I had some Havarti at work the other day for the first time and really liked it so I thought I try making some. I started with Peter Dixons recipe and made a few modifcaions:
Ingredients:
4.5 Gallons Raw milk at 86-88 °F,
1/4 teaspoon Mesophile Aromatic Type B
1/4 teaspoon MD-89 This culture is used to enhance flavor and produce some small eyes in cheese
1/4 teaspoon Add double strenth rennet mmixed in 1/4 cup pure water
1/2 teaspoon Annatto (Not needed only used for tracking purposes)
2 tablespoons flaked salt (for rubbing)
4 cups kosher salt (for brine)
2 tablespoon Dill weed
2 tablespoon Dried minced onion
Procedure
Pasteurized whole milk at 86-88 °F
Add cultures
Ripen milk for 30 minutes.
Add rennet
Check for clean break before beginning to cut . Let curds stand for 5 minutes after cutting before beginning to stir.
Gently stir curds in whey for 15 minutes while keeping 86-88 °F.
Let curds settle to the bottom and push to one side and drain off whey equal to one half of original milk volume. Save whey.
Add 130°F water (in two stages below) in an equal volume to replace the drained whey while continuously stirring curds.
First raise the temp to 93 °F and stir for 5 min.
Second add the remaining water for a final temperature of 97-98 °F.
Add salt
Stir and cook for 30 minutes at 97-98 °F.
Let curds settle to the bottom of vat for 5 minutes and then push the curds towards the back of the vat to form a curd pack. Drain off liquid until the curd pack is covered by 2 " and stir the curds vigorously.
Drain off the liquid and continue stirring and breaking up curds while putting into cheese hoops. Add herbs now.
Press with 1 1/2 lb. weight per 1 lb. cheese.
Remove cheeses from press, turn over, and put back in hoops.
Return to press. Repeat 2 more times every 15 minutes.
Repeat 3 more times every hour.
"Remove from press and place in saturated brine of 4 cups salt/gallon of whey for 2 1/2 hours per lb. of cheese depending on desired salt content. Brine pH should be around 6.0-5.8. Final pH after brining should be about 5.2.
"
Alternatively, rub cheese wheels with coarse flake dry salt once per day for each 4 lb. of cheese.
After brining or salting, wheels are air dried until the surfaces are dry but not cracked; rinds that are cracked will allow molds to penetrate the cheese. A room with 80-85% RH and 50-60 °F is required. The cheeses can be waxed or vacuum-sealed as soon as the surfaces are dry enough.
Wheels are stored at 50-55 °F and 85-90% RH for at least 30 days for a young cheese and 120 for a mature cheese.
Came out really nice but a little more orange than I wanted. I was on the phone and added the amatto twice. My family won't eat white cheese. Tasted really good new so I can't wait to see what happens after a few months.
Great job, DeeJay!
This looks like one to put on the 'Must Try' list.
B
Thanks Bella. It very good even new. I can't wait to see it in a few months.
DeeJay,
Was looking this over today and wanted to know if you have anymore PH numbers for this recipe?
Thanks,
Troy
I have since revised the recipe slightly based on an experiment using a combination of recipes and techniques from sevral sources. This cheese turned out absolutely perfect in both flavor and texture.
HAVARTI
Havarti is a semi-soft, mild cheese with a satisfying buttery flavor. It melts great, so use it in grilled sandwiches or shred into egg or potato dishes.
Ingredients:
Pasturized milk at 86-88 °F,
Mesophile Aromatic Type B (starter )
MD-89 (This culture is used to enhance flavor (buttery) and produce some small eyes in cheese )
rennet mixed in 1/4 cup pure water
flaked, kosher or sea salt
Optional Herbs
Dill weed or pollen
Onion
Saffron
Procedure:
Pasteurized whole milk at 86-88 °F,
Add cultures
Ripen milk for 30 minutes.
Add rennet
Check for clean break before beginning to cut . Let curds stand for 5 minutes after cutting before beginning to stir.
Gently stir curds in whey for 15 minutes while keeping 86-88 °F.
Let curds settle to the bottom and push to one side and drain off whey equal to one half of original milk volume.
Save whey.
Add 130°F water (in two stages below) in an equal volume to replace the drained whey while continuously stirring curds.
First raise the temp to 93 °F and stir for 5 min.
Second add the remaining water for a final temperature of 97-98 °F.
Add salt
Stir and cook for 30 minutes at 97-98 °F.
Let curds settle to the bottom of vat for 5 minutes and then push the curds towards the back of the vat to form a curd pack. Drain off liquid until the curd pack is covered by 2 " and stir the curds vigorously.
Drain off the liquid and continue stirring and breaking up curds while putting into cheese hoops. Add herbs now.
Press with 1 1/2 lb. weight per 1 lb. cheese.
Remove cheeses from press, turn over, and put back in hoops.
Return to press. Repeat 2 more times every 15 minutes.
Repeat 3 more times every hour.
Press and ripen until the pH = 5.8 - 6.0 (about 2-4 hrs) is reached. The cheese is then submerged in 65°F water for about an hour. The water mayl get milky by the end of this step. Remove the cheese when it begins to get slick or slimy.
