Hi,
Having enjoyed my last Butterkase so much, I wanted to see if I could do it again. So, of course, I made some changes! :) Not many, though. I just shifted the addition of the CaCl to just before adding the rennet. Also, my rennet got ahead of me and I ended up with 0.7 ml. I've found that "floc's too quick" and have settled on 0.6 as the right amount for my makes. Anyway, I also put a mix of meso cultures this time, meaning one ice cube of Fora Danica and one of Cultured Buttermilk starter. I think my thermo ice cube was a bit on the small side and I should have grabbed a second.
Anyway, the make seemed to go fairly well. The curds were good, though I cut some a bit fine. I got the impression that this one may have retained more fluid than usual, but the final weight after brining was 1422g, with a density of 1.15 g/cm3, so I think it's ok. My last one was 1.25 kg, so this is a bit heavier, which could be some additional fluid, but the last time I used a plastic screen to hold back the curds to help get at the whey for draining. A fair amount of curds stuck to the screen, which would have reduced the yield. Anyway, here are my make notes. This one takes a few months to age, and I'm hoping to take this one out to the end of November, so we'll see how that goes.
- Jeff
Butterkase (mine): Saturday, Oct 1st, 2001 (overcast, med. Pressure; cool < 18 C)
10L homebrand standard milk
½ tsp CaCl (30% solution)
0.7 ml microbial rennet IMCU 750
1 ice cubes Flora Danica, 1 ice cube buttermilk (meso) 1.5 ice cube ST B01 (Thermo)
Start time: 12:30
1) Warm to 35 C ( hit 35 at 1:00; continued to climb to 36.2)
2) Add 2 ice cubes Meso (1 FD & 1 BMlk) and 1 ice cube thermo (1:00)
3) Ripen 40 minutes (target time 1:40 actual time 1:40; Temp: 35.8 (temp crept up in sink)
4) Raise temperature to 40 C (reached at 1:48 actual temp: 40.0) (1 kettle boiling to sink around 40 C works well)
5) Add ½ tsp CaCl (1:52)
6) Add 0.7 ml rennet (1:52) (0.7 ml by mistake; I usually use 0.6)
7) Floc time = 9m 30s 3.5 * floc = 33m 15s min until cut (Floc is a bit short, and probably was 9 min)
8) Cut at 2:25:15 into 3 cm cubes wait 5 min (start 2:27) then cut into 1 cm cubes (curd not as soft as first make)
9) Curds settle 5 minutes (start 2:37min), 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: 3:07 – until 3:52)
12) drain and move to mold
13) press lightly (10 kg; 0.71 PSI) 6 hours (start time: 4:00 – pressed in pot in sink of 40 C water 15 min)
14) flipped/redress at 4:30 ; upped weight to 15 kg/1.08 psi at 5:00 (seems to have retained fluid).
15) flipped/redress 6:20 and decreased weight to 10 kg 0.71 psi (it's looking about right now)
16) Finish Press Time 10:00
17) 20 minutes water (10:00-10:15; bit short)
18) Brine (saturated 8 hours ) 10:15-6:00 am) weight after brine: 1422g. Density 1.15 g/cm3
This one is about 200g heavier than the 2nd make. Probably due to using the cross-stitch screen to help hold curds back while draining whey with the 2nd. A lot of curds stuck to it that time. Or, this make has retained more fluids.
Hi,
Just been air drying this. It's another moist one, and I've found that Butterkase can take some time to dry out. Anyway, not sure if it shows up in this photo very well, but there is some pinkish/reddish colouration developing. I've had wild b-linens develope before, but they seemed more orangish. Will keep an eye on this and see what happens. I think it's due in part to having it sit on the cross-stich mat because it was on the bottom after flipping where I found this. The grid was retaining moisture. I've moved it off onto just a set of chopsticks to get better circulation around the cheese. Still very damp to the touch.
