Category: The Shisler’s Family
Easy-Cheesy Halloween Recipes!
Halloween is one of the best times of the year. What better way than to enjoy it by exploring all the different ways you can make spooky Halloween snacks. Be it for a Halloween party for your kids, an adult get-together or a spookily themed dinner with the family, these extra cheesy recipes- with a twist will be a cheese lovers heaven this Halloween!
Not only are these Halloween recipes for cheese lovers, but they are quick and easy to make. So, if you have work on Halloween, you can quickly whip them in a short amount of time so no one misses out!
Halloween Cheese And Crackers
Cheese and crackers are a quick and easy snack to add to a party platter of spooky delights. What makes this recipe even better is that you can have some fun with the kids making these. All you really need is a few different Halloween cookie cutters which you can purchase from your local craft store and some delicious cheese from Shisler’s Cheese House.
Cheddar would be the best cheese for this, at Shisler’s Cheese House we have a range of different cheddars to suit your palette:
– White Cheddar
– Orange Cheddar
– Garlic Cheddar
– Smoked Cheddar
Now you just have to cut some thin slices of your cheese and use your cookie cutter to form the spooky shapes and then place them on your crackers! It is as easy as that! Don’t throw out your outline leftovers, you can just save the cheese for a topping on a family dinner or just for a snack! Enjoy.
Halloween Cheese Board
Everyone loves a cheese board! If you are attending a more sophisticated event this Halloween but you would like to add a twist, bring a spooky Halloween board! Just cut some slices of your favorite cheese and use cookie cutters to make pumpkins and ghosts out of the cheese. Don’t forget to bring the wine!
Check out our website to see all the delicious cheeses you can get for your board.
Crescent Roll Witch Hats
This recipe is something different but equally delicious. With Halloween being very much geared towards a sweet tooth, you’ll be happy to know that this recipe is more on the savory side for those who love Halloween and savory foods!
Again, this recipe is super easy to make and creative!
What You Need
1 package of Crescent Rolls (original)
Shisler’s Cheese House Bologna
2 types of cheese with contrasting color (Cheddar and Havarti from our store)
Basil
What To Do
1. Open and unroll one package of Crescent Rolls.
2. So hats maintain their shape, use a knife to separate segments.
3. Cut salami slices and a portion of cheddar cheese into thin strips.
4. Place bologna and cheese strips on top of the widest part of the roll.
5. Roll it up to create the hat brim.
6. Cut cheddar cheese strips and cheese squares to make the hat band and buckle.
7. Arrange cheese above the brim of the hat.
8. Lightly sprinkle basil over the entire roll.
9. Bake according to package directions.
Enjoy These WonderFALL Treats At Shisler’s Cheese House!
Fall is such a refreshing time of the year, the kids are back at school, the weather is cooling down, Halloween is just around the corner and most importantly, the Football Season has begun!
Come on down to Shisler’s Cheese House and check out these amazing gift boxes packed with dreamy treats for our Fall occasions!
If you are out of state, you can always visit our website and order your goodies online to be delivered straight to your door.
Going back to college this Fall? Come down and get yourself our ‘Back To School Care Package‘!
This gift box is perfect for students going back to college as it contains a selection of popular foods amongst young adults. If you are feeling homesick, these home comforts will help with that. You can share these treats with your friends and dorm mates, make a night of it! The good thing about this care package is that the items do not require refrigeration and are not very perishable.
This gift box is also rather good for military service men and women. Sending them a piece of home overseas is a perfect gesture.
The gift box contains generous amounts of the following items:
– Banana Split Mix
– Blue Raspberry Licorice
– Buggy Trail Mix
– Cinnamon Graham Pretzels
– Mikey’s Mix
– Peanut Butter Pretzels
– Shisler’s Private Label Raspberry Pretzel Dip
Taste the most amazing flavors of Fall in Amish Country without ‘Fall Harvest Collection‘ gift box!
What better way to welcome Fall into your home than enjoying our Fall Harvest Collection fresh from Amish Country. Not only will you be tasting the flavors of Fall, you will be supporting the local Amish community with their fresh and high-quality products.
This package is only available for a limited time.
The gift box includes:
– Baby Swiss Cheese (2 Lbs.)
– Streb Meats Smoked Sausage (1 Lb.)
– Cranberry Delight (1 Lb.)
– Pumpkin Muffin Mix
– Pumpkin Butter (Not Pictured)
– Popcorn on the Cob
Enjoy Football Sunday’s with a ‘Football Season Special‘!
What’s better than cheese and bologna while watching your favorite team win? Nothing is better than that! Order your Football Season gift box today ready for the weekend and all things Football. Our gift box is tailored for sport’s fans, containing a custom spread of cheese and trail bologna!
The gift box includes:
– Swiss Cheese
– Troyer’s Trail Bologna
– Pepper Jack Cheese
– Shisler’s Private Label Mustard
– Shisler’s Private Label Hot Pepper Relish
– Carr’s Crackers
Cheesemaking: How To Make Cabra Al Vino
Recipe
What You Need
3 Gallons of Goat’s Milk (not Ultra-Pasteurized)
1/8 tsp MA4002 Culture*
1/8 tsp Single Strength Liquid Rennet
Cheese Salt
Salt Brine
Calcium Chloride (for pasteurized milk)
What To Do
1. The first step is to heat and acidify the milk. So let’s begin by heating the milk to 95F To do this, place the milk in a container and then place it in a large pot of very warm water. If you heat it on the stove, be sure to heat it slowly and stir it as it heats if you heat it on the stove.
