Hi,
Well, I decided to try Butterkase again. I was going to do Caerphilly when I bought the milk, but changed my mind by the time I got home. Hence, 10 L full milk and no cream. I also tried a few other tweaks, like doubled the ripening time. Tried draining the curd using a piece of needlepoint plastic mat to hold the curds back, and although that worked a fair amount of curd got stuck in the mat. My estimated yield is much less than the first time I made this (about 500 g less), but I think the difference is mostly moisture. The first time I made this the curd was so soft I had to just dump the whole pot into a cheesecloth lined collander. This time I was able to drain much of the whey. A shame, I quite like the barrel shape that resulted due to it sagging as it air dried. Anyway, will post a photo of the finished cheese. Hmmm, I suspect the difference in moisture will mean this will air dry quicker, and may not develope the wild b.linens that the first did. Well, I can work on that with a brine wash.
Anyway, here are my make notes. Still in the midst of the press, but the last bit is just the brining.
- Jeff
Butterkase : Saturday, July 9th, 2001 (sunny, med. Pressure; cool < 18 C)
10L homebrand standard milk
½ tsp CaCl (30% solution)
0.6 ml Rennet
2 ice cubes Flora Danica (meso) 1.5 ice cube ST B01 (Thermo)
Start time: 9:55
1) Warm to 35 C ( hit 35 at 10:13; continued to climb to 36.4)
2) Add ½ tsp CaCl (10:13)
3) Add 2 ice cubes Meso (FD) and 1 ice cube thermo (10:13 – stirred until melted 10:16)
4) Ripen 40 minutes (target time 10:53 actual time 10:53; Temp: 37.4 (temp crept up in sink)
5) Raise temperature to 40 C (reached at 11:01 actual temp: 40.1)
6) Add 0.6 ml rennet (11:01)
7) Floc time = 11m 30s 3.5 * floc = 38m 30s min until cut
8) Cut at 11:39:30 into 3 cm cubes wait 5 min (start 11:40) then cut into 1 cm cubes (curd not as soft as first make)
9) Curds settle 5 minutes (start 11:50min), then remove approx 3 1/3 litres of whey (1/3 orig. volume of milk)
10) add 60 C water until you reach 42 C
11) stir 45 minutes (start time: 12:15 – until 1:00)
12) drain and move to mold
13) press lightly (10 kg) 6 hours (start time: 1:10 –
14) flipped/redress at 2:05 ;
15) flipped/redress 3:50 ; ESTIMATED WEIGHT 1284g (at 1 g / cc)
16) Finish Press Time 7:10 - actual time 7:00; actual weight 1230g)
17) 20 minutes water (7:00-7:20)
18) Brine (saturated 8 hours )??:??-??:??)
And, here it is after the 20 minutes in plain water just before going into the brine. The knit is excellent, though the yeild quite low (1234g - a sequential cheese). The first one I made was over 1800g, though again, that would have been mostly due to moisture retention. I'll be curious to see how this one turns out.
- Jeff
Jeff,
That looks great. Thanks for sharing. I don't think I've ever tried a butterkase cheese. But just the name makes me want to try it. May have to put that on the list!
Susan
Hi Susan,
It's German for "Butter Cheese". The make above is one I put together by combining 3 or 4 different recipies that can be found on the web. CheeseSnipe was working on a version as well. My first one was made with 9 L whole milk and 1 L full cream, so it was very well recieved! It also came out of the press at over 1.8 kg, so over 600 g heavier than this one. The first one, however, I couldn't drain the whey before transferring the curd to the cheesecloth for molding, so I just had to pour it all through. That caused it to retain a lot of moisture and it eventually drained down. However, it was a very tall cheese, and as it air dried it collapsed out and formed a very barrel shape. I'm curious to see how the difference in these initial conditions affects the final cheese. Mind you, I've changed a number of parameters (bit more thermo culture, longer ripening, drained more whey for the curd washing, and heavier press weights) so not a very good experiment.
Anyway, this really should be aged 2 or 3 months at least.
- Jeff
So what does a properly made and aged Butterkase taste like?
It does look very good, Jeff.