- Jeff
Nice knit. So what's the flavor & texture like in your Butterkase (http://www.igourmet.com/shoppe/prodview.aspx?prod=759S)?
I tried a commercial version recently (https://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,7649.0.html) and liked it a lot.
Thanks for detailing your make. I may use it down the road as a guidepost.
-Boofer-
Hi Boofer,
The first one I made retained a lot of fluid (i.e. was 1.8 kg from 9L of milk + 1 L cream). It ended up with quite a sharp flavour. The 2nd was made from just 10 L milk, and it turned out mild flavour, but not bland. Buttery and similar to gouda. It had very good texture as well. I'm hoping I can replicate that one this time. It seems to have more fluid that the 2nd but less than the first though. I'm thinking I should have increased the pressing weights. We'll see.
- Jeff
Hi,
Definately getting a red smear developing on one side. This is a tricky one, it seems, as it can retain a lot of moisture. This could produce a tang or sharpness to the final result that is not a characteristic of Butterkase (which should be mild and clean tasting). It may turn out that way, and the red smear might go well, so we'll see.
- Jeff
Hi,
Well, it looks like my 3rd Butterkase is developing in a 3rd way! It was developing some b.linens type activity, which became very pronounced on one side. At first I thought I would try and remove this so I salted and brushed it. Then, the next day, I decided that I would try to develop it rather than defeat it. I left it to just develop on it's own, but it really was only on one side and it wasn't intensifying after my attack on it (well, not intensifying very much). So, for the past week or so I've been light brine washing it every other day, and trying to bring it around to both sides. This is starting to get it to spread, and the other side is colouring up. The Photo below shows the more intense side, which probably doens't look hugely covered since there's nothing to compare with as it's a nice even coverage. Anyway, it has a definate aroma, but not too strong. Both sides have a give to them, so the cheese is softening a bit underneath, but there's no fear of a finger breaking through to the other side or anything like that.
As I've indicated, this cheese seems to be the most challanging for me to get consistent. I've made it 3 times and this will be (effectively) a 3rd different cheese. Still, the first two were very tasty, and I'm hoping this one will be too. It seems promising. I figure it will be ready in about a month or so. Will leave a report, for good or for ill.
- Jeff
P.S. The flash lightens up the front a bit, but basically, it's a fairly even coverage of golden/reddish smear. The surface, when I wipe with 3-5% brine, "mucks up" a bit as the smear spreads around nicely.
It looks really good Jeff. It will be interesting to see how the flavour will be effected by the linens and your differences in the make. Has it lost a lot of weight during your drying process? I know you had indicated that this one was heavier out of the press.
Hi Ian,
I haven't weighed it yet, but was planning to so will let you know about any weight loss. This one was a bit heavier than my 2nd make, but much lighter than my 1st (which was a monstrous 1.8 kg, excess moisture). I think it will turn out to be a tasty cheese, and different from the other two. The tweaks to the make procedures have been minor, but it's very sensitive to the implimentation of those procedures. I haven't pressed under whey with these, and I bet that would go a long way towards creating consistancy. Next time I make this, and there will be a next time, I will try and remember to do that.
- Jeff
Hi,
Ok, it's down to 1128g, so it's lost 294g since comming out of the brine. It's only been 4 weeks since make day, so it's only 28 days old. The 2nd one, at 61 days, had lost 324g and was down around 930g (which is when I cut it). I would expect the rate of moisture loss to slow down, so we could be on a similar tragectory. Hmmm, I should take regular weighings to determine the weight loss profile. Anyway, the b.linens are now starting to show up more intensly on the other side. I figure I'll wash it for another week or maybe two, and then it should be fine to be left alone.
- Jeff
Hmmm,
This one has just developed a fairly large split along one face (the one I was trying to get the b.linens to spread to, which they have). It's not too dry in the box, since if anything, this is the most humid of all my ripening containers and I've never had a problem with splitting before. It does appear that the cheese has swollen a bit though? I've not had problems with contamination before, apart from wild molds and b.linens developing on the outer surface, but could the regular washings with brine cause the cheese to swell? It's only 30 days old, so I'm hesitant to cut into it to see what the internals are like.