After heating the milk, the culture can be added. The powder can become very cakey and sink in clumps so to prevent this, sprinkle the culture over the surface of the milk and then let it sit for a couple of minutes. This allows the powder to re-hydrate before you stir it in. After stirring, let the milk sit for a further hour so that the culture can get to work.
2. After an hour of ripening, add 1/8 tsp. single strength liquid rennet. Stir the rennet in for about a minute in a slow up and down motion. The rennet will begin to coagulate the curd, let it sit for 90 minutes. You will see the milk thicken after around 40-45 minutes, but it still needs the full 90 minutes for a proper curd to form.
One way to check for a good curd, insert a knife into the curd at a 45-degree angle and lift slowly until the curd breaks. The edges should break cleanly and the whey that will rise should be clear, not cloudy.
3. It is now time to cut the curds and cook them. Cut the curd vertically in both directions, at about 3/4-1/2 inch then let it sit for 5 minutes.
The second cut should be horizontal with a spoon or flat ladle and then cut slowly to a pea size, taking about 10 minutes.
Remove 30% of the whey after allowing the curd to settle.
Add back some water at a temperature of 110F slowly to heat curds to 97F over 10 minutes.
Stir the curd for 30-40 minutes to achieve a moderately firm curd.
The final curds should be cooked well through. Examine them to make sure enough moisture has been removed. A broken curd should be firm throughout and the curds should have a moderate resistance when you press them in between your fingers.
The curds should be allowed to settle under the whey when this point has reached.
4A. The basket molds which should have been previously sanitized can now be put on a draining surface but with no cloth.
Remove the whey down to just above the curd surface and begin transferring the curds to the molds. Use moderate hand pressure for a firm pack into the molds.
You should stack the two molds for a moderate amount of weight.
Continue to do this for 30 minutes with no cloth and weight by simply reversing and restacking the molds after 15 minutes.
4B. After 30 minutes, turn the cheese in the molds with no cloth.
Now stack 2 high and weight at 5-7lbs for 30 minutes. Turn in the molds and re-wrap in cloth using the same weight and time as above.
Make sure you keep the curd warm at 75-80F. You can do this by insulating with a thick towel. This needs to be done because the bacteria are still working and producing acid from the remaining lactose.
Turn the cheese again in the cloth and stack the molds 2 high, weighted at 15lbs. Turn and re-wrap at 30-minute intervals for the next 4 hours.
You can now press the cheese for about 5 hours and by this time it should have reached its final acid level and moisture. If you have a pH meter, the final reading should show 5.2. Remove the weights when it reads this and you will now be ready to salt the cheese in a brine bath.
5. Now it is time for the salting. So, remove the cheese from the cloth and they will be ready to go into the brine at 52F.
The final cheese weight will be approximately 1.5lbs each which makes the final brine time 5.5 hours.
You will need a saturated brine prepared for salting the cheese, here is a simple brine formula:
– 1 gallon of water
– 2.25 lbs of salt
– 1tbs. calcium chloride
– 1 tsp. white vinegar
– Bring the brine and cheese to 50-55°F before using.
The cheese will float above the surface so please be sure to sprinkle a small amount of salt on top of the cheese surface. Flip the cheese halfway through the brine period and sprinkle some salt on the other surface too.
Wipe down the surface at the end of the brine period and let the surface dry for a day or two at around 52F and 85% moisture.
6. It is now time to finish this cheese with a traditional twist. You will soak the cheese in wine for several days which will increase the surface acidity substantially and make it less hospitable for mold growth and hence less work in the aging room.
Two pieces of cheese will fit comfortably in a 1-gallon zip-lock bag and a small amount of wine will do just fine to soak the cheese in. Be sure to squeeze out the excess air and zip the bag closed.
Wash the surface with the light brine to remove any surface mold that developed and rehydrate the surface, before you soak the cheese in wine.
A Vino is recommended for this, Petit Sirag grape in particular. Use about 12-16 ozs of the wine and then you can happily drink the rest.
Pour the wine into the bag with the cheese and then squeeze the air out before sealing the bag.
After soaking, you can age the cheese in the bag in an aging room at 52F for 36 hours, turning several times.
Now you can remove the cheese from the bag, wipe down the surface and dry it off for 24 hours. Allow for the first dose of wine to migrate into the cheese before the second wine soaking.
Finally, repeat the wine soak for another 48 hours and turn it regularly.
7. After all the soaking, age the cheese at 52-56F and 80-85% moisture.
Age the cheese for 4-6 weeks at which point, it will be ready to consume.
There will be very little mold growth on the surface.
A fine dusting of white mold shows up every 3 or so days, it will just need a quick cloth wipe to remove it.
Cheesemaking: How To Make Caciotta
Recipe
What You Need
2 Gallons of Milk (Not UltraPasteurized)
2/3 Packet of C201Thermophilic Culture (1/2 packet if using raw milk)*
1/2 tsp Single Strength Liquid Rennet
Salt Brine
Calcium Chloride (for pasteurized milk)
What To Do
1. The first step is to heat and acidify the milk. So let’s begin by heating the milk to 98F To do this, place the milk in a container and then place it in a large pot of very warm water. If you heat it on the stove, be sure to heat it slowly and stir it as it heats if you heat it on the stove. The higher temperature will be more in line with a happy temperature for the Thermophilic bacteria.
