Fresh melting cheese

[sedkjohnson]

What method would I use to make a fresh cheese that has the consistency of Velveeta?  I have tried heat milk to 140 add citric acid drain ad butter and backing soda recipe but the consistency wasn't completely smooth and it was heavy acid taste. Is there a way to use rennet to get the consistency I am after. I'll worry about flavor later I just want to learn to get a creamy smooth melting cheese first.

[mikekchar]

I've experimented a lot with acid formed curds.  If you want to cut back on the acidity of the curds, first start with non-homogenised milk. The homogenisation seems to interfere with the curdling process and in my experience you need more acid with homogenised milk.  Also it is *very* important that you do not use UHT milk (it might be your problem if you are getting graininess in you final produce).  Look for low temperature pasturised milk (pasturised at ~65C).  Next, make sure to dissolve the citric acid in water before you start.  I use 4 grams dissolved in 100 ml of water for each litre of milk.  You won't need all of this solution, likely, but it's just more than enough if you know what I mean.

Also, heat the milk a little higher -- 42 C is what I've decided on as a sweet spot.  I'll avoid what I think to be the underlying chemistry (unless you are interested), but the temperature determines the rate at which the curd will form (and how well it will stick together).  Higher temperatures will allow the curd to form faster and stick together better.  However, higher temperatures will also expel the fat.  Since acid formed curds do not form casein-calcium bonds, it doesn't make a nice cage to hold the fat in.  As the temperature goes up, the fat melts and just runs into the whey.

But the reason for the higher temperature is because you can actually set a curd at a much higher pH than you might imagine.  Instead of a spoon, use a balloon whisk.  Add the citric acid mixture slowly and stir slowly with the whisk.  Eventually you will see strings of curds forming on the wires of this wisk.  Keep adding the citric acid mixture and keep stirring with the whisk.  Stirring is *very* important.  You need the motion of the curds in the whey to speed the process of it clumping together.  It should be forming big clumps in the pot.  Non homogenised milk won't make a completely clear whey, so stop when it is mostly clear.

Immediately drain the whey from the curds.  You will not need cheese cloth.  A big strainer will do because the curds will have formed into big clumps (quite a lot will be trapped in your whisk).  You need to get rid of the whey because you've gone to a lot of trouble to produce curds at a higher pH than normal -- you don't want them sitting in the low pH whey.  If you taste the curds, they should be creamy and not tart.

The main points here are non-homogenised milk, temperature and constant motion with many places for curds to accumulate.  With homogenised milk, you will get greater yields (about 20% greater!), but it curdles slower and requires more acid.  I don't have a pH meter, but the curds are noticeably tart.  The temperature is also crucial.  Even with non-homogenised milk, I find that if the temperature is down to 38 degrees, it also requires a lot more acid.  The curds don't melt together easily and don't form big clumps either.  The motion of the curds in the milk help them to clump together faster (and at a higher pH) than they normally would.

Hope that helps.  Especially if you were using UHT milk previously (flash pasturised at 125C or above for 2 seconds), then I would definitely try again with low temperature pasturised milk.

[SOSEATTLE]

Velveeta/American cheese products are processed "cheese" products, so using conventional cheese making techniques are not going to give the same results. There are videos on YouTube that show how to make a Velveeta type product. Here is one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AaVDMEuH3w. You might start with those videos.


susan

[GortKlaatu]

My only question is "Whyyyyyyyyy?"

[sedkjohnson]

Thank you mike that is good information. As to why, so my son can have creamy Mac and cheese like his friends.  He is on a very low sodium diet (Duchenne MD). And as much as I love the finer cheeses like yourself it's hard to beat the texture of Velveeta for Mac.

[Thewitt]

It will likely be cheaper to just buy Velveeta for his mac and cheese.

[GortKlaatu]

Thank you mike that is good information. As to why, so my son can have creamy Mac and cheese like his friends.  He is on a very low sodium diet (Duchenne MD). And as much as I love the finer cheeses like yourself it's hard to beat the texture of Velveeta for Mac.

Well, now I understand why, and I applaud your trying to come up with a solution for you son. AC4U. (And I bet you'll be the only person I ever give a cheese to for trying to emulate a Velveeta.  haha.


I haven't made anything that is quite like the texture of Velveeta, but I have made a very mellow, very soft textured Havarti type cheese that is very meltable and if used young remains pretty soft. Have you tried something like that?

[sedkjohnson]

I haven't tried havarti. I am open to try anything as long as I can keep the sodium very low.  I'll do some research on havarti.  Thanks.

[GortKlaatu]

To minimize the sodium, cut the brine time down.  Then vac it and consume it young.  Keep us posted.

[Gregore]

Any cheese that you make that will be aged will need at least 1.5 percent salt minimum .

If you need to make cheese with less sodium than that you need to make cheeses that will not be aged very long .

Probably less than 5 or 6 days

What I recomend is to get cheeses from a good source that can steer you towards very sharp pungent cheeses to mix with milk to make a cheese sauce that has a lot of flavor and because of the minimum amount of cheese to volume of milk will thus have lower sodium .  Theses cheeses will more than likely cost more than cheaper mass produced cheese but because you need so much less the cost might end up the same.

I am sure members will have some suggestions of cheeses for you to try

Just be aware that blues are more likely to have a much higher salt ratio than most other cheeses  sometimes upwards of 3%  most other cheeses are between 1.5% and 2.5 percent