Any ideas? This is a new one for me.
- Jeff
Hi,
Well, here's the cheese with the crack. It hasn't split the whole cheese in two, but it's like the "skin" has split. I'm presuming gass buildup or something internal has happened and the b.linens have perhaps tightened the rind overly so? Anyway, I'm about to cut it as it's getting worse, rather than better, despite having tried to bind it and increase the cave humidity a bit.
- Jeff
What was your humidity profile, Jeff? It needs to be around 85%. It doesn't look like a gas blow-out to me; more like it was over dry.
When that happens to my hard and semi-hard types after about three weeks, I usually bind them and fill the cracks with salted butter. The butter, after a few weeks gets to be cheese-like.
You can eat BK at around 4 weeks, so all's not lost.
Hi,
Well, I've cut into it and nothing nasty oozed out or exploded into the room, so it doesn't appear to have been posessed. I've had a small taste, and there are no "off" flavours. It's a very moist cheese, and the flavour is clean. It doesn' t have the sharpness of the first time I made this, and I suspect if it had had time to age longer it would have developed a much more pronounced and complex flavour profile. Right now, it's just a simple tasting, moist cheese. I think, from what I've read, this is what Butterkase is sort of like. Mild and moist, good in sandwhiches type thing.
Ok, I admit it. I paniced! :)
- Jeff
Hi fied,
That's what I think it looks like too, but I've never had any cheese crack on me before. And, as I'm wiping down the walls of the container each morning and evening (condensation) I don't think it's too dry. Although I don't have a humidity measuring thing, but this was also in the container where I kept the lid closed while all the others are cracked open to reduce the humidity in them! so this is the moistest, and none have cracked before. However, this is also a very moist cheese, and perhaps the rind dried out faster than the internals, resulting in the split. That's my current thoughts, but I've been known to be wrong before!
- Jeff
It looks good, though. You can always re-cave some and wait for more flavour to develop.
Yes it does look good, you could put the wedge back in and vacuum seal it and age it longer if you want
Hi fied and Ian,
Thanks! Once it warms up it has some nice flavours to it. It has a slight cream cheese tang to it which I didn't notice right out of the fridge, and is very creamy and moist. The rind has a very nice earthy flavour to it and it goes really well with the overall flavour. I've shared some with my tasters at work and it's got a big thumbs up from all of them. I'll keep it in the cave and keep on aging it over the next wee while as I sample it.
One thing is that I didn't get any sort of "runny bits" under the rind from the b.linens. But, it's not had much time to develop that way, and also, it's not a soft cheese make so that may not have occured even if I aged it another couple months.
Anyway, it's not a failure that's for sure. Just a bit premature compared to what I was intending.
- Jeff
Quote from: JeffHamm on November 02, 2011, 06:19:54 PM
Well, I've cut into it and nothing nasty oozed out or exploded into the room,
;D Yeah, that conjures up an image!
Quote from: JeffHamm on November 02, 2011, 06:19:54 PM
it's just a simple tasting, moist cheese. I think, from what I've read, this is what Butterkase is sort of like. Mild and moist, good in sandwhiches type thing.
I sampled it recently (https://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,7649.0.html) and it was fairly mild, but tasty.
I especially liked that second pic of the cut cheese. It looked pretty tasty. More so than the first pic. ;)
-Boofer-
Hi Boofer,
Yes, I agree, the 2nd photo is much better as the first doesn't do it justice! ;)
My goal for this make was to see if I could replicate what I obtained on my 2nd make, and I think I pretty mcuh have. The b.linens aside, the cheese itself has turned out with the kind of flavour I would have expected. At 1 month, it still has a slight young tang to it, but that's to be expected. If I had aged this out to 60 days or so, as I had with my 2nd, I'm pretty sure I would have a good replication. So, to me, that's a win. Haven't tried melting it yet.