You can add the culture once the temperature is at 98F. The lower culture amount is in character with the slightly less acid final cheese.
The powder can become very cakey and sink in clumps so to prevent this, sprinkle the culture over the surface of the milk and then let it sit for a couple of minutes. This allows the powder to re-hydrate before you stir it in. After stirring, let the milk sit for a further hour so that the culture can get to work.
2. You can now add about 2.5ml or 1/2 tsp of single strength liquid rennet. The rennet needs to be added and mixed for one minute but not enough that the milk is agitated.
The milk needs to sit for around 20 minutes so that the culture can get to work and the rennet can begin to coagulate the curd. The milk will begin to thicken after around 8 minutes but be sure to allow the full time for coagulation and check for a nice clean break before cutting.
You should utilize coagulation time by preparing the molds, cloth and draining area by sanitizing them all.
3. You need to cut the curd as soon as it has firmed well.
To cut the curd, you must cut it into walnut size pieces to maintain a higher moisture in the final cheese. It is very important to be gentle in the cut and stir it so you don’t break the curd further. Cut the curd vertically in both directions and then wait 5 minutes before the horizontal cutting. When stirring, it should be slow and gentle but just enough to keep the curds moving and separated for releasing the initial whey.
Stir the curd for another 10 minutes. Check the curds for excess moisture. You can raise the temperature to 102F if needed for the next 15 minutes of stirring. If you don’t need it, simply maintain the 98F temperature for the entire time.
The total stir time is 25 minutes.
To determine the final moisture, it will be a rather subjective decision and will depend on the milk quality, cook temperature and rate/time of stirring.
4. After removing around 40% of the whey, the curd will begin to show, this is when you can begin molding. Give the curds a nice gentle hand stir to discourage the matting in the vat.
Transfer the curd to the mold and pack it in lightly. The mold will need to be packed well above the top surface and you will have to wait as the whey drains to add more to get all of the curd into the mold.
5A. When you have fully transferred all the curd into the drain cloth and mold, the cloth can be neatly folded over the top. You should then flip the basket every 15 minutes and on the 2nd turn, it should be turned in the cloth and returned to the basket.
If the cheese is left at room temperature, you will need to warm it up otherwise it will begin to chill and bacteria cultures will slow and even stop and the fermentation of the curd will not be completed which will result in problems for the final cheese.
When the forms with the cheese are ready, place them on the draining rack and add enough hot water to maintain the temperature. 120F water tends to cool quickly to 100F and maintain this temperature.
Now cover the pot and hold the cheese here for at least 1 hour to 1.5 hours while the cheese finishes its lactose conversion to lactic acid. Check the cheese at 20-30 minute intervals to assure the temperature is correct and also turn the cheese in its form at the same time.
This will complete the lactose conversion and thus keep the cheese from any late acid development which will lead to a sour and crumbly cheese defect.
5B. Be sure to continue to turn the cheese in the basket form every 30 minutes while it is in the warm chamber. The cheese will be less sweet, the longer it stays warm.
After around 1 hour, remove the cloth and at around 1.5 hours, move the cheese to a room temperature draining area to let them gradually cool.
You can leave the cheese at room temperature until the evening which it should then be moved to a cool environment of 55-60F to prepare for the salt brine.
The cheese should be consolidated with a nice tight surface with an imprint of the basket molds.
There is no need for any pressing or press weight because of the high moisture and heating which had been done.
6. By the next morning, the cheese will be ready to brine.
You will need a saturated brine prepared for salting the cheese:
A simple brine formula is:
– 1 gallon of water
– 2.25 lbs of salt
– 1tbs. calcium chloride
– 1 tsp. white vinegar
– Bring the brine and cheese to 50-55°F before using.
You should now set the cheese in the brine for around 2 hours.
The cheese will float above the surface so please be sure to sprinkle a small amount of salt on top of the cheese surface. Flip the cheese halfway through the brine period and sprinkle some salt on the other surface too.
7. Wipe down the surface at the end of the brine period and place the cheese in the aging space at around 52-55F and 85-90% moisture. The high moisture is needed for good mold growth. The cheese needs to be turned and wiped daily. The wipe will be with a cloth which is dampened with a 6-8% strength brine to remove the mold, then air briefly before returning to the aging space.
The cheese will soften after about a week to 10 days as the high moisture encourages the enzymes to work on the protein structure.
At around 2 weeks to 2 months, the cheese will be ready to eat.
Cheesemaking: How To Make Butterkase
Recipe
What You Need
2 Gallons of Milk (Not Ultra Pasteurized)
1 Packet of C21 Buttermilk Culture
1 Packet of C201 Thermophilic Culture
1/64 tsp C70 Geotrichum Candidum
2.25 ml (just under 1/2 tsp) Liquid Rennet
Salt for Brine and Aging
Calcium Chloride (for pasteurized milk)
What To Do
1. The first step is to heat and acidify the milk. So let’s begin by heating the milk to 86F To do this, place the milk in a container and then place it in a large pot of very warm water. If you heat it on the stove, be sure to heat it slowly and stir it as it heats if you heat it on the stove.
After heating the milk, the two cultures can be added, plus the geotrichum. The powder can become very cakey and sink in clumps so to prevent this, sprinkle the culture over the surface of the milk and then let it sit for a couple of minutes. This allows the powder to re-hydrate before you stir it in. After stirring, let the milk sit for a further hour so that the culture can get to work.
