Mark's Parmesan - 031310

[MarkShelton]

I just pulled this parm out of the press. It was quite an accomplishment for me  and for a few reasons:

• This is the largest cheese I've made thus far
• This is a fantastic looking cheese (if I may say so)
  
• Most importantly, after compiling different sources, I made this from a procedure that I wrote up myself instead of blindly following a recipe

Here are the specifics:
Ingredients-

8 gallons 2% past/homo milk	3 drops annatto
4 pkg C201 Starter	1 1/2 tsp CaCl
3/4 veg rennet tablet	3/4 tsp sharp lipase

Procedure-

clock	timer	task	temp	pH
9:45	--:--	start warming milk	--	6.71
10:30	00:00	add (diluted separately) annattto, CaCl, and starter	90
10:59	0:29	add (diluted) lipase	90
11:01	0:31	add (diluted) rennet	90
11:21	0:49	flocculation point
11:50	1:21	cut curd into 3" slices	88
12:01	1:30	whisked curd into rice sized pieces	89
12:15	1:43	began heating curds slowly	90
12:40	2:08	heating curds more rapidly	100
1:15	2:43	removed from heat	124	6.22

After removing from the heat, I packed the curds into an 8" mold under the whey with gentle hand pressure then began my pressing schedule:

20# for 30min         40# for 30min         60# for 2hrs        100# for 12hrs

The cheese came out of the press at 6lbs 2oz. It is currently in brine where it will remain for 33 hrs.

(Special thanks to Wayne who I have emulated both in procedure and note taking/posting  )

[Cheesetart]

It looks great, Mark!  I'm envious!!   I'm going to have to attempt a Parm sooner rather than  later!! 

[FarmerJd]

Great job, Mark!

[padams]

beautiful cheese, Mark!  great accomplishment!

[DeejayDebi]

Nice looking cheese Mark! SO how was the two pot cheese process? For some reason I have visions of patting my head and rubbing my tummy.

[MarkShelton]

hahaha... yeah...
I warmed them up to 90 deg in the sink, and it was pretty easy to hold them both at that temperature, but to heat the curds I put them both on the stove. I dont think it would have been possible to steadily add hot water to each side of the sink in just the right amount to keep each steadily rising with each other. I put the 5 gal on the large burner and the 3 gal on the small burner and set them both to medium low heat. It was a little awkward, but soon enough I got the large pot rising at a rate that I liked, then just had to keep the small one in tune with the large one. It was, though, constant stirring. I would stir one, then switch over to the other so that the curds weren't matting, then back to the other. I really couldn't leave the stove for nearly 2 hours. Also, to make sure that all the ingredients were equally distributed, I measured out the amount for the whole batch, diluted with 8 T of water, then divided that into 2 small cups--5 T in one and 3 T in the other--so i had 8 little cups lined up with proportionate amounts for each pot.
Tedious.
I think it would be well worth it to trade in my 3 gal pot for a 8 - 10 gal one. That way I would have a pots for small batches and large batches without having to process 2 pots at a time

[MrsKK]

Well, I've got to give you a lot of credit for persistence.  2 hours at the stove, nonstop, is a long time.  It makes my shoulders ache just to think of it.

That cheese looks great, though, and I imagine that the larger size will mean that it won't turn into a big hockey puck like my first parm did.  Congrats! and thanks for posting the details of your two-pot method.

[MarkShelton]

Actually, as big as it is, I wish it were a bit bigger. Well not bigger, just taller. I like a cheese that is as tall as it is wide. It is aesthethcally more pleasing to me, and it will have a higher paste-to-rind ratio. I need to find a smaller mold I think, because 8 - 10 gal is about my limit, even if I were working with a single pot.

[DeejayDebi]

Well you taken the challenge and done extremely well! You should be proud of yourself. That is a very nice cheese. I understand your desire for a taller cheese. I guess the moulds are designed for short and wide wheels. A parm should look like a drum. Looks like you are using the same tomme mould I am for parms. Some how we did to find a narrower much taller mold.

[MarkShelton]

I did some math, and from my calculations and based on the yield from this cheese, a 6.5" mold and a 10 gal batch will make a cheese about 5.7" tall which is just about right for me I think. Here is part of the chart:

-	5gal	6gal	7gal	8gal	9gal	10gal
4.5"    |	5.9*	7.1	8.1	9.5	10.7	11.6
5.0"    |	4.8*	5.8*	6.6	7.7	8.6	9.6
5.5"    |	4	4.8*	5.5*	6.3*	7.1	7.9
6.0"    |	3.3	4	4.6*	5.3*	6*	6.7*
6.5"    |	2.8	3.4	3.9	4.5	5.1*	5.7*

This was the most pertinent range for me. It is based on the yield of this cheese which was 18.85 cubic inches per gallon of 2% milk. The (*) signifies a height that is within +/- 25% of the mold diameter.

[wharris]

Nicely done.  Looks Great. 
I noticed that you added  a tiny bit of color.  What do you think of that now? Would you do it again?

 

[MarkShelton]

Of course I would make another parmesan! And I have a list of modifications.

• Get a bigger pot. This will help me immensely by freeing up lots of time measuring and adding ingredients, and by ensuring a completely consistent batch. It will also give me more time to take better notes and monitor pH.
• Get a smaller mold. With an 8" mold, I would have to use at least 16 gallons to get the minimum height/diameter ratio that I want. That's more than I would want or need or even be capable of processing at a time.
• Add a portion of whole milk, perhaps 2 gal. This will hopefully increase the yield and richness without excessively increasing the fat content.

I'll wait until the cheese is out of the brine and air-dried for a few days before I evaluate any changes to the annatto. I was conservative about adding it as I like an off-white color also, but the thought of a yellow parm is unnatural to me.

[DeejayDebi]

I don't think this will be excessively yellow but it will yellow so to speak as it ages. The older it gets the darker it gets.

Maybe tan is a better description as compared to cheddar orange?

[vogironface]

Looks great Mark.  I also did a parm this week
but had much smaller yield than you and Wayne had.  You have about .75 pounds per gallon.  I got about .55 pounds per gallon.  My curds were probably best described as rubbery.  I am interested in how you would describe your.  I suspect I cooked to long.

[MarkShelton]

I don't think I would call my curds rubbery... they were firm (and they squeaked when I ate a few). How rubbery would you say your curds were? Like chewing on an old tire? How long did you cook them?
Also, what kind of milk did you use? Recipes sometimes call for "skimmed" milk, which is not the same as supermarket "skim" milk. "Skimmed" refers to using raw milk and letting it sit overnight before skimming the cream off the top. The result is more like supermarket 2% milk (in terms of milkfat)