Sir OzzieCheese suggested we do a Raffine challenge in which I make Raffine and on the other side of the globe he makes it. Today was my cheese day so a I brought up the Raffine recipe from NE Cheesemaking.
https://cheesemaking.com/products/raffine-cheese-making-recipeI was first interested in this cheese because the picture on the NECheesmaking site make it look so darn pretty. It looks like a delicious dessert, though I am sure it wont taste like one.. and I suspect my version will not be as beautiful but I digress.
My ingredients:
2 gallons Natural by Nature Whole Milk. This milk is flash pasteurized.
1/4 tsp MA 4002 culture
1/32 tsp GEO13 GC. Recipe called for GEO17, but I dont have that.
1/64 tsp B Linens
3/4 tsp Single Strength Rennet
1/2 tsp CaCl2
1) Put milk in warm water bath and heated milk to 90F.
2) Added CaCl2 in 1/4 cup distilled water, mixed well.
3) Sprinkled on 1/4tsp MA4002 & 1/32 tsp GEO13. (I forgot BLines!). Let sit 3minutes to rehydrate
4) Mixed well. Temp=92 so removed from bath
5) set for 60min.
20min in when thinking of the delicious pink color.. I realized I forgot the BLinens! 6) Added 1/64 tsp BLinens, let hydrate and mixed in.
7) Allowed to sit 40minutres (total time 60minutes)
80 Add 3/4tsp rennet in 1/4 cup distilled water. Mixed for 30seconds, T=87F
9) at 5minutes, I had flocculation. Not knowing what the multiplier was to be, I cut curds after 25minutes.
10) Made one set of vertical cuts space 2" apart.
11) waited 3minutes
12) Made second set of vertical cuts perpendicular to first set and spaced 2" apart.
13) waited 5minutes
14) tried horizontal cuts. I can never get this right. I tried using the cheese ladle but I didn't like that. I Tried using a long knife, but didn't like that either. I may need to invest (or make) a cheeseharp.
15) Let rest 15minutes. Ladled off collected whey. Recipe says to not stir but gently separate curds. I tried but I don't think I was successful, curds still broke up anyway.
16) repeated this every 15minutes for 2 hours.
17) Ladled curds into my cheese mold. I didn't;t have the right molds so I used one regular basket mold, One small hard cheese mold, one homemade cheese mold (plastic ice cream container with holes in it). I chose these because they are roughly the same dimensions as the molds mentioned in the recipe. (The hard cheese mold has no bottom)
18). Sprinkled 1/2 tsp cheese salt on each cheese.
19). Allowed to sit until they shrank about 1/2 way. (~2.5 hours)
20) Cheeses were flipped and 1/2 tsp salt sprinkled on top again.
21) ~5 1/2 hours later the cheeses were removed from the molds and placed on bamboo mats. The are still very wet but can hold their shape.
22) Allowed to sit out ~65F and covered with butter muslin
The cheeses are supposed to spread considerable. We'll see in the morning! Stay Tuned. :-)