During this time, the Thermophilic and Mesophilic bacteria will begin to awaken but will only do minimal acid production.
You should utilize ripening time by preparing the molds, cloth and draining area by sanitizing them all.
After the hour of ripening, heat the milk to 104F. After heating to 86F, any Mesophilic activity that has begun will slow down until it reaches 104F, then it will slowly die off within 15 minutes of begin at the higher temperature. The enzymes which will be left behind will prove beneficial during the aging period.
In the meantime, the Thermophilic will start to move in its more favorable temperature range and begin converting lactose to lactic acid.
2. You can now add about 2.25ml or slightly less than 1/2 tsp of single strength liquid rennet. The rennet needs to be added and mixed for one minute but not enough that the milk is agitated.
The milk needs to sit for around 25 minutes so that the culture can get to work and the rennet can begin to coagulate the curd. The time of coagulation here is very fast compared to other cheeses. This is due to the high temperature of the milk. The milk will begin to thicken after around 8 minutes
The texture of the curd will be quite similar to tofu due to the high temperature. Be sure to text the curd to be sure a good firm coagulation has taken place. You should have a clean break and the whey forming in the cut shouldn’t be too milk or too clear.
3. It is time to cut the curds and release the whey. The first cut should be vertical in both directions at about 2 inches. The curd should be left alone for about 5 minutes before the next cut. This will allow for the cuts to heal and release a minimal amount of fat into the whey.
After this, make a horizontal cut with a draining ladle or a spoon and continue to break the curd into about 5/8 inch pieces over the next 7-10 minutes. Be sure to keep the curd moving gently during this time to avoid clumping.
4. Because the milk was heated to quite a high temperature already, there is really no need to further heat the curds.
However, there are a few things we can do to vary the character of the final cheese:
Option 1- If you are looking for a slightly more acid profile cheese: We could let the curds rest for a short time (15-30 min) so that they can heal, release whey and then firm up. You should intermittently stir the curds for around 3-5 minutes to keep them from matting.
Option 2- If you are wanting a sweeter cheese: You can begin the process of whey removal and the replacement with the same temperature water. Lactose will be removed and the acid development will slow down by reducing the lactose supply for the culture.
You should do this by:
-Stirring the curds gently for 10 minutes
– Allow the curds to settle to the bottom
– Remove 50% of the whey
– Add the same amount of water back at 104-106°F
– Stir gently for 30 to 45 min
5A. It is time to transfer the final curds to the form. Begin by removing the whey again down to around 1 inch above the curd surface.
Transfer the curd along with the whey to your form, being sure to compact the form as you fill it up.
You can use 4-6lb of weight for about 1 hr to consolidate the curd. Be sure to remember that an open internal paste is expected for this cheese.
The cheese will be converting lactose to lactic acid so it is very important to keep the cheese warm at around 80-90F for the next 5-6 hours while the acid production is completed. Inside the cheese will remain warmer for several hours after cooling down the original curd temperature of 104F.
5B. The fresh cheese will need to be turned frequently at 30-minute intervals to close the surface openings during the first 3-4 hours. You should remove the cheese from the mold, unwrap, turn, rewrap and put the cheese back into the mold during the specified intervals to make sure there is an even surface consolidation. The cheese will have formed a smoother surface and rest lower in the mold after each turn.
After around 5-6 hours of molding the cheese, it will be ready to be un-molded, cooled overnight and transferred to a salt bath.
If the cheese is still leaking with whey, you need to let it sit a bit longer to develop its final acid. This is because the cheese will have cooled too much during the molding and acid development will have slowed.
6. A saturated brine will be needed for the salting process. Here is a simple brine formula:
– 1 gallon of water
– 2.25 lbs of salt
– 1tbs. calcium chloride
– 1 tsp. white vinegar
– Bring the brine and cheese to 50-55°F before using
You can now soak the cheese in brine for around 3-4 hours.
The temperature of the brine bath should be done at a cool temperature of 52-56F. Higher temperatures cause a faster salt intake and allow for certain molds to grow, this is why the brine is better at the cool temperature.
The cheese will float above the brine surface so be sure to sprinkle some salt on the top of the surface of the cheese.
When you flip the cheese, resalt the other surface half way through the brine period.
Wipe down the surface at the end of the brine bath. The surface might have darkened somewhat during this time but make sure no cracking has occurred. Dry the cheese at a temperature of around 52-56F and a moisture of around 65-75%.
7A. The cheese will now be ready for aging. You can now place the cheese into your aging space at around 52-56F and 90-95% moisture.
A minimum of 4-6 weeks should be given for ripening times but if you wish you ripen it longer, the cheese can develop more character that way.
You should turn the cheese at least once a day and during the first week, it will develop a yeast community on the surface. The surface will also become quite greasy due to the yeast. The acidity will decrease because of the yeast which will prepare it for a thin coat of geotrichum to grow. A small amount of rose-orange bacteria might also develop too.
7B. You should control the yeast by periodically washing the cheese in a light brine (1 Tbs. noniodized salt in 1 cup of water) every 3-4 days. Wipe the cheese surface if it seems dry between the washings. The cloth can be moistened with unsalted potable water.
Then dry for 1-2 hours but never let the surface darken or become completely dry. Return the cheese to a covered ripening tray to preserve the higher moisture in the cave. After around 10 days, there will be a thin powdery white growth, this is from the geotrichum that you initially added.
