Today I just couldn't resist opening a Buttercheese that I made 5/1 2015.
It was really good - round and mild but still very tasty. It's absolutely ready to eat now, but I'm excited to taste it again in a month or so - I like strong cheeses.
The texture was in my opinion perfect - extremely flexible and easy to slice without being rubbery.
Yummy - I'm so happy! :-)
:-) Danbo
At first I was confused because I thought "he must mean 2014". Then I realized I read your date American style as May first- not January 5! Hah! Cheese looks delicious. What is butter cheese ?
Sorry... I should just have written 5 January 2015... :-)
It's the best cheese that I have ever made with such a short ageing (one month)...
I found the following description online. It describes it pretty well:
Butterkäse, translated as "butter cheese" in German, is a semi-soft, cow's milk cheese moderately popular in Germanic Europe, and occasionally seen in the rest of the cheese-eating world.
As suggested by its name, Butterkäse has a buttery flavor and appearance. It is often described as mild, partly due to its brief aging time. The softness and mildly salty or acidic flavor is reminiscent of Muenster and Gouda cheeses. The texture of Butterkäse is smooth and creamy, sometimes nearly spreadable depending on the firmness achieved by the cheesemonger. Butterkäse is often sliced and added to rolls and sandwiches or melted for cooking.
Butterkäse is light in color, ranging from white to light yellow-orange. It is commonly found in a loaf shape convenient for slicing. (Wikipedia)
Let me know if you are interested in the make notes.
:-) Danbo
Danbo----always interested in your recipes and make notes.
Qdog
Quote from: Mermaid on February 10, 2015, 08:20:08 PM
At first I was confused because I thought "he must mean 2014". Then I realized I read your date American style as May first- not January 5! Hah! Cheese looks delicious. What is butter cheese ?
Not necessarily American style, I misread it as well.
Yes please share recipe! I could make it tomorrow!
Hmm, yes I think I'm putting this on my list behind Tilsit and Asiagoagainwithlipase. I asked my father about it, and he said he used to eat it a fair amount in thin slices on butter bread.
I've decided to make another Butter Cheese today. I'll make sure that there are lots og images and make notes.
:-) Danbo
Yum. Looks great. :-) Another cheese for your efforts.
Here are the make notes as I promised...
I have made a PDF with the notes and some pictures - enjoy! :-)
Please note that I haven't checked it for errors etc. If I find any, I will let you know. If you find any obvious errors please let me know. Also let me know if you need any help making this cheese...
:-) Danbo
A cheese for the cheese and make notes. They look good.
Holy cow! 350 kg pressing weight? You're squishing electron orbits! :) I did see your note that much lower pressing weight can be used.
Well done.
Larry
Thanks Larry,
It's just like the big particle accelerator in Cern - just with cheese. I can go up to around 750 kg but everything above 500 kgs makes my wood construction creak in a very scary way... It's a 2,5 meter long lever press in the basement. It offers a 1:11 ratio. My moulds are made for a lot of force. They don't have a lot of drain holes and they are very robust.
One of my Cheddars was pressed at 35 psi. I was using an 8" mould, hence it required 1750 pounds (794 kg). Insane and absolutely unnecessary! >:D
I have two small Dutch presses. They go up to around 15-20 kg max. I think they would have done the job just as nice... :D
I build the big press for cheddars but I can't help playing with it whenever I get the chance...
:-) Danbo
I originally built my Dutch Press to handle around 50 kg. Then I bought an 8 inch m(200 mm) mould and decided to try a Parm. Had to reinforce the press, and I've used it at up to a little over 100 kg. While it might go a little higher, I'm really afraid to try it.
I bow to your superior cheese mashing technology. :)
Larry
I have to admit that most of the ideas actually come from my fellow fantastic forum members. Thanks everyone! :-)
I have made some corrections regarding the pressing...
Here is the corrected makes notes (incl. images) for Butter Cheese in PDF-format.
:-) Danbo
That's a nice looking Butterkase! A cheese to you. I've made a few Butterkase myself, and I agree that it is a good one. I've played around with the make quite a bit and I don't think any two of my makes have really followed the same procedure. I like your short pressing schedule of 5.5 hours. I usually end up being quite lazy and press over night, but that increases the acidity of the cheese and influences the flavour and texture quite a bit. Next one I make I'll go with a short press and see how that comes out.
- Jeff
Thanks Jeff,
I really appreciate your comments. Recently I have started to check the PH during pressing. I've just made a Pepper Jack and found that the PH was just below 5 a couple of hours before the planned brining. I aimed for 5,2 so I brined right away...
