Goat /cow feta #1

[brent]

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 ??? ???

[Tea]

Good for you, and let us know how it turns out.  Some pics would be nice too.

[Cheese Head]

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.

[brent]

thats just what ive done looks a lot dryer now so heres hopeing :) :)

[Cartierusm]

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.

[brent]

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

[Cartierusm]

I know I erased it I had a brain freeze, I was confused by the pic of your cellar. Non-Homogenized is nice.

[brent]

wish it was my celler  :'( :'( one day maby ill have one

[brent]

the fetta has been cut and placed in brine a few bits have fallen off but it looks ok

[Cheese Head]

Brent, looks good, very similar to my first batch, 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 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 :-\.

[Cartierusm]

I was wondering about that. I didn't say anything because maybe I missed something.

[brent]

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

[Tea]

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.

[brent]

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 ????????

[Tea]

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.