Cream Cheese, Light - Consistency, Reducing Moisture Content

[fooey]

I made a double batch of Ricki Carroll's French Style Cream Cheese, p. 88, 3rd edition.

The milk and heavy cream were both store-bought, pasteurized.

Other than the doubling, the only other deviation was that I added 1/4 teaspoon of a standard calcium chloride + water solution.

I strained it a muslin sack overnight.

It wasn't dripping anymore in the morning.

When I de-sacked it, it seemed just about right, but once I salted and stirred it for consistency, it was much lighter than I'd hoped it would be, not nearly as dense as cream cheese I buy at the supermarket. It's more like a thick whipped cream (as in the stuff you spoon over pie).

Did I succeed? Is this the right consistency for this recipe?

Also, if I want a cream cheese with the density of store-bought cream cheese, what recipe would you recommend? There are several more in Carroll's book and several on this site.

Also, also, is there any way to make it thicker at this point? I'm thinking not.

Thanks,
Michael

[susanky]

I made  the (regular) cream cheese recipe in 200 Easy Homeade Cheeses Recipe book.  It calls for 1 quart of heavy cream and a quart of milk.  I had about one and half quarts of cream I had skimmed off of fresh raw milk.  I added enough whole milk to to make it 2 quarts.  Used Flora Danica culture.  It was fantastic!  And was as thick as Philadelphia cream cheese.
Susan

[fooey]

Thanks, Susanky. The ingredients in that recipe are essentially identical to Ricki Carroll's French Style Cream Cheese (2 cups heavy, 2 cups whole, 1 packet mesophilic (I used F. danica), 1 drop rennet (diluted in 1/4 cup water), and cheese salt). I wonder if the process is different?

[MrsKK]

With soft drained cheeses, you sometimes need to scrape the cheesecloth, pulling the outside parts of the cheese to the center, during the draining phase.  Or you may need to change the cheesecloth, as it can get clogged up and not drain so well.

You can try hanging your cheese again to see if it will drain some more.  The best method I've found for getting the most whey out is to tie the cloth to a dowel and suspend it over a deep pot, making sure the bag of curd won't touch the whey.  You could also tie a string around the neck of the bag and hang it from your kitchen cabinet knobs, suspending it over a kettle, bowl or pot to catch the whey.

Salting it just slows down the activity of the culture but shouldn't prevent it from releasing more whey.  I don't know that it will get as stiff as storebought cream cheese, but refrigerating it should make it thicker, too.  Once you taste it, though, you will never go back!

[Cheese Head]

fooey, as MrsKK says, as the curds against the cloth dehydrate, they form a filtercake which significantly reduces the middle curds from wheying off. Some tricks and traps in the Wiki: Light Cream Cheese Making Recipe.

Also, the weave on the cloth is very important in draining whey, you want large pores but strong cloth to take the weight, so experiment with different ones or buy a purpose built draining bag.

Lastly, I can't tell where in the world you are but here in US manufactured cream cheese is if I remember made by Ultrafiltration to reduce the water content, see discussion here, and it often contains viscosifiers like guar gum, carob bean gum, and xanthan gum.

[fooey]

Thank you both.

That seems to have been the problem: too much whey still in the cheese, ~1 cup!

I put it in another muslin bag (muslin cloth tied into a sack), dropped it in a colander, and put the colander in a pot to catch any additional whey. I weighed the bag down with a plate and a heavy pot to squeeze the whey out of it (like her directions for Neufchatel) and put the whole setup in the refrigerator overnight.

I don't know how many cheesemaking rules I broke doing this, but I woke up to cream cheese with the correct consistency.

The flavor is bit off (bitter), but it's still quite good. I'll have a look through the archives for why soft cheese would taste bitter, but please let me know your ideas. Milk? Too much starter? Too long curdling? Who knows, but I'm sure there's a reason.

I'm not sure if muslin is the right material to use for soft cheese, but it seems to work well and it's cheap (if I buy it by the yard at the hobby store).

I ate some this morning, proud that I'd made both the cream cheese and the bagel.

Thanks for the help.

Much appreciated.

[susanky]

Glad you were succesful!  Congratulations.  I love 'plyban' for my cheesecloth.  It drains well but it strong, doesn't stick.  I recall that when I was draining this cheese I kept 'tilting' the curd mass and retying to improve the drainage.  This clearly made a big difference.  It would be barely dripping, I'd tilt it and it was like pouring water out of a cup.  Lots of drainage.  When it slowed down I tilted it in a different direction.  That way it didn't get super thick and prevent drainage in just one spot.  I kind of spread it over the whole curd mass.  I can't help you with the 'bitter' taste.  Too much rennet?  Will wait for the experts to chime in.
Susan

[KosherBaker]

Hey Michael.

Congrats on your success. I also hang my muslin cloth, as Karen suggests, to drain my American Neufchatel style Cheese. Linuxboy recommends this method as well. I then stir the curd every 4 hours or so, as the edges are always dryer than the middle. Also I don't use any rennet at all, as the amount of time for incubation provides for more than enough lactic acid coagulation. And staying away from Rennet gives me an extra insurance against possible bitter aftertaste. As I mentioned I make American Neufchatel only, rather than Cream Cheese, as I have an aversion to fat since childhood. Even, my Neufchatel is made from whole milk only with no cream added.
Anyway, like Susan said I'll wait for the real experts to chime in.

[MrsKK]

My guess is that the rennet is probably the culprit with the bitterness issue.

I've found that hanging the bag works better than putting it in a colander, as gravity helps draw the whey out.  When sitting in a colander, it seems to encourage the whey to sit on the top of the curd.  You got around that by putting weight on top of it.

I'm glad you were happy with the final thickness of your cheese.

[fooey]

I have an aversion to fat since childhood. Even, my Neufchatel is made from whole milk only with no cream added.

Ha, ha. I mentioned that to someone on the ski lift yesterday: "I don't understand how anyone can learn this craft without either becoming obese and/or wasting most of the ingredients used." Maybe this will be a good time to get a pet, like a pot-belly pig.

[fooey]

My guess is that the rennet is probably the culprit with the bitterness issue.

I think you're right.

For the cream cheese, the recipe called for a rennet solution (1 drop liquid rennet diluted in 1/4 cup water).  I used 2 drops, thinking, "Doubling the recipe, so double the rennet."

Bad idea, but a good learning experience. It apparently doesn't take much to ruin a huge batch of cheese.

-

Update: I just read the review of Ricki Carroll's book (Home Cheese Making, 2003) in the forums. It seems like there's a strong consensus that readers should avoid using her recommended rennet amounts and opt for the directions from the rennet manufacturer's packaging instruction.