My Kefalotyri Recipe

Started by rsterne, August 23, 2021, 06:21:11 PM

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rsterne

We just made our second Kefalotyri, and since the first one was such a success, I thought I would share the recipe and technique with you.  First, here is the recipe:

Kefalotyri Cheese
(Recipe loosely based on Gavin Webber's "Little Green Cheese" Video, and a recipe from here on the Cheese Forum, with the assistance of Members)
It takes about 6 hours from the start to the overnight pressing.

Equipment Needed:
1/2 tsp.              1/2 Tbsp.
3/16 tsp.             Flocculation Bowl
1/8 tsp.               Both Curd Cutters
1/4 cup                Whisk (Small)
3 Stainless Cups      Two Timers
Rectangle Mould       Cheese Cloth for Mould and Colander
Skimming Ladle        Colander
Slotted Spoon         Butter Knife
Dinner Knife          Two Thermometers
      
Ingredients:
8 L Homo Milk (3.25%)   
1 L Coffee Cream (18%) 
   Total – 9 L at 4.9% Butterfat
1/2 tsp. Calcium Chloride, dissolved in ¼ cup cool water
1/8 tsp. Culture (MA4002)
1/8 tsp. Lipase, dissolved in ¼ cup cool water – let sit 20 min.
3/16 tsp. double strength Liquid Rennet, dissolved in ¼ cup cool water – let sit 30 min.
2 Tbsp. Salt (4 X 1/2 Tbsp.)

Method:
Heat the milk to 90° F.  While heating, add the calcium chloride solution and stir well to combine, and add the lipase solution (we used mild Calf lipase) and stir well.  Sprinkle the starter over the surface of the milk, wait 2 minutes for the powder to rehydrate, then stir well.  Cover and allow the milk to ripen for 40 minutes. 

Add the diluted rennet through a skimming ladle and stir gently with an up-and-down motion for 30 seconds.  Top stir for 30 seconds.  Cover and let sit at 90° F based on the flocculation time multiplied by 2.5X.  Check for a "sloppy" break (about 30-40 minutes).  The curd is quite fragile, so handle with care!

Cut the curd vertically into 3/4" columns.  Rest 5 minutes, but each minute gently agitate the pot to make the columns of curds sway a bit and discharge some whey into the spaces between.  Cut the curd horizontally into 1/4" pieces.  Rest 5 minutes, again shaking the pot gently to separate the curds and help them heal.  Use the whisk gently to reduce the curds to about 1/4".

Heat the curds to 124° F by increasing the temperature slowly over a period of 60 minutes (3° F every 5 minutes).  Using the slotted spoon, gently stir the curds while heating them.  Curds should eventually reduce to rice size.  Check the curds with a grip test.   If still soft, cook longer, maintaining the temperature. About 10 minutes extra worked OK. Curds should compress into a ball when squeezed in the palm, and then separate easily when teased with the thumb.  They should be springy.  Let the curds rest for 5 minutes to settle in the pot.

Pour off the curds and whey into a cheese cloth lined colander.  Allow to drain.  Separate the curds by hand until the consistency is like scrambled eggs.  Add the salt 1/2 Tbsp. at a time, mixing the salt in gently but thoroughly with each addition. Wait 2 minutes and repeat 3 more times (4 X = 2 Tbsp. total)

Lift the curds in the cheese cloth and place into the mould, fold over the cloth and place the follower on top.  (If they won't fit, use a Medium Cylinder mould.)  Slowly increase the pressure to 10 lbs. (~0.5 psi), insuring the whey only drips out, not flowing in a stream. Once at 10 lbs., press for 15 minutes. Remove from the cheesecloth, gently flip, and using the proper cheese cloth for the mold, press as follows, flipping and redressing the cheese each time:
   20 lbs. (~1 psi) for 30 minutes
   40 lbs. (~2 psi) for 60 minutes
   85 lbs. (3.5 psi) overnight (10-12 hours)  Keep the room at 72° F.   
The next morning, turn down the heat in the room. Flip the cheese, trim if necessary, and press at 10 lbs. for 30 minutes without the cheese cloth to remove cloth marks. 

Air dry at 55° F (cool room temp.) for 3-5 days or until well dried, flipping twice daily.  Wax the cheese or vacuum bag it, and age it for 6 weeks at 55° F in the cheese cave, flipping daily.  If you vacuum bagged it, open the bag and dry it, and re-bag.  Age for another 6 weeks in the kitchen wine fridge (46° F).  Turn it weekly.