At around 3-4 weeks, the cheese can be washed for the last time. The cheese will be milder, the earlier this is done.
At around 4-6 weeks, the cheese will be ready to be consumed. However, if you are wanting a more complex cheese with a softer structure, it can be wrapped and moved to a cooler 40-42F aging space for extended aging. The moisture must be kept high enough to keep the surface from drying out.
Cheesemaking: How To Make Bleu d’Auvergne
It is not recommended to make this cheese unless you have made a few other kinds of cheese in the past for experience. The cheese needs to be around 4-5 lbs to develop a good blue.
However, if you are wanting a smaller version, you can change the scale down from 5 gallons to 2 gallons:
2 gallons of milk (Not UltraPasteurized)
1/16tsp MM100, 1/32tsp TA061, 1/16tsp P.roqueforti culture
Liquid Rennet (1/8tsp)
Colander and butter muslin to drain the curds
Small Cheese Mold (the curd may initially mound over the top but will settle with the lightweight suggested here)
For a 2 gallon recipe, I suggest a 4-5 lb. weight, only enough to settle the curds, not enough to consolidate them. For a 5 gallon batch, no weight is needed.
Salt non-iodized medium grain
Recipe
What You Need
5 Gallons of Milk (Not UltraPasteurized)
1/8tsp MM100
1/16tsp TA061
1/8tsp Penicillium Roqueforti
2 ml (just under 1/2 tsp) Liquid Rennet
Cheese Salt
Calcium Chloride (for pasteurized milk)
What To Do
1. The P.roqueforti needs to be rehydrated in 1/8 cup of boiled and cooled water before heating the milk.
The first step is to heat and acidify the milk. So let’s begin by heating the milk to 90F. To do this, place the milk in a container and then place it in a large pot of very warm water. If you heat it on the stove, be sure to heat it slowly and stir it as it heats if you heat it on the stove.
Once you are done heating the milk, all the cultures can be added, including the rehydrated mold. The powder can become very cakey and sink in clumps so to prevent this, sprinkle the culture over the surface of the milk and then let it sit for a couple of minutes. This allows the powder to re-hydrate before you stir it in. After stirring, let the milk sit for 60 minutes before adding the rennet.
2. Now, add 2ml of single strength liquid rennet.
Let the milk sit for 90 minutes while the culture works and the rennet coagulates the curd. The milk will begin to thicken in around 20 minutes but you need to wait the full 90 minutes until you see a good curd.
The thermal mass of the milk will keep it warm during the 30 minutes but it is fine if the temperature drops a few degrees during this time.
The coagulation is much longer than most cheeses because the extra time will allow for more moisture to be bound into the curd structure. This is what makes the cheese so creamy.
While the coagulation is taking place a draining area should be sanitized and prepared.
– For a small 2 lb. curd mass, this can be as simple as a large colander lined with cloth.
– For the larger cheese, I am making in the photos here, I use a large tray set at an angle to drain well and lined with draining cloth.
3. The next step is to separate the curds but retains as much moisture in the curds as we can while forming a good surface that will stop the curds from consolidating too much on molding. This will result in a lot of small openings between the curds for the blue mold to work its magic.
You initially cut the curd surface into large cubes to retain the final moisture of the cheese:
– Cut to 1/2-3/4″ then rest 5 min, the larger size will retain more moisture and provide larger openings internally for the finished cheese
– Stir intermittently over 20 mins, stirring just enough to firm the curd surface and keep the curds from consolidating
– Drain 20% of whey and then stir gently 10-15 min
– Repeat the 20% whey removal and gently stir for 10-15 min.
The stirring in step #2 is to keep the curds separate but not dry them out too much. Step #3 and #4 of whey draining and stirring are to firm the curd surfaces while maintaining the internal moisture. This is ‘Grain’ development which is very important for this cheese and can be one of the most challenging parts of this recipe.
The final curds should be plump and springy and you should examine them to make sure that the curds have a light skin on the surface and remain heavy when held in your hand. They should also not slump together excessively or be too firm throughout.
Once you have reached this point with the curds, don’t allow them to settle under the whey, but transfer them to a draining cloth.
4. When the curds have been transferred to the draining area, don’t allow the curds to the mat and consolidate after the final whey removal. Give them a gentle stir before transferring to avoid consolidating.
Allow the curds to drain for 10-20 minutes and stir gently while making sure that the whey drains well and the curds remain separated.
Small openings will be formed in the cheese body which are essential for the blue mold to develop and do its magic while aging, this is because the blue requires aerobic environment. Enzymes will be produced as it grows which will allow the proteins and fat to form, leaving the texture soft.
5a. The curd can now be moved to the molds. Initially, it will have a very open texture but the cheese will retain a good supply of lactose and as the bacteria continue to convert this lactic acid, the curds will shrink, release whey and begin to consolidate somewhat. The openings should be left throughout the cheese body.
There is no weight required on the large-scale cheese because the cheese weight will be enough to form a tight surface. You need to turn the cheese as soon as the curd begins to consolidate a bit (15-20 minutes) and then flip it every 30 minutes for 3-4 hours as the acid continues to develop. Be sure to keep the cheese at room temperature during this time.
To make sure that there is an even consolidation and whey drainage, turning is important. At each turn, you will notice that the cheese has formed smoother surface and rests lower in the mold.
