Hi all,
Having another go at Butterkase. I still have about 1/3 of the last wheel, but it's turned out really well so I figure I should get another one going. This time, because I'm forever tweaking this make, I've also added a tablespoon of yogurt. My thermo culture that I have in ice cubes is just strep, and this yogurt has Lac. Acidophilus and probably some others too. It's becoming quite a Frankenstein of a culture mix, but seems to be good so far.
Anyway, I had curd shatter last time at step 10, but this time they held together quite well (see photo). I also added the cultures at the start, rather than waiting for the milk to get to temperature. Normally this has quite a short pressing schedule (only 6 hours) but I may press all night rather than get up at midnight to deal with it. Will see.
- Jeff
P.S. Ok, I've just flipped it the 2nd time and it looks great! Added a photo too!
P.P.S. And .... done!
Butterkase (mine): Saturday, Apr 28, 2012 (sunny, med Pressure; warm ~21.6 C)
10L homebrand standard milk
½ tsp CaCl (50% solution)
0.55 ml microbial rennet IMCU 750 (next make go with 0.5; 8 min flocs twice now with 0.6)
1 ice cubes Flora Danica, 1 ice cube buttermilk (meso) 1 ice cube ST B01 (Thermo) 1 tbls yogurt 1/16 tsp LH (De Winkle yogurt has Lactobacillus Acidophilus)
Start time: 12:22
1) Warm to 35 C (hit 35 at 12:40; continued to climb to 35.2 C) (added all starter when cold, except LH)
2) Added LH when milk was at 31 C (to rehydrate). (12:31 Temp 31.2 C)
3) Ripen 40 minutes (target time 1:20 actual time 1:21; Temp: 34.0 C at end)
4) Start raising temperature to 40 C at 1:25
5) Add ½ tsp CaCl in egg cup water (1:30; temp 37.1 C)
6) Reached at 40 C at 1:32 actual temp: 40.3 C)
7) Add 0.55 ml rennet in egg cup water (1:35:00) (floc was 8m 30 sec last time)
8) Floc time = 1:45:00 10m 00s 3.5 * floc = 35m 00s min until cut (must be the warmer temp or the LH increasing acidity and floc much faster than typical; could have floc'd a bit earlier too, but 10 m is close)
9) Cut at 2:10:00 into 3 cm cubes wait 5 min (start 2:12-2:17) then cut into 1 cm cubes (good curd 39.4 C)
10) Curds settle 15 minutes (start 2:25-2:40), then remove approx 3 1/3 litres of whey (1/3 orig. volume of milk; extended time to allow more whey expulsion; good curd, no shatter)
11) Slowly add 60 0C water until you reach 42 0C (over 5-15 minutes or so 2:59-2:11 42.2 C)
12) stir 45 minutes (start time: 2:11 – until 2:56)
13) drain and move to mould
14) press lightly (20 kg; 6.25" cm mould; 1.43 PSI) 6 hours (start time: 4:15 – pressed in pot in sink of approx 40 C water 60 min)
15) flipped/redress at 5:30 (knit looks really good. Cheese cloth "tacky to the cheese")
16) flipped/redress 6:25 (knit looks excellent)
17) Finish Press Time 5:05 am; knit superb 1376g 6.3 cm high x 15.5 cm diam (1188 cm3; 1.16 g/cm3)
18) 20 minutes water (??:??-??:??) (skipped this step)
Brine at 1 hour per lb per inch height (saturated) = 7 hours 31 min - 5:15-8:45 flipped - 12:45 am; weight after brine: 1366g; dimensions 15.5cm x 5.7cm = 1075cm3 = 1.18g/cm3
Hi,
Ok, and here it is the next morning. It comes in at 1376g, 15.5 cm diameter and 6.3 cm height. So, with a brine formula of 1 hour per lb per inch of height that comes to 7 hours 31 minutes. It currently has a densiste of 1.16 g/ccm with a superb knit. I'm very pleased with the outcome. I've decided to leave out the 20 minutes in the water bath after pressing again for a few reasons, first I figure the brining will take care of anything surface related, second I'm worried it will just pull out calcium (unless I add some in), third I don't really know what it's supposed to do, and finally, I haven't noticed a difference from skipping it!
- Jeff
Nice looking wheel but it is a bit ... dry and tough looking for a butterkase. It should look sort of like a superball if anyome remembers them.
Yes a very nice wheel, I got allot to learn ;)
Hi DeejayDebbie,
Yah, the overnight press is probably the culprit for that. It would acidify longer as well, being delayed in going into the brine. I remember superballs though, so I know what you're referring to.
- Jeff
Ah good seems many of my points of reference are disappering! Maybe it's just the outside.
Hi,
It could be just the outside look. Much of the "dry wrinkly look" is due to cheesecloth lines from the press. It's not as compressed as other makes (which normally end up about 5.5 cm tall, while this one is 6.3) due to the lighter pressing weights. It does feel firmer than previous makes, but I think the addition of the yogurt really helped firm up the curds too. It doesn't seem to have retained as much fluid this time around, but I ended up distracted with things to do while it drained and I think it drained much longer than usual (about an hour or so).
In any case, the make went well and it should produce a decent cheese. Next time, I'm thinking I should up the fat content just a bit, by adding maybe 50 to 100 ml of cream.
- Jeff
And now the deed is done. Here it is post-brine, at 1366g, so it's lost 10g during the brine. It's also shrunk to 5.7 cm in height, so the density has gone up slightly (1.18 compared to 1.16 g/ccm). The knit is fantastic, and as the make seemed to go really well I've got some hope for this one. If it turns out as nice as the last one I'll be pleased. I had an omlette with some of the previous make today and it melted nicely (my first melt test for it).
