Wayne's Cheese: Parm022609

[wharris]

Well, I thought i would try my hand at parm again.  I still have questions about when to add te Lipase and how much LH100 is appropriate.

Here is my build:
6 Gallons Milk
4 2% milk
2 whole milk
3 tbls  CaCl2
3/4 tsp lipase
3/4 tsp TA61
3/4 tsp LH100 <--New!
1.5 tsp Animal Rennet




Time   Milk    Water   pH   Notes
3:00pm   53   91   6.66   Added 3 tbls CaCL2
3:30   61   94   6.66   Pwer on
4:02   78   101   6.45   Added Lipase (30 min soak in 1/4cup of  distilled water)
            Added a bit early.  A bit concerned that the pH was already down to 6.45.
4:15   84   119      
      
4:23   90   115   6.45   Added cultures (pulled pot out, pwr out)
4:53   90   111      Added rennet. (diluted into  3/
            4 cup of Distilled water)
5:25   90   120   6.35   Cut the curd
6:00   100   140   6.21   Heating the curd
6:40   124   151   5.92   Done cooking the curd 
            

Some pics

[saycheese]

Wayne,
That's a nice looking parmesan -- how long will you age it? 

[wharris]

10 months

[Cartierusm]

You son of a b**** how in the hell do you get such good sets. I've never even seen cubes like that professionally. Although I'm being dramatic I do want to know how you get such good sets!!

BTW I use LH100 at what the manuf recommends for Parm .12 grams per gallon. I've read to rehydrate lipase at least 30 minutes before adding in some water, about a cup should be alright, then add it after ripening, right before adding rennet. Add it mix real good, then add your rennet.

P.S. recipe details? Store bought? How long ripen, how much and what kind rennet, how long let set?

[wharris]

Some details and lessons learned:

After innoculation, I let the milk acidify for 30 min.  Some recipes call for double this.  I guess what I need to understand is what happens after 30 min. What milestone are we looking for as an indicator for when to add rennet?

I noticed that according to the CHR Parmesan guidebook, the pH at the beginning of the rennet phase should be around pH6.45-6.5.  My pH was down to pH6.45 berfore i even added the culture.  I think i was a bit messed up from the get go.  So, I am not sure what is up with that.  Would CaCL2 acidify my milk?

I aslo suspect that I added too much culture, I added the following:

3/4 tsp TA61
3/4 tsp LH100

That is 1.5tsp of culture.  Is that right?

My final pH was 5.90.  I think that is too low.

One more thing, given that i am coming off a pretty wicked flu/cold/monkey virus/avian bird flu/ebola/polio/plague variant,  my nose is not working well, so cannot tell if the off smell i detect is my defective sniffer, or real.

[goat lady]

what do use for brine i see some add vinegar and wonder why??

[wharris]

the Brine i use is detailed here:

Vinegar?  well in terms of parmesan, i think that is only really ever used to wipe down the cheese to remove any mold that may have formed.

In the bigger picture, vinegar can be used to acidify milk and make certain types of cheeses without the use of rennet. 

[wharris]

My Parm..

[Cartierusm]

Which one, silly?

I've had wayyy too much tequila tonight, so this is a drunken post.

[wharris]

All are parm, but the latest one is the one closest to the front.  The different collors are due to me playing with annatto.

[Tea]

Ohh Wayne, they look fabulous.  Wouldn't mind having one of them sitting in my cave.

[wharris]

I will have to wait till Dec to taste, but they smell wonderfull.