- Jeff
My previous taste of the Butterkase and your threads following the style inspire me to put that on my list of "next ups". With that inspiration and your keen sense of humor...have a cheese. Good work.
-Boofer-
Thanks Boofer! I think the basic make procedure I've used in this make would be the one I would recommend (with rennet amounts and cultures adjusted based upon your own experience of course). I've been very pleased with the flavour that I'm getting from it. Some points to note, the curd is generally very soft and wet, and it might be worth giving it a 15-30 minute draining period in a cloth lined colandar prior to putting in the mold for pressing if it feels like it's retained a lot.
Anyway, I've ment to ask you, since you've been working on rind development, and have made some smeared cheeses, have you had any split like this one did? I've never had a cheese split like this before (I've had small cracks form, but never a big split down the rind like this one). I was just washing it with about a 3-5% brine solution, every other day (just dampen a cloth and wet the surface of the cheese; but not sopping). This spread the b.linens nicely at least.
- Jeff
I've never had any huge cracks or splits in any of the 36 cheeses I've made so far. I did have a couple of slight cracks in the edge of the rind in one cheese. I tried to heal it with EVOO and increased humidity in its minicave which helped a bit. I ended up vacuum-sealing it to protect its integrity...it had reached the point in its affinage where that wasn't going to be a problem.
I'm afraid I mother my cheeses a great deal, especially in the early stages. My wife rather rolls her eyes at the care I afford my cheeses. Part of that comes from some mistakes I made early on with a couple cheeses. I left a newly-made alpine alone for a few days without checking on it. It was at room temp and had been sweating. When I finally did decide to check on it, I was shocked to see an unruly growth of mold all over it. I cleaned it up with a lot of effort but knew at that point that I couldn't turn my back on any cheese for longer than a day. They must be monitored for temp, humidity, anticipated rind growth, and unacceptable rind growth. With the last two you want to encourage and discourage, respectively.
Are you using a ripening box (I call mine "minicaves" because they help me control the cheese environment on a smaller scale.) There was a forum member who had a crack developing in her cheese. She found a way to bind around the rind (like a belt) to hold the rind together. It kind of worked. I think in the end she vacuum-sealed it. Here's a link (https://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,2765.msg22011.html#msg22011) that might help. I once had a cheese wheel in a minicave with the lid held open a bit to adjust the humidity. The rind edge closest to that lid opening dried more than the rest of the cheese. I made sure I rotated what was becoming a crack around to the moister side when I flipped it. That helped a lot to control the rind development.
This cheesemaking idea is an education. One of the guidelines I've followed over the years is "never stop learning". With cheesemaking that's guaranteed.
-Boofer-
Jeff, you and everyone here have got me so excited about this cheese. I have chosen butterkäse as my "perfection cheese" for 2012. The cheese style to replicate and replicate until I get it right. Granted, I have yet to make my first cheese, but I plan to start with a queso fresco tomorrow and if all goes well, move up to a farmhouse cheddar that came with my cheesemaking kit.
2012 will be the "Deutsch Jahre" in our house. I will be only brewing German beers and plan to have a big Oktoberfest party. The butterkäse will go perfectly if I can get it right by then. Thanks for the inspiration and VERY diligent note taking. I will stay tuned to your endeavors and hope to share some of my Butterkäse adventures eventually, too. Prost und auf wiedersehen!
Hi Boofer,
This is the first major crack I've had develope as well. I do keep them in ripening boxes, and like you, adjust the lid to get the humidity right. Unfortunatley, I don't have a humidity measuring device, but a bit of condensation does form on the walls. Also, I believe the humidity had to be high enough to get the b.linens to grow?
I recall the binding of the cracked cheese, and I tried that. I think because my cracks were onl through the b.linen formed rind, and not right through the cheese in a full split, it wasn't going to work (I couldn't bind it enough to get it to hold the rind closed).