How would you describe the taste?
It has a very mild and round taste. A good sandwich cheese.
The aftertaste is a little like butter (hense the name) and even though the taste is mild it fills the whole mouth. There are no sharp notes - just a smooth, mild and round taste. Maybe it's a bit like a young Danbo.
It's the perfect cheese if you are a little impatient as I am. One month of ripening and you have a cheese that is ready...
:-) Danbo
May have to make one of those. Sounds great!
Jeff:
I just made a Gouda. I normally just press for 12 hours or over night but I decided to brine after 7,5 hours of pressing when the curd-PH was down to 5,14. I was surprised to discover this, as I actually used less starter than usual. I'm learning a lot using my PH-meter.
:-) Danbo
Hi Danbo,
I suspect a shorter pressing would help my gouda's as well. Must do a washed curd cheese soon.
- Jeff
Maybe a silly question but what is the problem with pressing too long?
Not a silly question! :-)
The PH drops until the cheese is salted. If the cheese stays in the press for too long then the cheese can become to acidic and that affects the taste and texture. I meassure PH from time to time during pressing.
Not a problem with Cheddars where the curd is salted before pressing.
:-) Danbo
For my hard cheeses I've been avoiding testing pH because t leaves a hole in the cheese. Can you avoid this?
What are some downsides to cheese with a low pH?
AFAIK, usually crumbly, and acidic.
Although I believe crumbliness can also be caused by too high of a pH.
I have a PH-meter with a flat surface electrode - it's an Extech PH-100. I press it about 1-5 milimeters in, and it leaves only a small mark that with time gets less visible.
Some cheeses require lower end-PH-values but as a rule of thumb an end-PH at around 5,2 is usually good.
A cheese that is too acidic will usually be crumbly/brittle body and have a grainy mouthfeel, acid and bitter taste.
It's not a must to have a PH-meter. Skilled cheesemakers just have that special "gefühl"... What I don't have in experience, I have to compensate for with equipment though... ;-)
http://www.extech.com/instruments/product.asp?catid=69&prodid=430 (http://www.extech.com/instruments/product.asp?catid=69&prodid=430)
:-) Danbo
Danbo,
Keep meaning to ask and keep forgetting-----how long can you store this type cheese----is it like a Colby? With a relatively short shelf life?
Qdog
Qdog: I wanted to ask the same question... I don't know...
Danbo----When I first looked into making this cheese----I found a recipe on The New England cheese site----they had a couple variations---one being the washed curd, like yours----so another question---it says to remove 50% of the whey and replace with same amount water-----how do you know what 50% is, with out measuring how much whey you have to start with? Lot of washed curd recipes use similar descriptions and it has confused me. How do you go about this?
Another question-----that recipe calls for Geotrichum--- did you use any? Didn't see any in your notes.
Their recipe----when it's all said and done says that it can be aged "EXTENSIVELY" at 42 degrees.I'd really like to know exactly what extensively means----wouldn't you?
Qdog
Hi buddy,
Answering while stirring curd... Automatic stirring would be nice sometimes... ;-)
Let's say that I'm making a 24 L batch and should remove half the whey:
Whey to remove = (Total volume - Rough expected yield) * 50% = (24-2,4)*50% = 11 liters
Not sure that it is correct, but that's how I do it. I just figured: If it ain't cheese, it's whey :-)
The first Butter cheese that I made had only 4 liters of whey removed and it turned out great. I think that it's a matter of taste.
I didn't add Geotricium. I guess that it makes the rind maintenance a bit easier due to the Geo dominating the rind fast. I vacuum packed mine as soon as it was dry. It gives marks and you dont have the nice rind - but it saves a lot of work and space in the cave.
I hope that extensively means that it can grow old - I love strong cheese...
:-) Danbo
Thanks Danbo-----that's pretty much what I have been doing-----but since I have so much trouble with some washed curd cheese ( mostly Colby and Monterrey Jack ) I've been looking for possible mistakes I may be making---I have tasted "real" Butterkase and it has always been a mild cheese, very much like Colby and Jack---it melts better, as I remember-----let us know if it gets stronger after aging "Extensively" :)
Qdog
I will - if it survives that long... ;-)
Buttercheese in a toast with chicken... Yummy! ;D
Looks fantastic!! :P
Thanks. :-)
A cheese to you and your sandwich! That looks really good.
Thanks Jeff. :-)
That's a tasty looking sandwich, Danbo. AC4U.
Larry
Thanks! ;D