Sample the cheese.  Vacuum-bag or re-wax the remainder of the brick and age another 3, 6 and 9 months. (max. 1 year from date of making cheese).  This cheese can be used to make Greek Saganaki (fried cheese). 



That is a photo of Saganaki made from our first make of Kefalotyri.... It can also be eaten as a table cheese.

Photos of this make in the next post....

Bob
Cheesemaking has rekindled our love of spending time together, Diane and me!

rsterne

#1
Here are the photos I took during our make....

Here is our Cheese Kitchen.... It used to be one of our Motel units, now dedicated to making cheese.... We use a water bath on a burner for heating.... The mix of 8 litres of 3.25% P/H whole milk and a litre of 18% cream is to emulate the high Butterfat content, and Protein/Fat ratio, of Sheep's milk, as is the added Lipase....



Adding the MA 4002 Culture, 1/8 tsp.... Calcium Chloride and Lipase were already added during heating.... Next it ripens for 40 min....



Adding the Rennet.... We used 3/16 tsp. Double Strength, but you could use 3/8 tsp. of single, of course....



I use a small plastic bowl to test for Flocculation.... In this case it took 17 minutes, times 2.5 for a setting time of 42.5 minutes before cutting....



When we checked the "break", it was a bit sloppy, as expected.... We cut the curds into 3/4" columns, let them rest 5 minutes, but each minute moved the pot gently back and forth to make the columns wave around like kelp in the ocean, to get them to start releasing whey.... Below is my horizontal curd cutter positioned, ready to make the 1/4" horizontal cuts....



Continued below....

Bob
Cheesemaking has rekindled our love of spending time together, Diane and me!

rsterne

#2
Continuing from above.... After the horizontal cuts, allowing the curds to heal for an additional 5 minutes, while shaking the pot gently to help them separate and heal.... we gently used a whisk to cut the curds into about 1/4" pieces....



The curds are now cooked by heating slowly to 124*F over one hour (about 3*F each 5 min.).... By the time they are done, they have reduced to about rice-sized grains....



Now it's time for a little "art".... Compress a small quantity of curds in the palm of your hand to squeeze out the whey.... Then tease the curds apart with your thumb.... If they are not cooked enough, they tend to stick together, and the drier they become, the easier they are to separate.... Individual curds become more springy as they cook more.... It takes a while to develop the "feel" you need, but once you do, you can judge when to stop cooking the curds to within about 5 minutes....



The curds have been drained, and separated by hand into small pieces.... At this stage they look and feel much like scrambled eggs.... Add 1/2 Tbsp. of salt, mix in gently but thoroughly, and let stand 2 minutes for the salt to absorb.... Repeat 3 more times for the rest of the salt (2 Tbsp. total).... Salting the curds directly at this stage is critical to halting acid production.... It that continues, and drops the pH too far, the cheese will melt when fried for Saganaki....



Continued in the next post....

Bob
Cheesemaking has rekindled our love of spending time together, Diane and me!

rsterne

#3
Continued from above.... We gather the salted curds in the cheesecloth and transfer them into the mould, folding the cloth over the top.... You start by pressing VERY gently.... the whey would be just dripping out, not running out in a stream....




Increase the pressure to 10 lbs. and hold it there for 15 minutes.... Remove and unwrap.... It will be fragile and look about like this....



Use the proper cheesecloth (cut for the mould), flip, rewrap and press at 20 lbs. for 30 minutes, at which point it will be nearly knit.... It was interesting how little whey came out in this 20 lb. pressing, and virtually none after this....



Flip, rewrap, and press at 40 lbs. for an hour.... Fully knit now, and ready for the final pressing overnight....



We pressed at the maximum our press can go with single springs, which is 85 lbs. (3.5 psi) for 12 hours (overnight).... We then unwrapped it, trimmed off the ridge from the follower, flipped it and repressed for 1/2 hour at 1/2 psi (10 lbs.) without the cloth to remove any cloth marks.... Here is the result....



At this stage, it weighs 2 lbs. 11 oz. which represents a yield of 13.5%.... It will now sit for a few days to dry (and loose a bit of weight) before we wax it....

Bob
Cheesemaking has rekindled our love of spending time together, Diane and me!

rsterne

#4
I found this diagram a while back while surfing the Internet....