- Jeff
That look a bit better Jeff.
I like the flow pattern on the rind. Very...new wave. :)
Quite the adventuresome lad, eh?
-Boofer-
Hi DJD,
I think the brining helped a bit, but mostly, I think it in part depends upon the lighting and my inability to correct for such things when I take pictures. Honest, it's perfect! :)
And Boofer, I liked the wave pattern on the sides as well. I was thinking it gives it a sort of seafaring air to it. Das Boot Kasse perhaps? You appear to be thinking more along the lines of a flock of seagulls perhaps?
- Jeff
I have a problem in my kitchen with pictures too. If I dont' type the name in right away I can't tell and uncut cheddar from a parm! Although sometimes I can't tell without eatting it anyway! I think those curly light bulbs make everything yellow.
Beautiful.
Hi DeejayDebbie,
Could be the lighting. All my indoor photos with no flash have a definate yellow to them.
And thanks JustPeachy! :)
Anyway, moved this into the cave this morning. It's dry to the touch and down to 1286g already.
- Jeff
Hi,
Well, this one is now 6 weeks old. We were going to have friends over, but plans got changed. Still, we decided we'ld cut this one for ourselves. It's final weight was 1132g, so it's retained quite a bit of it's original mass. My cave humidity must be better. It's developed a mould covering, and this occasionally gets a blue starting, which is when it gets a nail brush scrub. Anyway, it's a very creamy texture, with a very mild flavour. Haven't tried melting it, but if it melts well it would make good grilled cheese sandwhiches. Butterkase is supposed to be a mild cheese, so I think this is bang on. I'm very pleased with the texture in particular, and if it melts I'll consider this one nailed. Flavourwise it's an unassuming cheese by nature, so easily overpowered by strong companions. Hmmmm, I bet it would be nice with pears.
- Jeff
Very nice rind! ...and paste! A cheese to you for fine-tuning this style.
I have got to do a Butterkase with summer milk. Yeah, george, I said it again. ::)
-Boofer-
;D
That looks awsome your my hero. I am trying your recipe tomorrow. I have made a valencay, camembert and a buttermilk blue that were all good. I have had trouble with Cheddar, i think it is because i have been pressing cold. Great Job!!!!
Thanks Peter. Search the cheddared forum for Lancashire. That's a nice cheddar type that is ready fairly quick. Also, look for the "pressing in the pot" suggestion by Sailor. This helps keep the curds warm for better knitting.
- Jeff
Finally got around to making a grilled cheese with this one. The cheese has melted beautifully! A complete success. Yah! :)
- Jeff
Excellent! 8)
-Boofer-
Making a great cheese is like hitting the perfect drive in golf. You know your next one might not be as good but you also know that if you've done it this time you can do it again.
A Cheese for you.
Jeff,
Thanks again for the recipe and help I tried yor recipe yesterday and it turned out exactly what i wanted. Except I squished it a little in the brine by putting too much weight on it. The pot pressing gave me great knit. Thank you.
Thanks all!
Peter, I'm glad you found the notes helpful. Post a photo of your result, and don't forget to update us all (with more photos) as the cheese ages and when you finally give it a taste. Butterkase should result in a very mild cheese, that should melt well. It should be ready to eat in as little as 4 weeks, but it doesn't hurt to age it out to a couple months. I've not aged one for longer, though I'm thinking I'll cut a bit of this and seal it to see what happens to it over time. Good luck with it. And do start a thread to document your cheese. (and a cheese to you for an apparently good start)
- Jeff
Jeff, looking over your culture selection it occurs to me that I might be able to mimic it by using my Alp D to cover all bases. Your opinion?
-Boofer-
Hi Boofer,
That seems to have everything except the (LMC) Leuconostoc mesenteroides subsp. cremoris, which is in the Flora Danica and Buttermilk and the the brand of yogurt I used advertised itself as containing Lactobacillus Acidophilus, but I don't know what other cultures it would have. I also don't know if the Lact.Acidophius makes any difference in the end product. I just picked it up because, well, hey ... A SPARKLY! I LOVE SPARKLIES! .... :)
That being said, I think what you've chosen will work really well. I'm keen to hear how it turns out (There, now you have to try it.)
- Jeff
It's all so confusing! ::) :D
I checked on Danlac's site and think I've got an alternative choice to the Alp D.
MA4001 + LH
Either selection seems do-able. The difference is that Alp D has the added Lactobacillus lactis. Not sure what that would bring to the party.
-Boofer-
Hi Boofer,
Either would work. The AlpD seems to be closer though. Mind you the proportions might be quite different to what I ended up using. I used both FD and buttermilk, which have the same types of cultures but different strains, so they could be producing different acidity profiles to either one alone (and most likely do). I think it's most likely that as long as your culture choice is similar, it's more the make procedure that determines the outcome. It's not a long aging cheese, so it's really about getting the texture and mild flavour right.
- Jeff
Very nice paste but it should not have a rind.
Hi DeejayDebi,
Thanks. Yah, the rind developed on it's own. Most of my cheeses develop a natural rind fairly quickly. Still, it's not thick into the paste, and can be trimmed off easy enough.
- Jeff
All gone! Had the last piece today. Good to the last slice. Will definately make this one again, but I think I'll age it out as the flavour really comes into it's own. Still mild, but with some character and subtlties that improve it noticably.
- Jeff