5b. The cheese should be kept at room temperature until evening to allow the final acid to develop. Whey will continue to weep during this time.
Then move it to a cooler space for it to rest overnight. (Make sure the aging space is at 52-54F).
6. This blue cheese needs to be salted over a period of 4-5 days with dry salt. It will receive less salt than most of the other blue cheese which results in a slightly milder flavor in the finished cheese.
Weigh out 2.5% of the cheese weight in salt. The final weight of this recipe should approximately be 6.5lbs, therefore the salt required is 2.4oz by weight.
Salt by applying 30% of the salt to the top surface and spread it evenly to the edges and then rub as much as you can into the sides. The sides will get less salt but they will also get treated twice as much. Allow 8 hrs to form its own brine and be absorbed by the cheese. You can then let the cheese rest overnight and turn it the next morning and treat the other side the same as on the first day. On the third day, the remaining salt is split between the two surfaces and the surface will have become hardened by the salt extracting moisture at the surface.
The dry salt will form a brine and be absorbed by the cheese.
For the next week, the surface will soften as the salt penetrates the cheese and interior moisture migrates to the surface.
Be sure to turn the cheese daily and maintain a high moisture of 90-95% and temperature of 46-54F. During this period, the proteins will begin to transform.
7. In around 1 week, the initial protein changed of the cheese will be well underway meaning that it is time to punch holes to aerate the cheese for mold growth. There should be many small openings internally from the care preserving curd structure through the draining process. If there are not any openings, you will only see blue developing in the holes you punch. You can use a skewer to make these holes about 1 inch apart on both the top and bottom surface and extending about 2/3 the way into the cheese.
Once you have made the holes, you will need to turn the cheese daily to even out the air flow. You should see signs of blue mold growing internally and a bit on the surface after around 3 weeks.
If the surface remains too moist, you will see a rose to orange colored surface developing and if less moisture, a slight white drier surface mold will develop.
In a good aging space that is well controlled, the cheese can be stored on their edges for better air flow. You can turn them about a quarter turn every day.
The cheese will be ready in about 60-75 days depending on how you define ready.
It will take a lot of patience to get this cheese right but it will definitely be worth it.
Cheesemaking: How To Make Brick Cheese
Recipe
What You Need
4 Gallons of Milk (not ultra-pasteurized)
1/2 tsp MM100 or 1 Packet C21 Buttermilk Culture (30-40% less culture for raw milk)
1/16 tsp C10 Bacteria Linens
3/4 tsp (3.75ml) Liquid Rennet
Salt for Brine
Calcium Chloride (for pasteurized milk)
What To Do
1. The first step is to heat and acidify the milk. So let’s begin by heating the milk to 88F. To do this, place the milk in a container and then place it in a large pot of very warm water. If you heat it on the stove, be sure to heat it slowly and stir it as it heats if you heat it on the stove.
Once you are done heating the milk, you can add the culture and Bacteria Linens. The powder can become very cakey and sink in clumps so to prevent this, sprinkle the culture over the surface of the milk and then let it sit for a couple of minutes. This allows the powder to re-hydrate before you stir it in. After stirring, let the milk sit for 10 minutes. This is such a short ripening time because we need to have very slow acid development to produce a sweet cheese.
2. Now, add around 3/4 tsp of single strength liquid rennet.
Let the milk sit for 30 minutes while the culture works and the rennet coagulates the curd. The milk will begin to thicken in around 15 minutes but you need to wait the full 30 minutes until you see a good curd.
The thermal mass of the milk will keep it warm during the 30 minutes but it is fine if the temperature drops a few degrees during this time.
3. Now is time to cut the curds and release the whey. Start by cutting the curd into 3/4-1 inch squares, then allow it to sit for 2-3 minutes for the cuts to heal. The curd will still be very soft which will prepare it for a more even cut size.
For the second cut, cut the curd into 3/8 – 1/2 inch pieces as evenly as possible. Let it sit again for 5 minutes, being sure to give it a very gentle stir every minute or so to keep it from matting.
At this point, the curd will remain quite soft and will slump back into a single mass at this point, so gentle stirring is needed until it becomes a lot firmer.
The whey will also have begun to rise, so stir it for 10 minutes. During this time, the curd will begin to firm up.
4. This is the step to begin drying out the curds. You can do this by slowly increasing the heat from 88F to 100F over 45-60 minutes. The time is long to make sure the curd is very dry. Giving the curd a slow and consistent stir will keep the curds from breaking but at the same time, it will encourage the whey to be released.
5. This part is very important for slowing the acid production required for the sweet cheese body.
You need to allow the curds to settle and remove 25% of the original milk volume (1 gallon) as whey. This will deprive the bacteria of lactose while slowing the acid development).
Be sure to add back cool water at 65F immediately until the curd temperature drops to 85F.
Continue to stir until the curd is firm enough to mold. Make sure that the final curds are cooked well through and examine them to make sure that enough moisture has been removed. Broken curds should be firm throughout and when you press them between your fingers, there should be moderate resistance.
If there is too much moisture, the cheese will develop late acid and the texture will be pasty in the aging room. If there is too little moisture, the cheese won’t consolidate well or ripen correctly because of the lack of moisture for enzyme transport.
Let the curds settle under the whey and then remove the whey down to curd level again.
6. You can now transfer the curds to a sanitized mold which is sitting on a draining mat.
– They should be allowed to drain for 15 minutes with no weight.
