1 quart Deans Half and Half
3 cups Deans Heavy Cream (all I had left of a quart)
1 cup Oberweis 2% milk
1/4 t CaCl
1/8 t Choosit MM 101
2 drops veal rennet in 1/8 c distilled water (keep wanting to call it DIW)
Water bath quickly brought the fluids up to 74 degrees then removed from the water bath of hot tap water before it heated any further. Added CaCl, culture and rennet and I've got it pushed off to the side where I'll check it at around 11:00 PM. It's gonna be a long night as I missed the little note about the 12-16 hour incubation time. Wish me luck!
BTW, any comments about using the Half and Half and 2% and how it will change the product are welcome!
You will have lower fat cream cheese, less dense and more moisture.
Should be very good and still very rich.
About 1:20 AM I gave up, Got my colander and cheese cloth out and started it draining.
This morning about 6:30 it still had not drained enough, stuck a bowl under the colander, pulled up the cheesecloth the best I could, and put it in the fridge.
I'll check on it when I get home from work :P
When the cheese has drained down a bit, I tie the corners of the cheesecloth together. It helps drain it a bit quicker. You can also tie the corners over a dowel to hang the cheese - get gravity working with you on it.
I hope this turns out well for you. I normally just allow mine to set up overnight, even if it is longer than the recipe asks for. Especially if the house is under 70 degrees F. No sense in staying up all night long.
I had even less time this morning than I would have at 1:30 ;)
Anyhow I was busy with my store packing an order for a customer anyway. (I have an Etsy store.)
Now my goal today is to stay awake ;D
Maybe MM101 isnt the right culture for the job or perhaps the ph hasnt droped enough to firm up?
With such high fat content you shouldnt really have to drain\lose very much.
MM 101 is probably not the best for the culture, but it's what I've got for now. My budget allowed me to get a pH meter and that is more important than amassing a collection of cultures.
I figure that the pH had not dropped enough I knew I should have checked the pH...hmmm....
Right now the cheese sample from the draining bag (which it's almost done draining, still a bit soft for my liking) is reading 4.16
MM100 and its alternate MM101 are quite fine for the purpose. Did you maintain the temperature at a steady 74°? What was the temp when you finally drained?
As steady as the kitchen counter allows. I think I mainly started draining it too early and now it's taking forever to drain.
As of now its still draining, but I only tied up the cheesecloth tight after I got home tonight.
Maintaining temp will help acidify cheese on schedule. It's helpful to wrap the pot in towels, or you can also put the pot in the oven. I'm just trying to help you get future better nights sleep.
Quote from: ellenspn on October 15, 2011, 03:07:02 AM
As steady as the kitchen counter allows. I think I mainly started draining it too early and now it's taking forever to drain.
4.16 is even lower (I can even say... much lower) then coagulation.
If Im making a savory cheese I add 1% of salt to the cheese formed (perhaps more if I were to drain) and I also cool it down quickly,both to stop acidification.
I think its taking forever because the draining bag is cloged, you need to scap off the inner and outer bottom to free up the "pores".
Yes, it is a good idea to scrape the cheesecloth a few times during the draining, otherwise the outer edge forms a skin and the center portion stays too wet.
I wouldn't add any salt until you are done draining. The draining time for cream cheese is time for the flavor to continue to develop and you don't want to shortchange that.
I use storebought cultured buttermilk as a culture when making American Neufchatel. It works well for cream cheese, too.
Yeah, I forgot to scrape the bag in the morning. Did that yesterday afternoon and a couple times in the evening and it drained much better ::)
It's salted in the fridge and waiting for bagels :)
But there is more than I can eat so I need to freeze some. Any tips on freezing it?
Any idea what the final PH of this cheese type should be?
I know that from the few times that I made lactic cheeses I often start seeing coagulation as early as 5.0 ,perhaps even higher.
So the question is when is the optiomal time to start draining (if required) or chill.
Some cultures (even messo only) can over acidify if left alone, not leaving any sweetness (residual lactose) which I like in this style of cheese.
Mixing with some mascarpone can up the sweetness if you over acidifed your cheese, sort of like blending wines. Its also very firm so if you have weak curds and runny consistancy it can help firm up.
Funny enough buying mascarpone at the delly is much cheaper then buying cream and making it so I often just buy it and use it as a blend ingridient. As you can see I like playing with food. :)
Frozen cream cheese is best used for cooking. I just freeze it up in Ziploc or Glad plastic containers. I've frozen as little as a cup and as much as a quart.
Thaw in the fridge and dump any liquid that separates out.
That's exactly how I froze it (in plastic container.) I figure it's a good thing to try in a goulash or stroganoff recipe.