like
;D ;D ;D
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Hi Brent, if the feta is too salty, it can be put in some milk about an hour before serving. This leaches out some of the excess salt. I don't think you need to stir it, just leave it to do it's stuff.
If you heat the oil a little before you put in the herbs, it helps to infuse the flavours better. Let the oil cool before you add the feta though.
Let us know how things turn out.
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BAD THINGS have happend .
i split the fetta ie kept 2/3 in brine and took out 1/3 to try ,the 1/3 was too salty so i soaked it in milk to kill the salt .....but it disolved!!!!!! what can i do to save the remaining cheese ????????
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Hi Brent and I'm sorry to hear that. I know there was talk somewhere about cheese melting, but it was usually from the incorrect pH of the brine, supposedly anyway. Personally I have never had that happen, so I can't offer any more suggestions. Hopefully someone that has this happen can help you further.
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thanks i still have alot still in brine and i dont mind the saltness but wife finds it too much
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Brent, I think the probelm originated in your cheese making when curds after hanging were still too moist :(.
Good to hear it's still edible :D.
When you try again, ways to reduce your moisture/whey content that I can think of are:
- Leave the cut curds in the stockpot an extra 15 minutes.
- Scoop dryer curds off of wall of bag to enable moister curds to better drain.
- Use a basket mold like Tea or a hoop system like I do to get more surface area and thereby better drainage.
My first try wasn't good either . . . I added pictures to the Feta Cheese Making Recipe (http://cheeseforum.org/Recipes/Recipe_Feta.htm) webpage today.
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i agree i think that is where the trouble started ill try again but im going to basket press it this time ::)
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i find if you leave your fetta to drain after you cut it and spinkle plenty of salt over it you will find more whey will come out and the fetta will firm up i do this for a couple of days turning the fetta as you go and you can control the amount of salt in the fetta when you have finished you must acidify your brine with some vinegar and this will stop your fetta from melting as the fetta is already salted the brine doesn't have to be very strong or it is now ready to marinate in whatever you like puting the fetta in the fridge after all this will also harden it up as well
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@narelle, thanks for ideas. Couple follow up questions:
- Do you leave the cheese out at room temperature for an extra couple days when you are dry salting to remove excess whey or do you store in fridge?
- If leave out what is your room temp (I'm at 25 C/77 F)?
- Also, roughly what sort of brine % and what % vinegar do you use to preserve your fetta (or what pH are you aiming for)?
Thanks for you help!
@brent, as far as I know, Tea just gravity drains her feta in the basket, no pressing, I also just gravity drain in my Camembert hoops and mats, no pressing.
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thanks for the idieas ill try gravity draining next time,a couple of questions. 1) how long do you drain for ,
2) do you just place the curd direct into basket about a half - 1 inch thick (no hanging),
3)will it not form a skin if not stirred ,
4)and after the draining am i right in thinking the cheese can then be out into oil etc or dose it still require brine/vinagar
regards
brent
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Brent if you go back and look at the pic in my feta post you will see that the baskets are about 4 inch deep. I fill to the top and then let drain. These are turned every 1/2 hour to start with, then down to every 2 hours. They are then left over night. The resulting cheese is approx 1inch thick.
The cheese needs to be brined before it can be marinated. It is the brining that preserves the cheese.
HTH
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will do it that way stack and turn next thanks i found some perfect baskets in k mart (our wal mart)
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hi john
i leave it out for 2 days at room temp 25c is good it also helps in maturing the flavour because your fetta is already salted i make the brine to the same salt strenght as the fetta if you make it stonger the fetta will absorb more salt than you want and if you make it weaker you will leach out the salt from your fetta so salt your fetta to the strength you like and all you are doing is maintaining the salt content of the fetta
i usually put about 1/2 cup of white vinegar to 2 litres of either salted whey which prefer to salted water i boil the whey and salt it and let it stand overnight so the milk solids still left after making the fetta will sink to the bottom of the pot or jug or whatever you use to let it stand in then you can pour off the whey and it will be nice and clear
you can experiment with a small amount of fetta to get the amount of vinegar right so your fetta doesn't melt i do a goat and cows milk combo and i don't know if straight goat or straight cows milk fetta needs different amounts of vinegar
after the salting at room temp and i am happy with the flavour i put it into the fridge and it keeps for about 1 month with no brine just in an airtight container or it you have a vac sealer i have kept it that way as well
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Thanks narelle :)!
OK next batch I'll 1) leave my drained Fetta out longer for 2 days vs my normal 1 and 2) will sprinkle with salt to expell more whey and get a drier cheese.
I'll conserve my whey and will 1) add salt, 2) boil, 3) cool, 4) decant, 5) add vinegar, and 6) place Fetta in it and then placing in fridge for preserving longer than 1 month without brine.
For brent, the basket/hoop draining method that Tea and I use does not result in a skin or rind on the cheese.
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i forgot to say i slice the fetta up into about 1 inch slices to salt it and put it in a plastic container with a lid and turn the slices twice a day salting both sides and drain off the whey that collects ::)