It shows the pH range you want to have for a cheese to melt easily.... but importantly for making Saganaki, it shows why you must halt acid production while the pH is still high (above ~ 5.8 ).... Too much acid, and you will end up with a gooey mess like Gavin did when he tested his Kefalotyri....  :-[ .... He brined his cheese, instead of salting the curds before pressing.... It continued to acidify overnight, causing it to melt when he fried it....  :(

I chose MA 4002 to get some initial acidification, but the Meso bacteria will be killed off when cooked to 124*F, leaving just the Thermo remaining during that stage.... Then the salting should look after that.... That was the theory, and it seemed to work.... Our first Kefalotyri we stopped cooking at 120*F, but increased it 4*F this time to make the cheese slightly drier.... I guess we will find out in 3 months if that was the right decision....  8)

Bob
Cheesemaking has rekindled our love of spending time together, Diane and me!

paulabob

Neat!  I like the idea of a cheese you can age AND fry when you want.

bansidhe

That you for the very nice instructions.  Kefalotyri is another cheese I have never heard of.  Why is it Halloumi is so bland but this cheese is not? 
Making cheese is easy, making a cheese is hard

rsterne

Possibly because Halloumi is eaten young.... or the cooking it in 170*F whey may have something to do with it.... All I know is, we didn't enjoy it enough to make it again.... In addition, it doesn't even soften, it remains rubbery even when grilled on the barbeque....

The Kefalotyri, on the other hand, is awesome.... The aging from the ST, and the flavour of the Lipase, can't hurt....  ;)

Bob
Cheesemaking has rekindled our love of spending time together, Diane and me!

mikekchar

When I make halloumi, I use a small amount of aromatic mesophilic culture (about half of what you might ordinarily use).  Then looking for a pH of about 6.3 (at a rough estimate -- no pH meter here) for the final cheese.  It makes quite a big difference.  I think it's important to get a good buttery flavour from the culture.  Traditionally you use no culture in halloumi, but you use raw milk.  It makes no sense to me to make halloumi with pasturised milk and add no culture.  YMMV.  I really love halloumi, but then I like a lot of fresh cheeses that other people might find bland.

mathewjones


This is an utterly superb, detailed and helpful tutorial on a delicious cheese that it's hard to find recipes for!

I'm gonna try this as soon as I build the wall-mount press that I've been planning. My current spring press is way too small and wimpy for this cheese.

Thanks!
- Matt

rsterne

I had difficulty finding a good recipe as well.... Gavin's looked OK, but his results were disappointing.... He used a Thermo culture.... The video showed the cheese melting all over the frying pan, and he soaked it up with bread to make a grilled cheese sandwich!.... The recipe here on the Cheese Forum, by DeejayDebi, was quite different, and had a temperature range of 107-133*F (hotter gives a drier cheeese).... No culture, but raw milk....

https://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,2233.0.html

Gavin brined his after pressing overnight (which the members here said over-acidified it, causing it to melt).... The other one salted the outside of the cheese over a period of days.... I discussed the options with the members here, and decided to use MA 4002 to get an initial acidification from the Meso bacteria, which were then killed off by cooking at 120*F plus, leaving only the ST to finish the acidification.... I took the chance and hoped for the best, and it turned out great!.... I think the key was the direct salting of the curds before pressing, to halt the acidification.... The results are in that thread....

This time I decided to bump the temperature up to 124*F, just to see the difference in dryness, and how it melts.... Best of luck Matt, please let us know how it works for you....  8)

Bob
Cheesemaking has rekindled our love of spending time together, Diane and me!

mikekchar

Check on reddit for /u/solitary_kidney's posts on /r/cheesemaking.  They make Kefalotyri often and are an amazing resource for Greek cheese in general.

rsterne

Thanks, Mike.... I'll have a look....

Bob
Cheesemaking has rekindled our love of spending time together, Diane and me!

rsterne

After drying for 4 days it now weighs 2 lbs. 7 oz., a yield of 12.3%.... It is now waxed and in the Cheese Cave at 55*F for 6 weeks, after which it will go into our Beverage Fridge to continue aging at 46*F until 3 months old....



At that time we will cut off a couple of 1/2" thick slices for Saganaki, and give you a report in both threads.... The plan is to use it every couple of months so that we use it up within a year.... We should get 10 servings (5 each, assuming no company) with each slice just over 1/2" thick.... This is the reason for using a rectangular mould....

Bob
Cheesemaking has rekindled our love of spending time together, Diane and me!

mathewjones

Awesome. Can't wait for the next update. I'll post mine too when I have one, in this thread if that's ok.

And before I forget again, AC4U!
- Matt