Lancashire
Recipe from 200 Easy Homemade Cheese Recipes by Debra Amrein-Boyes
(My notes are in parenthesis)
14 quarts whole milk
2 quarts partly skimmed (2%) milk (I use a total of 5 gallons milk)
1/2 tsp mesophilic culture (I use 1 2/3 cup cultured buttermilk)
1/2 tsp calcium chloride (not necessary if using raw milk)
1/2 tsp liquid rennet (I use 1/8 tsp powdered calf rennet)
3 tbsp pickling or kosher salt (I use 4 tbsp kosher salt)
White or cider vinegar
1) Blend milks and warm to 88* F, stirring gently. Turn off heat.
2) Sprinkle culture over surface of milk and let stand for about 5 minutes to rehydrate. Using skimmer and an up-and-down motion, gently draw culture down into milk without breaking surface of milk. Cover and let ripen for 45 minutes, maintaining the temperature at 88* F.
3) Dilute calcium chloride, if using, in 1/4 cup cool water. Add to milk using the same up-and-down motion.
4) Dilute rennet in 1/4 cup cool water. Add to milk using the same up-and-down motion to draw the rennet down into the milk until well blended. Use skimmer to stop the motion of the milk. Cover pot and let set for 50 minutes, maintaining the temperature.
5) Check for a clean break. If necessary, let set for another 5-10 minutes or until clean break is achieved. Using a long-bladed knife and skimmer, cut curd into 3/8 inch pieces, using the skimmer to lift and move the curds gently to ensure all are cut. Let curds stand for 5 minutes to firm up.
6) Stir curds for 10 minutes until they release more whey, become firmer and float freely in the whey. Let settle about 5 minutes.
7) Pour contents of pot into a cloth-lined colander. Return curds to pot and press down with your hand to knit them together. (I twist the cheesecloth around the curd to expel some more whey and to help them knit.) Put the lid back on the pot to keep the curds warm. (I run some hot water in the sink and place a weight on top of the lid to help keep the curds warm). Let stand for 15 minutes. Turn the cake of curd over and hold for 15 more minutes. (Mine tends to break - just do the best you can)
8) Cut cake of curd in half and pile one piece on top of the other in the pot. Cover and hold for another 15 minutes. The two halves will knit together into one piece.
9) Place curd on a cutting board and cut into 1-inch by 1/2 inch pieces (I cut into cubes roughly 1 x 1/2 x 1/2). Place in a bowl and toss with salt.
10) Fill prepared mold with curds. Pull cloth up neatly around curds and fold excess snugly over the top, with as few wrinkles as possible. Put on the lid. Place mold on a rack in a draining container and let drain overnight. (this last sentence is the thing I did differently the second time - I put the mold directly into the cheese press. I won't do the overnight draining again.)
11) In the morning (or right away if you like) place mold in cheese press at medium pressure (I use 20 lbs) for one hour. Remove from press and re-dress the wheel of cheese. Continue pressing at medium to firm pressure (I use 40 lbs) for six hours (I've gone as long as 8 hours overnight).
12) remove cheese from press. Unwrap and place on a cheese mat in a ripening container. Ripen at 54* to 60* F at 85 - 90% humidity for 4 to 8 weeks, depending upon your taste. Turn cheese daily for the first week, then twice weekly thereafter. If mold appears, wipe rind with a cloth dipped in vinegar. (I find that kosher salt works well to scrub mold off, then I wipe down with cider vinegar.)
Let me know if you try this cheese and what you think of it.
Thanks for that.
Just reading through I notice it's 50 minutes post rennet until cutting. So, would that be a 3.5x floc for cut, which I think is the higher end for cheddar types (to get a moister cheese)?
- Jeff
Someone else will have to answer that for you, as I don't use the flocculation method, I go by clean break.
Jeff -that's the way to read and analyze a recipe. Good work!
I use a floc multiplier of 3.5 because I want a creamy cheese. If you want a more traditional cheddary texture, reduce the multiplier to 3.
Thanks Sailor! I just wanted to make sure I understood how the floc thing works, and the whys of it. I'm just starting to use it myself (have made 2 cheeses based upon it so far).
