Raclette recipe, and it's tasty, but it's not dry or hard enough to be a raclette. The rind is very nice.
Why is it creamy on the outside but crumbly and moist in the center. I'm wondering why there is a difference in texture. Aged 3 months at 8C.
(the pixs are compressed to about 200k for them to load).
another picture
note the creamy exterior and crumbly (but moist) interior. Why?
I have not made this one before but , is it slightly sour in the center? My guess is that it needed a little longer for the linens to get all the way through.
The outside must taste yummy.
Thanks Gregore, the cheese is very tasty but yes, maybe a bit more sour in the center. Maybe you are right and just needs to age longer.
Thanks for your reply.
I'm no expert on Raclette----but willing to bet the curds were not cooked at high enough temp or not stirred long enough and retained to much whey. Raclette should have a texture and taste similar to other Alpine styles. This should be a good melting cheese. How does it melt? I could be wrong but I don't think more aging will help. I age my raclette 2 to 3 months, rarely, up to 6.
Your make notes would help.
Qdog
There is nothing usual about my make notes, I just followed the recipe.
cut 1/4 inch rest for 5 minutes
remove some whey and replace with 60C water to 38C max
Stir 30-40 min at 38C until curds are firm
Allow to settle for 30 and mold
And no, it's does not melt well at all. So what you are saying is that when it does not melt well, there is too much whey left in the cheese? That would make sense. The cheese is not pressed, just cooked so the only "whey" to expel whey is to cook longer or at higher temp, or cut smaller cubes or stir more.
Still I wonder why there is a stark difference in texture from the edge to the center.
Quote from: Penny C. Liam on June 25, 2015, 09:29:44 PM
There is nothing usual about my make notes, I just followed the recipe.
Do you mean "unusual"?
Quote from: Penny C. Liam on June 25, 2015, 09:29:44 PM
And no, it's does not melt well at all.
This cheese style is in the Swiss family. That means the main culture is going to be thermophilic so that the curds can be cooked at the necessary high temperature. The crumbly, somewhat sour paste could also indicate that the pH fell too far.
Quote from: Penny C. Liam on June 25, 2015, 09:29:44 PM
Still I wonder why there is a stark difference in texture from the edge to the center.
It almost seems like there was an expectation for the rind to ripen the paste. :-\
Quote from: Penny C. Liam on June 25, 2015, 09:29:44 PM
The cheese is not pressed
The recipe calls for it not to be pressed? :o
You haven't provided the recipe that you followed. That would help others to assist you.
-Boofer-
Boofer,
1. Yes I mean unusual.
2. I used flora danica, BINGO! That's the problem. No thermophilic bacteria. Doh! Thanks for that.
3. I guess the rind bacteria did ripen the paste, or is that a really stupid thing to say.
4. It seems that Raclette recipies don't call for pressing the cheeses.
Thanks. Note to self...Next time, use thermophilic starter when cooking cheeses.
I can't remember where I got the recipe for this one.
I have four different recipes for Raclette---they all call for pressing----some use less weight then others. I suggest you get Caldwell's book and read it from cover to cover----a couple times-----she can really help you understand the how's and why's, such as what makes one cheese melt and not another (under the section on moz. and provolone) and it's not so technical that the average person can't understand it. Believe me, if I can understand it, most anyone can.
Qdog
Thanks qdog. I've read several that don't press. Here is one. https://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,995.msg15247.html#msg15247 (https://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,995.msg15247.html#msg15247)
And thanks for the book suggestion. I think I've read it once, but not twice. :)
The recipe in 200 Easy Homemade Cheeses calls for mesophilic, washing the curd, pressing, and ripening the paste via linens on the rind.
Although I read somewhere and believed that this was a Swiss-based cheese, I stand corrected. This is a washed curd, washed rind, pressed cheese.
If I were to make Raclette, I would follow that recipe.
It looks like you were close, but the cheese needs to be pressed. The pH level also needs to be tracked.
The recipe you referenced by DeejayDebi back in 2009 wasn't attempted by her.
-Boofer-
https://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/board,72.0.html (https://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/board,72.0.html) https://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,11954.msg92319.html#msg92319 (https://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,11954.msg92319.html#msg92319)
https://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,10183.msg75500.html#msg75500 (https://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,10183.msg75500.html#msg75500)
You should check these links-----video of making Raclette in the Alps------a recipe from Alp and some history from Alp
Qdog
Thanks everyone, I'll follow up on all of the good suggestions.
Raclette is the cheese that throws our classifications out the window,
Because, like boofer pointed out, it's Alpine, but also it's a washed curd
So if you follow the technical classifications, you'd say washed curd, but it's an alpine cheese and a very important part of the Alpine tradition. This is simply due to the fact that such cheeses are not really a class of their own, but a sub-set of Alpine cheese. Raclette, using hot water to acheive curd temperature, evolves from the techniques still used in making real Swiss Emmentaler, where warm water (90 or so degrees) is added to the vat before it is heated.
The temperatures used to make raclette properly will kill off a meso bacteria. To get proper raclette, you should use the same culture you would for any normal ALpine.
Alp. Seeing as how this cheese falls under your specialty , what would be your guess on why the center is the way it is?
No bacteria survived to break down the proteins, since you did not use a thermophilic acidifying culture.
This makes sense, you have a creamy outside as a result of the action of the rind but nothing happened inside. Essentially you killed your cheese.
Thank you very much for this explanation. It was very tasty just the same and I would like to try this recipe again but this time with a thermo acidifying culture.