Cheese Making Basics. Cheese Making at Home Many people brew beer and wine at home, but few people...

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Cheese Making Basics

Transcript of Cheese Making Basics. Cheese Making at Home Many people brew beer and wine at home, but few people...

Page 1: Cheese Making Basics. Cheese Making at Home  Many people brew beer and wine at home, but few people make cheese  Cheese is dehydrated, salted, spoiled.

Cheese Making Basics

Page 2: Cheese Making Basics. Cheese Making at Home  Many people brew beer and wine at home, but few people make cheese  Cheese is dehydrated, salted, spoiled.

Cheese Making at HomeMany people brew beer and wine at home, but few people make cheeseCheese is dehydrated, salted, spoiled milkThe spoilage is carefully controlled using beneficial bacteria and mold culturesExpensive equipment such as this custom-built cheese press is not necessary for home cheese making, but it makes the process much less labor intensiveCheese ingredients cost about $6 per pound of cheese (cost is dominated by good quality milk) Creamy Havarti Cheese

Ready for Brining

Page 3: Cheese Making Basics. Cheese Making at Home  Many people brew beer and wine at home, but few people make cheese  Cheese is dehydrated, salted, spoiled.

Sanitation

All countertops, pans, tools and hands must be washed and sterilized before touching the milkSterilization prevents harmful bacteria, yeast, and molds from contaminating the milk and cheese¼ cup of bleach is added to hot water to make a sterilization bath

Page 4: Cheese Making Basics. Cheese Making at Home  Many people brew beer and wine at home, but few people make cheese  Cheese is dehydrated, salted, spoiled.

Custom Cheese VatAn electric food warmer is filled with enough water to form a water jacket around a six gallon steam panThe steam pan holds enough milk to make a block of cheese weighing about 5 to 5½ lb

Milk temperature control is crucial for cheese makingThe food warmer was modified to add a thermal sensorA computer regulates and records the vat’s water jacket temperature over time

Page 5: Cheese Making Basics. Cheese Making at Home  Many people brew beer and wine at home, but few people make cheese  Cheese is dehydrated, salted, spoiled.

Temperature Record

The computer records the water jacket temperature throughout the cheese making processIt takes about 8 hours from raw milk to cooked cheese curdsThe main advantage of using the computer is the ability to concentrate on the milk, curds and whey, not worrying about manually adjusting the temperature for 8 hours

Page 6: Cheese Making Basics. Cheese Making at Home  Many people brew beer and wine at home, but few people make cheese  Cheese is dehydrated, salted, spoiled.

PasteurizationStore milk is quickly pasteurized at a very high temperature to destroy harmful bacteria – but…High temperature destroys milk for cheese makingTo make good cheese, we must buy fresh raw milk and pasteurize it ourselvesBy Texas law, raw (unpasteurized) milk can only be sold by the farmer directly to the consumer at the farmThe FDA minimum requirement for milk pasteurization is 145 degrees for 30 minutes

I buy raw milk directly from a dairy farmer and slowly pasteurize it at 150 degrees for at least 30 minutes using the cheese vat

Page 7: Cheese Making Basics. Cheese Making at Home  Many people brew beer and wine at home, but few people make cheese  Cheese is dehydrated, salted, spoiled.

Pasteurization – Cool DownMilk must be quickly cooled after pasteurization to prevent harmful bacteria from growingCold tap water is flushed through the water jacket for about 30 minutes to cool the milk quicklyStirring the milk occasionally and adding ice cubes to the water jacket quickens the processThe milk is cooled until it reaches the ideal bacterial inoculation temperature (70 to 100 degrees depending on the type of cheese being made)

Page 8: Cheese Making Basics. Cheese Making at Home  Many people brew beer and wine at home, but few people make cheese  Cheese is dehydrated, salted, spoiled.

Inoculation with Good Bacteria

Mold cultures, orange food color, or flavoring may also be added at this timeAfter a 5 minute rehydration time, the bacteria are stirred into the milk

Powdered lactic acid bacteria are added to the milk once it has cooled to the proper temperatureFor Swiss-style cheeses such as Emmental and Jarlsberg, gas-producing bacteria are also added

Page 9: Cheese Making Basics. Cheese Making at Home  Many people brew beer and wine at home, but few people make cheese  Cheese is dehydrated, salted, spoiled.

Acidity – Measuring pHThe lactic acid bacteria convert milk sugar (lactose) into lactic acidThe texture of cheese (meltability, hardness, etc.) is highly dependent on how much lactic acid is produced during the cheese making processA handheld pH meter is very useful in monitoring acid development pH 7.0 is neutral, less than 7.0 is acidic, more than 7.0 is alkalineFresh raw milk has a pH of about 6.6 (slightly acidic) before it is further acidified by the bacteria

Page 10: Cheese Making Basics. Cheese Making at Home  Many people brew beer and wine at home, but few people make cheese  Cheese is dehydrated, salted, spoiled.

Rennet – Setting the MilkAfter a period of bacterial growth (30 minutes to several hours), the milk is gelled or “set” using an enzyme called rennetThe milk begins to gel a few minutes after rennet solution is stirred into itThe first sign of gelling is called “flocculation”Flocculation can be detected using a plastic cup floating on the milkFlocculation has begun when the cup stops moving easily

Flocculation time is used to determine when to cut the gelled milk into curdsHard cheeses such as parmesan and cheddar are cut at 2.5 x the flocculation time, soft cheeses such as brie are cut at 4 x to 6 x

Page 11: Cheese Making Basics. Cheese Making at Home  Many people brew beer and wine at home, but few people make cheese  Cheese is dehydrated, salted, spoiled.