Karen, it's not hard to do, and it gets you to tweak your makes to suit your milk source (i.e. adjust your rennet amounts so you're getting floculation at 12-15 minutes) and then your set time is based upon that time plus what characteristics you want (drier = shorter waits, moister/creamier = longer multipliers). I must say, that I was a bit uncomfortable just cutting into the curd at some point in time without checking for a clean break (as I was used to doing that), but both makes produced good makes in the end.
Thanks for compliment Keith. I'm wanting to use this technique more, so I'm trying to work at converting recipies presented in time to floc multipliers. Getting there.
- Jeff
Karen - your notes say you use 1-2/3 cup cultured buttermilk - are you just using that straight?
Reason I ask is that I remember you saying somewhere that you use the buttermilk (or yogurt) the same way as a mother culture. And while I haven't done an exhaustive study on mother cultures, I have read the threads on them (especially Sailor's photo essay - thanks, Sailor!), and my admittedly strange memory tells me that there's something about mixing part of the mother culture with some milk and letting it set for many hours before using it in the make.
So is it my memory that's off, or is it that in this case, you've basically already done that step by making the buttermilk to begin with?
Thanks!
~Mary
What about salting the choped curds before pressing?
Salting the curds is in step 9
- Jeff
George - this is cultured buttermilk that I use. Either store bought or buttermilk from cultured butter making. I don't do anything else to it.
If I didn't answer your questions, ask away and I'll try to anser more thoroughly.
Nope, that answers it fine. Thanks!
Hey Karen
What size of mold do you use?
Thanks
Mike
My mold is six inches wide by about 8 inches high.
Karen,
Step 7...when you're at the putting curds wrapped in the cloth in..and you flip it...when I opened the lid, there was a pool of whey that came out of the wrapped curd. I dumped it out before I flipped the curd-cake over. Was that ok? And the temp is holding at 86F, too. I hesitate to add more water to get it up to 88F cos I don't want it to get too warm when the lid is closed again. I'm trying to check the ph for my notes, but my stinking meter is not working for some reason. Boo! And the cake did break in a couple of hunks when I flipped it, too! I wonder if it wouldn't have, had I used a plate on top, flipped, slid it back from the plate onto the cloth again? Oh well, adding that to notes & see if it works next time.
I'm really excited about this, the "creamy" part has me intrigued! And I really, really hope this turns out. I've been taking pics, with the help of my daughter, of some of the steps, too...I'm a visual-aids kind of person. ;D
Sorry, Steff, I should have been more clear. I did not leave the curds in the cheesecloth in Step 7, but put them back in the kettle "naked".
Temp varying by a couple of degrees is not too major. In fact, I don't continue to monitor the temperature after I put the curds back into the kettle for the resting phase. The curd cake breaks up when I flip it over, too. No worries, as it all works anyway.
I hope you like this cheese. I wish I had known about it when I was new to cheesemaking.
Ooh ok, that would still be ok, though, right? Photo of the curds I put back in the pot after draining in the colander. I don't know if it made a lot of difference, or changes the outcome, I hope not. The curds did knit really well, though!
I was really stressing about the temp, too. I know you guys do a lot of things by "feel", especially cheeses you've made more than once, I'm still in the terrified-I'll-mess-up-royally stage..and will likely be here for a time!
PS. Please let me know if you'd rather I post this in a new topic, don't want to hi-jack here (too much). Thanks!
No worries. I like it that so many people are trying out this recipe now, but I can't take any credit for that - it's all Sailor's fault!
I think it will be just fine. I don't see that the cheesecloth would have any affect on it at all.
Karen... You don't let this cheese air dry at all before putting in a humid curing chamber?
I second Darius's question. Actually, my hubby just asked me if we were going to move it to the cellar in a couple of days. Right now, it's on the kitchen top, on a rack, the temp is 61F & humidity at 80%. It is supposed to cool down here (Illinois) the next few days (down to upper 40's from our mid-70's right now!), so it should be ok in the kitchen for another day, I think.
Nope, the recipe calls for it to go directly into the ripening container.
Thanks. :)
I always air dry for 2-3 days. IMHO recipes are often wrong or they leave out important details.
Both of the Lancashires I've made so far have turned out fine, or so I have thought. What is the effect of not air drying prior to putting in the ripening container?
Air drying gives the cheese a chance to expel some moisture especially on the surface. More importantly it gets the rind started. By going right into a high humidity ripening container, IMHO the rind doesn't get off to a good start. This is especially true with an uncooked high moisture cheese like Lancashire. And without the beginnings of a rind, molds can be much more opportunistic.