Very strange.
- Jeff
Hi DustinBlodgett,
I'm glad you've found the notes and discussions useful. This cheese can be eaten at 4 weeks, though it does get better if you age it longer (say, 2 or 3 months). One thing to note is that the curds seem to be very fragile, relative to other cheeses I've made that's the case. Although I haven't done this yet with this cheese, from what I've read I think it might benefit from "pressing under whey". Search the forum to find the details on that. In the end, though, it is a fairly straight forward washed curd cheese. I look forward to reading about your successes, as I'm sure they will be.
- Jeff
Wow, I completely screwed up my first cheese. I made an attempt at Queso Fresco today and it didn't go well. I used the recipe and directions on the Wiki recipe here for queso fresco, but after 90minutes my curd had really only halfway set. I never got what I would say was an obvious clean break. The curd didn't change at all from the 40min mark to the 90 min mark, so I decided to continue with cutting the curd, bringing it up to temp and draining it. Only about a quarter of it was formed into semi formed curds. It was very wet and didn't drain much of the whey off. It's about the consistency of a grainy cream cheese and tastes just like the curd part of cottage cheese.
I think my main problem was that I used some old rennet. It was is my cheese making kit that I got from my mom on my birthday in April, and since I didn't know how to store rennet then, it sat in our room temp pantry for upwards of 7 months before I got around to using it today. Also, the recipe never said how much to use, so I just guessed at about 1/2 tablet for 1gal milk and 1/2 gal buttermilk. Maybe I should have just let the milk go on setting until I got a clean break, just I noticed no difference at all between minute 40 and minute 90, so I figured it wasn't going to do much of anything else.
I've already ordered some fresh rennet, cultures, lipase and new cheese clothe (I think the cloth I got with the kit was too coarse for a soft cheese). I hope my next one goes better. I'm just itching to do a butterkase, but I need to hone my skills first.
Hi DustinBlodgett,
Do a search on floculation test. You can use this to determine how much rennet to use, and when to cut the curd (rather than using the "clean break" test). By targeting a "floc time" between 10 and 15 minutes, you can dial in your rennet over a couple makes (this will all make sense once you read up on the Floc method).
Aso, if your milk is store bought, homogenized and pasturized, then you need to add CaCl2 just before you add your rennet. And, although diluting the rennet before adding it to the milk is a good idea, don't dilute it until just before adding it in. It gets weaker from sitting around in the water. Finally, try a different brand of milk. Sometimes the problem is that the milk was pasturized at a high temperature (not quite ultra high temp, but high enough to make it poor cheese making milk). Organic milks are often bad this way.
so, try another gallon and use the floc. May the floc be with you. :)
- Jeff
Thanks, Jeff. I have read up on the flocc test and will be using it next time I make cheese. I think I will try another queso fresco and see if I can do a better job this time. Wife and several coworkers like the result of my first make but I was less than enthused. It turned out to be very much like cream cheese and we used it as a spread instead.
I did use CaCl with that batch and didn't wait long after dilution of my rennet to add it to the milk. So I don't think that's the problem. I will try a different brand of milk. I just used my local generic brand of milk, I think it was Krogers brand from my Fry's Grocery store. I'm trying not to be discouraged, so I hope my next make goes better. Thanks for the support and suggestions.
Just a short update. Up until now I've been doing my melt tests in the microwave and none of them have melted well, including this one. However, today we had some baked potatoes and I put some on. Melted wonderfully! I guess my 10 seconds on high test isn't a very good one.
- Jeff
It's sad when you have to say good-bye. Yes parting is such sweet sorrow. Yesterday, my wife, daughter, and I consumed the last of this one. It was very tasty right up to the end. Retained it's moistness and the flavour was developing as it aged, but it was always a nice clean and creamy cheese. A shame it cracked, resulting in it being opened so much earlier than intended, but so goes the adventure.
- Jeff