After the water bath the pH should be 5.2 then cheese is brined 5-6 hrs and dried off. Place in saturated brine of 4 cups salt/gallon of whey for 2 1/2 hours per lb. of cheese depending on desired salt content. Brine pH should be around 6.0-5.8. Final pH after brining should be about 5.2.
After brining or salting, wheels are air dried until the surfaces are dry but not cracked; rinds that are cracked will allow molds to penetrate the cheese. A room with 80-85% RH and 50-60 °F is required. The cheeses can be waxed or vacuum-sealed as soon as the surfaces are dry enough.
Wheels are stored at 50-55 °F and 85-90% RH for at least 30 days for a young cheese and 120 for a mature cheese.
Cheeses in wax or vacuum sealed will last 6 months.
The higher the temperature during drying and aging, the greater chance the eye development. A slice of Havarti typically has many mechanical openings and a soft, creamy texture.
edited to add info on water bath techinque by Mr. Wallace.
What is the intent behind the plain water bath at the end of pressing?
I apologize if this has already been discussed in another thread....there's not enough time in my day to keep up with all the posts. :P
Actually H.A.M. I asked the same question about a month or two ago of Jim Wallace. It halts the acid build up and gives the cheese a soft springy feel like havarti should have. I have always enjoyed my havarti but this makes it softer. Well worth the extra step if you love Havarti.
Sounds logical. When the brine does not have enough salt or CaCl2, the cheese releases these into the environment to make an equilibrium. Therefore softens in the later stages of aging. It is usually a problem but I never knew it is also used as a technique to soften the havarti.
The effect on acidity had crossed my mind, but I really didn't see how that would make a difference on anything but the exterior of the wheel.
I soaked a 4 gallon batch in plain water for 2 hrs before bedtime and then in an 18% brine. The cheese is now quite slimy and has weeped at least 4 oz of liquid in 12 hrs. Is this normal follow the above technique?
It will feel slimy but dry it off and then brine it. It will have improved texture. The time depends on the size of the cheese. First time I did it I was nervous too, but man it came out so nice afterwards.
QuoteAfter the water bath the pH should be 5.2 then cheese is brined 5-6 hrs and dried off. Place in saturated brine of 4 tablespoons salt/gallon of whey for 2 1/2 hours per lb. of cheese depending on desired salt content. Brine pH should be around 6.0-5.8. Final pH after brining should be about 5.2.
This recipe sounds wonderful and one I am thinking of trying, but I need a clarification on what you mean by 'saturated brine'. Doesnt it take more salt than 4T to saturate one gallon of whey?
Thanks.
Sorry Gina I beleive that should have read 4 cups of kosher salt. I need to get in here when I am not half asleep!
Thanks DD. Eventually I figured what you must have meant, but when one is just starting out, there is so much information to keep straight. :)
True and it can be very confusing at first. Good luck Gina!
I am going to make this recipe tomorrow but I do not have all the same cultures. I have Meso II and Meso aroma B, and LM57. I would like to use up the MEso II and Aroma B, as they are getting old.
Am I correct the LM57 will serve the same function as MD89? But then again, Aroma B already has some diacytilactis (I know that is spelled wrong but I don't feel like looking it up).
Any suggestions overall for culture amounts for 8 gal super fresh raw whole milk? I am thinking 1/4t Meso II and 1/4t Aroma B, assuming I don't need LM57. Any suggestions would be much appreciated.
Thank you!
Do you cook the onion at all before you add it? What are the guidelines for adding fresh and or dried herbs in a cheese during the making and having them come out okay in the end? Without going "bad"?
So far the make is going well. my one concern is overpressing: I used 7.5lbs on each of my 1lb kadovas and considerably more on 3.5-4lb wheel. I just hate to have cheeses that are not knit well, at least on the outside. I was not concerned until now, 1.5 hours into the water bath, the water is not becoming milky at all. Otherwise I have hit all my PH marks so far and am feeling very good about this dill havarti.
Sorry I have been away on vacation. I use dehydrated herbs and veggies in all my cheese unless they are pickled/fermented in some form or will be eatten fresh. As I use raw milk I generally age most cheeses for 6 months. Havarti about 3 to 4 months.
What kind of wax did you use - was it clear paste wax? Would red gouda wax work?
Havarti is a fair fresh cheese I don't wax but I do vacuum seal.
BTW I just got around to cutting up this cheese the other day for a party and tried smoking some. It melted at room temperature which on Sunday was 96 degrees so smoking was very difficult and I gave it up as the sun on the smoker brught the temperature up to high. I had it sitting on the seat of my car as I drove to the party and it melted together from the sun! Talk about a low melting temperature!
Quote from: DeejayDebi on April 11, 2010, 03:32:03 AM
I have since revised the recipe slightly based on an experiment using a combination of recipes and techniques from sevral sources. This cheese turned out absolutely perfect in both flavor and texture.
Ingredients:
Pasturized milk at 86-88 °F,
Mesophile Aromatic Type B (starter )
MD-89 (This culture is used to enhance flavor (buttery) and produce some small eyes in cheese )
rennet mixed in 1/4 cup pure water
flaked, kosher or sea salt
you dont say how many gallons of milk your using here?
Brent no I don't. I try to encourage people to use cultures based on the manufacturers recommendation rather than a recipe I used. I probably used 7 gallons of milk that is my norm unless I have excess for some reason.