CheeseForum.org » Forum

Attempted provolone this weekend...and made something I need help determining what to next. Using recipe in Riki's book starting with 4 gallons raw cow milk, thermo at 97F, lipase, calf rennet= nice curds. I don't have a pH meter, so I used the techniques described elsewhere in here to determine when things are ready for the next step.

Now I'm sure it had to do with pH, but I could never get the curds to come together. Individual curds had a decent stretch, but they wouldn't come together- they kept separating. After a couple hours of heating and testing, I had to go to bed, and needed to do something....how about going feta-ish? Drained the curds, lightly salted, and packed into 2 4-in molds overnight at 12 lbs.

In the morning, the curds had formed a nice block, could break off curds with some prying, but a reasonably solid mass. Tossed into brine where they have been for 36 hours.

So I'm willing to write off the failure of getting provolone to pH management...lesson learned. Question is, what to do with the 4 lbs of cheese I wound up with! It has that provolone taste, but the texture of a very dense feta (saltyness probably influencing judgment). Not having the experience to deal with on-the-fly oopsies, would this be better aged in brine, or not? Any thoughts would be a big help! It's not bad as it is, I just want to make sure I don't wreck it by improper finishing from here on out.

MattK

Sorry, Matt, I don't have any answers for you, but I'm hoping that by bumping this up someone else can give you some input.

Thanks Karen. It's still sitting in brine, and is actually not bad. A little dry and squeaky, but edible to be sure. Not sure if it melts or not, but it was OK by the slice.

One of my favorite non-traditional cheeses is Ch'rella.  I use the cheddar recipe, but Mozz culture.

Lovely.

Matt I am not sure where you left off in the make. You warmed the milk, acidified, cut the curds then what?

One think you could try is to warm the pot in hot water and cheddar them. Try to melt them together. Think of it like cheddaring the curds. As the curds start to melt together cut them into slabs and keep restacking them like a cheddar so they continue to warm each other. Them when the are all warm and cozy press them together in a mold.

I don't know how dry these curds are but you might want to add a cup of water to the bottom of the pot while doing this.

Alice ... I've never heard of ch'rella is this one of your own designs?

Yes, it is!  I  didn't have any luck with Mozzarella, so I modified the Cheddar recipe!  It's lovely.

Interesting how you you make it?