– Then turn for the first time at 15 min.
– Turn again for the second time and add 5 lbs weight (2.5 qt water) for the traditional brick mold of 5″x10″ (50″sq). Our large cheese mold (M2) is about this same size.
Apply the weight for 2-3 hours and then let the cheese sit in the molds overnight with no weight applied. Be sure to turn the cheese again in the mold when removing the weight.
It is important you place a damp cloth over the cheese to prevent it from drying out. Try and keep the cheese between 70-75F during this time.
7. A saturated brine is needed for salting the cheese, here is a simple brining formula:
– 1 gallon of water
– 2.25 lbs of salt
– 1tbs. calcium chloride
– 1 tsp. white vinegar
– Bring the brine and cheese to 50-55°F before using.
The final weight of the cheese will be around 4.5lbs unless you have changed the ingredient measurements.
Set the cheese in the brine for around 10 hours (2.25 hrs per lb. of final cheese). The cheese will float above the surface, so sprinkle some salt on top of the surface of the cheese. Flip the cheese and re-salt the surface about half way through the brine period.
After brining, wipe the surface and let the cheese surface dry for several hours. The surface will darken slightly during this time.
8. When it comes to aging, you can do it two different ways:
– Stronger and more traditional aromatic cheese:
Keep the brick at 68-70F and 90-95% moisture. Wash and rub it daily with light brine for 7-10 days. After this time, it should have developed good bacterial growth on the surface and should be turned for the next 7-10 days. Once those 7-10 days, wrap the cheese and store at 42F until it is ready. 2-3 months being the total ripening time.
– Milder and less pungent version
For this brick, keep it at 55F and 90-95% humidity for 2 days and wash it daily. After those 2 days, dry the cheese and wrap it and move it to cold storage.
Note: The light washing brine can be made up with about 1-2 tbs. salt to 1 cup of cool water. Begin with the lower dose and if other molds become a problem, increase the salt.
Making Cultured Butter
These days, homemade butter made straight from your kitchen is a lot better than store-bought butter. This recipe will show you exactly how to make delicious cultured butter.
All you really need is cream and a jar. You can make it in a blender or a mixer using ripened cream, it is as simple as that. Just pour the cream in, hit the mix button and wait until you hear the “chugging” sound.
Start with having your cream at 50-60F to make butter. If it is too warm, the butter will be too soft and will be more difficult to rinse and knead later on. If it is too cold, the fat will have difficulty consolidating.
Recipe
What You Need
2-4 Pints of Good Quality Cream
1 Packet C21 Buttermilk Culture (Optional)
Salt (Optional)
What To Do
1. The basic rule for selecting your cream is the better the cream tastes, the higher quality your butter will be. Heavy cream is 60% milk solids and water, and 40% butterfat.
The cream from Jersey cows always produces the best butter because of its higher fat content milk. Their fat is dispersed in larger globules than milk from other types of cows, it also tends to churn into butter a lot easier. The pastured cows eat plants with higher beta-carotene which makes the cream deep ivory to gold in color because the beta-carotene colors the cream more than grain.
– Fresh Sweet Cream: The best cream for butter is non-ultra pasteurized, high butterfat content (36-40%), organic, and from pastured cows. Jersey cream makes churning faster, due to the larger butterfat globules.
If you are just using ingredients bought from a grocery store, you are probably starting off with better ingredients than the average butter. However, if you can find non-ultra heat treated cream from pastured cows, this will improve the flavor a lot more.
The hardest part of making good butter surrounds entirely around the cream. Most of the cream sold in the US is ultra heat treated (UHT).
Vat pasteurized cream is the best-pasteurized cream. It is heated only to 165F for 30 minutes. The only downside of this is that vat pasteurized cream is harder and harder to find.
2. To culture your pasteurized cream, you simply need to add a packet of C21 Buttermilk Culture to a quart of cream (simply adjust according to different sizes used). Butter cultures are “Mesophilic”, this means that the bacteria thrive in moderate temperatures. “Thermophilic” yogurt cultures require higher temperatures so they are not as effective here.
Bring the cream to 68-70F (It is important to not let the cream fall below 68F or go above 78F). Now add the culture and keep it covered and warm for 6-12 hours. The time depends on how much character you want to see in your butter. Basically, let your taste buds be your guide.
Once the cream has ripened, it should be a lot thicker and have developed an aroma. The taste should be delicious, with sour notes and it should have no aftertaste. Throw the cream away is it smells “bad”, or if the cream is bubbly and gassy. The reasons this might have happened because:
– The area where you are making the butter isn’t completely sanitized.
– The milk was exposed to bad bacteria.
– The cream was stored near items in the refrigerator that give off an odor which is not welcome in butter (onions, garlic, etc).
3. Now is time to separate the butter. Begin by warming the cream to 50-60F.
Using a jar, fill up the jar 25-50% full of cream. The more cream you have in the jar, the longer it will take to form butter because there will be less movement of the cream and movement is what makes the butter.
Now, using a blender, mixer or food processor, fill it to around 25-40% full as it will get messy otherwise. Turn it on at a moderate speed and watch the cream change to a thick texture and then begin to separate.
It won’t take too long, only between 10-20 minutes, depending on the cream, temperature and how long you let it ripen, also the type of “churn”.
The sound of the moving cream will begin to change as the cream turns from liquid to whipped cream. Eventually, you will notice that it will “break” as the butter separates from the buttermilk. The color will also start to turn more yellow as the butter comes together. It will also begin clumping.