There are lots of ways to manage affinage, so if it's working for you, keep doing what you're doing.
Thanks for clearing that up for me. Oddly enough, I've been getting very little mold on these and it has been easily controlled with raw ACV.
OK, I'm having a duh moment. What is ACV?
Apple Cider Vinegar
"My mold is six inches wide by about 8 inches high."
Where did you purchase the mold? I've been searching for one that size since using Debra Amrein-Boyes book. 4 gallon milk batches just don't work for 8" tommes or for the 5" diameter molds that I now have. I spent most of yesterday looking for one! Guess I need better shopping skills...
Btw, I had a question about one of the cheeses in her book, so I e-mailed her. She was kind enough to write back with a detailed answer. Very impressive. I highly recommend her book. It has recipes for cheeses I have not been able to find elsewhere -- and they are all clearly written and easy to follow.
Hey, D-Man, welcome to the CF!
I made my molds from 6" PVC. I do have a few extras that I made up and have made followers and cheesebags for them. I sell the set for $25 plus shipping. If you are interested, pm me.
I am curious as to what the yogurt, a thermophilic culture mix, does for this cheese. Since it is heated only to 88-90 degrees they really don't propagate much do they?
The recipe posted at the beginning of the thread calls for buttermilk or mesophilic culture...not sure where you read yogurt.
That being said, I use yogurt to culture my Colby recipe when I want to make fresh cheese curds, as I think the flavor is much better when the curds are fresh.
Several recipes for Lancashire also call for yogurt or thermophilic cultures like the one here:
https://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,6275.0.html (https://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,6275.0.html)
and here
https://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,4739.0 (https://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,4739.0)
I am curious as to your opinion on the flavor profile difference. What would you think the difference would be?
I really can't answer that, as I've not aged a yogurt-cultured cheese that normally calls for mesophilic culture.
Thermophiles are often used for flavor enhancement and as a way to accelerate aging. Many award winning cheddars use this technique. So, why not do this with every cheese? Different bacteria and different strains bring different flavor profiles, proteolytic activities, and texture to the table. Do you want all of your cheeses tasting like Parmesan?
Ed,
The answer is of course not with every cheese. And I wasn't equating the thermo with parm in this instance.
I am just trying to get your and others reasoning and learn from you.
So first if I understand your first line, the Thermo cultures, ( I used c201 ST+LH)do become active even though I didn't cook at a higher temp. They then work to shorten the aging cycle and also add their flavor profiles.
Thanks to all,
Mark
Mark, to get a good idea of what a thermo adds at meso temps, try making a couple of quick acid coagulated bag cheeses. Do one with meso, and another with thermo. We played around a lot with this last summer making snack spreads. The yogurt adds a brighter flavor then buttermilk, but less rich tasting than the buttermilk.
Dave in CT
Mark,
Thermos can SURVIVE higher temps, Mesos generally cannot. So if you do a blend and then cook to higher temps, the Mesos will die mostly off. In this style of make, the Mesos are important for early acidification, then the Thermos take over as the dominant culture.
Consider this. When you make a true thermo cheese, like a Parmesan, the curds (and bacteria) are only at higher temperatures for a relatively short time during cooking. After draining, the curds cool quickly, and obviously reach room temperature during overnight pressing. They are cooled down even further at cave temps during aging. The thermo bacteria remain active and continue to do their thing long afterwards. Even after the lactose runs out and the bacteria die, they bring a whole different set of proteolytic enzymes into play for long term aging, flavor, and texture.
Is it just me or is this a giant recipe for a beginner recipe? Is this from the book? I'm wondering if I can cut it in half as I've only got a 16qt stockpot, without major changes. I suppose given the history I could make it in two batches, but then I've only got a 4.5" x 5" poly mold as well (which historically has been perfect for 2 gallons).
Sor - The book's recipe was for 4 gallons, I believe. But because I have my own cow that gives LOTS of milk, I bump my recipes up to 5 gallon batches, because my largest kettle will hold that much milk.
16 quarts is 4 gallons - you may be able to work with three and a half gallons of milk without too much trouble...and then I read your post again and see that your mold probably won't hold that much curd. You could try breaking this down to a 2 gallon batch.