Sometimes I wish we could all get together somewhere for a wine and cheese party and try each other's cheese. It would be so much fun, after hearing all the details, trials and tribulations of that very wheel of cheese! Let us know about this one. We will have to live vicariously...
Susan
It looks beautiful Jeff. Well done.
Be interested to know how much of a difference it makes to the cheese to leave out the cream.
Hi MrsKK,
To be honest, I've never had butterkase except the one wheel I've made! CheeseSnipe mentioned it awhile back and it just sounded good, so I thought I would try. We found 3 or 4 recipies, and I combined them based upon what appeared to be common aspects and from what I could gather about this cheese from the web. My first one developed a very sharp bite after only 8 or 9 weeks, and it was very creamy but not "moist"; sort of had the texture of baked cheesecacke. It picked up some wild b.linnens and geo as well, so it had a very nice golden orange colour (but not too bright). It didn't melt, which was a shame. I think some of the characteristics it picked up was due to the massive amount of whey and moisture that it retained. My understanding is that it should be a mild flavoured cheese, so I think my first one was not quite it! :)
Hi Susan,
Yes, it would be fun to have a big tasting session. I've seen some absolutely fantastic looking cheeses posted here. The downside to having a share and share a like is that, well, you have to share and some of the cheeses I see people post don't make me want to pass the plate once it reaches me! :)
Hi Gemma,
I suspect it will be less "cheesecakey" in texture. The cream added a lot of milk fats, so it was very rich. This one will be more gouda like I suspect.
- Jeff
Jeff I read all your previous posts while you developed the booterkaas together. Very interesting, and am starting to understand cheesemaking better now.
Will continue on with Goudas as I decided to make these for Christmas presents
dogs stood on lap top and sent my reply before I finished. I have two very clever black labradors. O0
Thought I would make some small Goudas for Christmas presents as I can wax them, and even though the first one I cut did not appear to go well initially, I have just had a little taste again tonight and it is changing and I'm liking it. Waxed the cut pieces and put it away for a couple of months.
Have left the booterkaas alone and it is ageing well. Have a nice white bloom on the top and just taking the occasional blue spot off with vinegar.
Once I have made the goudas, I will start with the booterkaas again.
You sound like you really have it off pat. Good luck. Will try to send without the help of labradors O0
Hi,
Just a quick update. This one is holding it's shape quite firmly, and there's no sagging like the first one. Does have the same smell as before though. Too soon to expect to see any geo or b.linnens yet.
- Jeff
Hi,
This one is doing quite well. I sprinkled some salt over it last night, and wiped down the brine that formed this morning (hence the slightly pasty look to it). But, it's been pretty good maintenance actually. a couple black spots, but nothing major. It developes a white mold, probably GC, but it turns blue after awhile. You can still see a spot or two of blue on it. Anyway, it's developed a coating of wild b.linens, which the last one did as well. It's much firmer, but I expected that. At the moment, it's weighing in at 1036g, so over the past month it only lost about 200g (moisture loss).
Should be ready in 3 or 4 more weeks. I'm curious to see how the end results differs after the changes in the make. The most obvious effect was on how I drained it. Last time I just dumped the whole pot of curds and whey through cheesecloth, which retained quite a bit of fluid. This time, I was able to drain off much of the whey first, then just transfer the mass of curd to the cheesecloth and mold. Mind you, there were some other changes, I extended the ripening time, and I didn't add cream. So could be quite a different cheese, really.
- Jeff
Jeff,
It looks really nice, I particularly like the colour of the rind. I have had some white mold on my Havarti and then it turned blue as well, but when I decided to scrape a little bit off to see how far the blue went, it was only on the top of the GC.
Maybe your daughter might like this one better than the last one.
Ian
Thanks Ian.
Yah, the blue doesn't penetrate the rind at all, so it's all just surface stuff. I'm going to try and age this one out a bit, and may take it to 3 or 4 months rather than just 2. I've got a dunlop I could cut into soon, so that would help extend this one a bit. Baby will be arriving very soon, so need to get cheeses stocked up as I doubt I'll have much time to make them once he gets here.