Cutting the Curd

The curds and whey are then heated slowly to a “cook” temperature (98-125 degrees F depending on cheese type)The curds continue to expel whey as they gradually harden

The gelled milk is cut into curds using a knife or wire whiskYellow liquid, called “whey”, begins to seep out of the curds soon after they are cut

Page 12: Cheese Making Basics. Cheese Making at Home  Many people brew beer and wine at home, but few people make cheese  Cheese is dehydrated, salted, spoiled.

Washing the CurdThe curds can be washed by draining a portion of the whey and replacing it with warm waterWater leaches out part of the lactose from the curdsLess lactose means less lactic acid (sharpness) in the final aged cheeseWashed curd cheeses were developed in northern Europe, notably Denmark & HollandGouda, Havarti, Edam, Jarlsberg, Colby, and Jack are examples of washed curd cheesesThey are typically milder and less crumbly than non-washed curd cheeses

Page 13: Cheese Making Basics. Cheese Making at Home  Many people brew beer and wine at home, but few people make cheese  Cheese is dehydrated, salted, spoiled.

Draining and Salting the Curd

The pH of the whey can be measured at this point, but it typically has not dropped yetThe pH of the whey inside the curds drops faster than the whey that has been expelled

The curds are drained and may also be salted prior to being put into shaping formsSalt slows down the lactic acid bacterial activity so that the cheese will acidify gradually

Page 14: Cheese Making Basics. Cheese Making at Home  Many people brew beer and wine at home, but few people make cheese  Cheese is dehydrated, salted, spoiled.

Forming the CheeseNow that curds have been separated from the milk, it is time to form them into a wheel of cheeseCurds are transferred into a mould such as a hoop or square box, lined with cheesecloth or large coffee filters (which are much cheaper than cheesecloth!)The curds are allowed to drain for an hour or so before pressing begins

Page 15: Cheese Making Basics. Cheese Making at Home  Many people brew beer and wine at home, but few people make cheese  Cheese is dehydrated, salted, spoiled.

Pressing Process

Cheese must be periodically rewrapped and flipped over to maximize whey extractionPressing continues until the whey stops draining and the curds form a solid block of cheese

Cheese curds must be pressed for many hours to form them into a solid block of cheeseCheese is pressed lightly at first, then with more force until most of the whey has been expelled

Page 16: Cheese Making Basics. Cheese Making at Home  Many people brew beer and wine at home, but few people make cheese  Cheese is dehydrated, salted, spoiled.

Cheese PressesI use a custom-built pneumatic (compressed air) cheese press that operates with a flip of a switchIt gives me an accurate, adjustable pressing force up to 150 pounds to make harder cheeses such as cheddar and parmesanThe press can be as simple as a set of weights stacked on top of the mouldCommercially available cranked-spring presses are inaccurate, cumbersome to use, and typically limited to 50 pounds of force

Page 17: Cheese Making Basics. Cheese Making at Home  Many people brew beer and wine at home, but few people make cheese  Cheese is dehydrated, salted, spoiled.

Pressing Complete – Testing pHThe lactic acid bacteria continue to convert lactose to lactic acid during the pressing processFor this batch of Havarti cheese, the pH of the final ounces of whey has dropped to 5.4 about 20 hours after the bacteria were first stirred into the milkThis level of acidity will give a nice tangy flavor, soft creamy texture and good meltabilityInsufficient acid development results in cheese that won’t melt and squeaks against the teethToo much acid development can make cheese bitter and crumbly and makes it liquify into a sauce instead of melting

Page 18: Cheese Making Basics. Cheese Making at Home  Many people brew beer and wine at home, but few people make cheese  Cheese is dehydrated, salted, spoiled.

BriningAfter the cheese has been pressed into a solid block, it is typically brined in a chilled salt water bath for a few hours to a day or moreBrine is a saturated salt water solution which may also contain a bit of vinegar and Calcium ChlorideBrining pulls more whey out of the cheese, making it harderBrining also infuses more salt into the cheese, preventing the bacteria from over-acidifying the cheese

Page 19: Cheese Making Basics. Cheese Making at Home  Many people brew beer and wine at home, but few people make cheese  Cheese is dehydrated, salted, spoiled.

AgingAfter cheese is brined it is slowly dried and aged in a cheese cave (pronounced “cahv”) for several weeks to several yearsMost types of cheese are edible within a week, but are not fully developed until weeks or months laterThe aging process must be carried out in a controlled environment with a relative humidity of about 85% and a temperature that may range from 45 degrees to 70 degrees depending on the type of cheeseHousehold refrigerators are much too dry for aging cheeseWine storage fridges are ideal because they are designed to keep corks humidified

Page 20: Cheese Making Basics. Cheese Making at Home  Many people brew beer and wine at home, but few people make cheese  Cheese is dehydrated, salted, spoiled.

Aging the Havarti

Since Havarti is a soft cheese, it will tend to flatten outTherefore the cheese must be flipped every 12 hours or so for the first few days to even out the flattening processBefore brining, weight was 5 lb, 15 ozAfter brining for 10 hours, the weight had dropped to 5 lb, 13 oz

After Brining 12 Hours 1 Day 2 Days

3 Days 1 Week 2 Weeks Cut and Sealed

Page 21: Cheese Making Basics. Cheese Making at Home  Many people brew beer and wine at home, but few people make cheese  Cheese is dehydrated, salted, spoiled.

Questions?