4. This step is very important because it keeps the butter fresh. The final butter might have some lactose and milk proteins remaining in the liquid. If you allow it to ferment, the butter can become very rancid in a short period of time. Washing and folding are what removes most of this. Cultured butter generally lasts longer because the lactose has been mostly fermented out to lactic acid.
Pour the liquid off and move the butter to a bowl when the butter begins clumping well.
Also, add some fresh, cool water and rinse the butter by pressing and folding in the bowl, you can do this two or three times until the water is basically clear.
5. Pour off the final rinse water and continue to knead with a spoon until it forms a nice ball. You will notice that water is working out of the butter as you knead it, keep draining this off as you form the butter into a ball. Put the butter in the fridge to harden a bit, if the butter is too soft.
If you desire, you can add salt to your butter during the final kneading. More liquid will come off if you do.
6. You can now press the butter into any form that you want or you can roll it into a ball and wrap or press into a special butter mold for aesthetics.
Don’t forget to taste some for yourself, though!
7. To store your butter, simply refrigerate it or for larger batches, you can freeze all of the butter that exceeds the supply of a few days.
Don’t worry, freezing butter will not harm it because butterfat crystalizes at about 60F, so taking it from 5F in a refrigerator down to -20F in the freezer, will not change its texture.
Cheesemaking: How To Make Belper Knolle Cheese
Recipe
What You Need
1 Gallon of Milk (Not UltraPasteurized)
1 Packet C20G Chevre Culture
1/2 tsp Pink Himalayan Salt or Cheese Salt
2-3 Garlic Cloves
1.5-2 Tbs Toasted Black Peppercorns
1/4 tsp Calcium Chloride (for pasteurized milk)
What To Do
1. If you are using pasteurized milk, add about 1/8-1/4 tsp of Calcium Chloride at this point. The first step is to heat and acidify the milk. So let’s begin by heating the milk to 86F. To do this, place the milk in a container and then place it in a large pot of very warm water. If you heat it on the stove, be sure to heat it slowly and stir it as it heats if you heat it on the stove.
Once you are done heating the milk, you can add the culture. The powder can become very cakey and sink in clumps so to prevent this, sprinkle the culture over the surface of the milk and then let it sit for a couple of minutes. This allows the powder to re-hydrate before you stir it in. After stirring, let the milk sit for a further 30 minutes so that the culture can get to work.
2. Now you just need to let the milk sit at room temperature for 12-14 hours. The temperature is bound to drop during this time. If you are making this recipe in the winter, it is best to keep the pot covered with towels or a blanket to keep it from getting cool. The best time to make this recipe is in the evening because the curds will be ready to drain in the morning and can be draining whilst you’re busy at work or doing other things.
The milk sugar is converted into lactic acid while the bacteria in the culture works. This increases the acidity of the milk and eventually causes the milk to form the curd.
The rennet also helps coagulate the milk. The milk will thicken into a gel-like texture after a few hours but really needs more time to become properly firm. The finished curd will begin to show whey rising to the surface.
3. The next task is to separate the whey and curds.
To begin, line the sanitized colander with the cheesecloth in preparation for draining. If you want to save the whey for cooking or other things, just drain it all into another pot.
The curds are now ready to be transferred to the draining cloth.
Once the curds drain for a short time, the cloth can be gathered, tied securely and hung for the final drainage. You can do this overnight or for several hours, depending on how dry you want the final cheese to be.
4. Now is the time to add the salt and garlic. Once the curd has fully dried, you can blend the salt and garlic into the curds.
Use around 2-3 cloves of garlic chopped into small pieces. Now add them to a mortar along with 1.5 tsp of the Himalayan pink salt, then crush them with the pestle making a uniform paste.
The drained curds will look like dough.
Transfer the curd to a bowl along with the salt/garlic paste, then begin mashing the curds and paste uniformly using a large spoon. Now allow this to sit as you prepare the black pepper coating.
5. Grind the toasted peppercorns to a medium-fine size. Spread them out evenly on a cookie sheet or your counter if you don’t mind making a mess.
6. Once everything is blended and mashed, you can take a small handful of the cheese and form it into a ball like a snowball.
The one-gallon batch should make around 5-6 balls which are slightly larger than golf ball sized cheeses. All you have to do is roll the cheese around in the ground pepper surface that you have prepared.
The cheese will still be tender due to high moisture, so handle it carefully as you transfer it to the drying mat.
7. You can now dry the cheese out before it is placed into the cave. This can be one by placing it in a room at about 50-60F and a moisture of 65-70% moisture. A fan can also be set at a low/medium speed to increase the rate of moisture released.
The reason for all this is to produce a firm, dry crust. This will become a lighter color as it dries. The pepper coating will keep the surface free of mold.
8. Aging can now finally begin. The cheese can go to the cave with about 52-56F temperature and 75-80% moisture. The higher moisture helps the aging of the cheese as it continues to dry to the center and achieve a uniform moisture that will be perfect for use as thin shavings.
The final cheese will be ready in 4-6 weeks but will continue to improve in flavor for a few months.
Cheesemaking: How To Make Alpine Tomme
This recipe will be made with 2 gallons of milk. However, if you want to make a 4-gallon batch it can be a lot better because it seems larger formats ripen a lot easier. The smaller batch size can be easier for home cheese makers.
Recipe