- Jeff
Hi,
Well, this isn't about the cheese, but since I mentioned baby's arrival being soon in the previous message, here is a place as good as any to show that soon has become now! Gregor Byers Hamm was born on Saturday, Aug 13th and weighed in at 3.145kg (6 lbs 15 oz). He and mum are both doing really well. His big sister is very pleased and has been helping out as much as she can. Dad is pretty pleased too! :) Take care eveyone.
- Jeff
Sweet little fresh cheese!!!! Congratulations!!
Jaspar and Family
WooHoo!!!! Congratulations, Jeff and Family!
congratulations Jeff, to you and your family
Congrats to you and your family Jeff. Clearly, one of your finest makes to date!
Congratulations Jeff and the mum. ;D ;D
Thanks everyone! Mum and Gregor are both doing great. His big sister is having a ball helping too. Fun times.
- Jeff
Thanks for sharing with us! Huge congratulations on the new arrival.
Butterkase is a kind of creamy soft buttery tasting cheese and it doesn't have a rind any more than a mozzarella would. More of a skinthan a rind. The texture on your tongue is similar to that of a young colby and melts within a few seconds after biting. Mildly flavored but really good in a mac and cheese or even on a veggie pizza. I love it with broccolli or califlower.
Hi Jeff.
Have been busy past few weeks and only just caught up with the arrival of your beautiful son. He looks absolutely wonderful. Congratulations to you, your wife and daughter on such a beautiful edition. You'll have to get him used to cheese very quickly :D. Now you'll be able to make camembert cheese again for your wife.
Thanks gemma! Yes, looking forward to making a few mold ripened cheeses. Probably will make one or two more hard cheeses, then will try something soft.
- Jeff
Hi,
Ok, this has now reached 61 days. And, being Thursday, that's a good reason to taste it in my books. :) Anyway, the internal knit on this one is the best yet. It's on par with the Dunlop, but that was a thin disk shape while this one is much talller. I've generally found my cheeses in this size and shape have quite a few mechanical holes, but this one has come together very well. I put this down to Sailor's tip of pressing in the pot.
Anyway, the rind on this one has developed very few unsightly black spots, which I'm pleased about. The general look of the rind has been very good, clean but with geo dusting the surface and the occasional blue spot requireing a brushing back. Again, this is similar to the Dunlop, so I think I'm getting my humidity levels about right in my cave and my caring for the cheeses must be improving. Nice, even if I'm not quite sure what I'm doing differently. Ahhh, nothing like implicit learning!
Well, I'll report a tasting result once it's warmed up a little bit more. Till then.
- Jeff
YES!!!!! This one has turned out as a nice mild cheese, but with definate cheese flavour, with a very good solid and creamy paste. This is what I expected it to taste like, so I think I've nailed it on the taste and texture dimentions (well, nailed for me, I'm sure others could do far better). Anyway, I'm very pleased with how this has turned out (as may be apparent). I'm pretty sure this would age well for a bit too.
Now, can I do it again?
- Jeff
Looks great, Jeff. Congrats!
Now...what's next? :)
-Boofer-
Jeff, you are master of Butterkase, that look great ;D
Hande
Thanks Boofer! Not sure what's next. I might make another one of these, as it would be ready for when my parents arrive to see Gregor. I've got room in my cave for two more cheeses. So that could be one of them. After that, hmmm, not sure. Maybe a larger cam or something soft?
And thanks Hande! Master is a overly generous, but I'm very pleased with the results. Mastering it, if even possible really, would mean I could do it again just the same. That remains to be seen! My first attempt at Butterkase came out very sharp and tangy. It was a tasty cheese, and some of my "tasters" still say it was their favorite, but it wasn't what I was going for. This time, however, it's come out the way I was expecting it to. So that is very pleasing. In fact, this is the first washed curd cheese that I've made that has come out without an acidic tang to it. Even my gouda's tended to be a bit sharper than they should have been. I don't think I was removing enough whey during the washing.
Anyway, I'm very pleased with this. The only change I would make to the make notes would be to add the CaCl just before adding the rennet, rather than with the cultures. I've read somewhere (either here or in 200 Easy Homemade Cheese Recipes) that it works better that way; so the calcium must be taken up by some reaction if it sits around in the warm milk, making it unavailable to assist in curd formation - but I'm still not familiar enough with the process at that level to know for sure.
- Jeff
Quote from: JeffHamm on September 08, 2011, 08:21:46 PM
The only change I would make to the make notes would be to add the CaCl just before adding the rennet, rather than with the cultures. I've read somewhere (either here or in 200 Easy Homemade Cheese Recipes) that it works better that way; so the calcium must be taken up by some reaction if it sits around in the warm milk, making it unavailable to assist in curd formation - but I'm still not familiar enough with the process at that level to know for sure.
I'm not entirely sure either, but sometime in the past I began to add the CACL
just before the rennet. Seems to work out fine that way. Good curd formation, even with my local P&H milk.
-Boofer-
Hi Boofer,
Yah, my last make (a caerphilly) I added the CaCl just before the rennet and got a very good curd as well (and I've been using store bought P/H as well).
- Jeff
Hi Boofer,
I decided to make Lancashire again. I'm using buttermilk as my starter this time, which is what MrsKK uses, rather than flora danica. I want to see if there is much of a noticable taste difference. Of course, since my first one is long gone, the comparison will be hard to make. Hmmm, there is a flaw in my cunning plan .... :)
- Jeff
Jeff, you are inspiring me to try Butterkase the next time I want to delve into a new type of cheese.
Please let us know if you notice any difference in the flavor, etc, in your Lancashire with the buttermilk vs flora danica.
Hi MrsKK,
I've started a thread on the Lancashire, and the make went really well. I may wait to sample this around late November, when my parents come to visit, but it is my intention to use this as a taste comparison. I'll definately report on it there. FD is supposed to add buttery flavours, and I do know that some of my cheeses have a definate buttery finish (the Dunlop, for example, is very strongly buttery on the finish).
Anyway, this butterkase make has gone very well. I would shift the addition of the CaCL to just before renniting as this is supposed to improve the curd over adding it with the culture. Also, when adding the hot water to raise the temperature, this should be done slowly, over 10-15 minutes. I think I left out the time in the notes. It's a fairly straight forward washed curd type cheese, like gouda, so nothing overly tricky. That being said, a number of us have made this and the curd has often been very soft, and wet, retaining a lot of whey. This leads to a very sharp taste.
Let me know if you make it and how it turns out for you.
- Jeff
Will do, though I probably won't delve into anything new until at least December. I've got seven cheesemaking classes scheduled between now and Thanksgiving, so life is very full.
Hi,
Having now sampled this one a few times, and currently enjoying a small piece at work, I would say this one is very similar to a young gouda. Similar texture and flavour profile. I might make one and wax it then see how it ages, but it is quite nice at 2 months and I would expect it to continue to improve up to 3 months at least.
- Jeff
A final report on this one. There's only one tiny wedge left, which will probably be eaten tonight after supper. My daughter really likes this one, and has even asked for some of it! I'm very pleased with that as this, and the dunlop, have been the only two cheeses of mine that she'll eat.
The flavour has really continued to improve quite a bit since I first cut into it. I'm not sure if that's just the added time or if exposing the interior to oxygen helps improve the flavour. In either case, this one has taken on some very nice characteristics. Like the Dunlop, this one is developing a very strong buttery finish (must be the FD), that has a nice smooth lasting glide to it (sorry, that's the ony way I can think to try and describe it). The texture is really good, with good creamy feel to it. There's still the melting issue to sort out, but until I get a ph meter, that might be a bit hit and miss for me. Still, this one has worked well for me this time. Definately will be trying to replicate it. Might age the next one 3 or 4 months, to see if the more pronounced and clear flavour can be obtained from the first cutting.
- Jeff
Thanks for the running commentary on this cheese's progress. Also, good to know you have a market for some of your cheese in your family. :)
Sad to see the end to that last morsel of a fine make.... :(
-Boofer-
Thanks Boofer. It is nice to find things that you can share with others. Both my wife and daughter liked this one, so I'll make another this weekend and see if I can repeat it. I decided that it was too soon to be over this one, so the last wedge was split in half yesterday and there's a final taste for tonight. Then, it's into the caerphilly, which is approching 4 weeks.
- Jeff