Making Artisan Cheese (31 page)

PROCEDURE

Warm milk to 72°F (22°C). Add starter to the milk and mix well. Let rest for 20 minutes, maintaining target temperature. Stir in calcium chloride and let rest for 5 minutes. Stir in
Geotrichum candidium
and
Penicillium candidum
. Add the diluted rennet, and stir for 2 minutes. Cover, and keep milk mixture at target temperature; curds will form in eighteen to twenty hours, though it may take up to twenty-four hours for the curds to set.

Check curds for a clean break, and ladle the curds into the Crottin molds, making sure that they are steady as you fill them. Continue to fill the molds as the whey drains off and the curds settle to the bottom. Let the curds drain for twenty-four hours, or until they pull away from the sides of the molds. Place cheeses into the ripening box and store in the ripening cave at 58°F (14°C) at 85 percent humidity. Remove cheeses from the box every other day to remove any excess moisture, and to turn the rounds. They should bloom within two weeks. Continue to ripen to desired flavor.

Yield: 1 pound (450 g)

Crottin, a creamy cheese with an edible rind, is shaped into petite rounds, from which it derives its name, which translates as “little dropping.” The Crottins pictured above are commercially made; homemade wheels will be larger, and less uniformly shaped.

Muenster

The question that often comes up with washed-rind cheeses is, “How can something that smells like that be edible?” Perhaps the question ought to be, “How can something that smells like that taste so good?” Washed-rind cheeses are infamous for their unique aroma, but they represent some of the true gems in the cheese world. Muenster comes from the Alsace region of France, an area with strong German influences.

INGREDIENTS

2 gallons (7.2 L) whole milk

16 tablespoons (240 ml) prepared mesophilic mother culture, or ¼ teaspoon (about 2 ml) mesophilic direct-set culture

½ teaspoon (about 3 ml) liquid rennet, or ½ tablet dry rennet diluted in ¼ cup (60 ml) cool water

Brine solution (see
page 86
)

½ teaspoon (about 3 g)
B. linens
diluted in cool water

TECHNIQUES

For illustrated steps and tools, see Advanced Cheese-Making Techniques,
page 146
.

PROCEDURE

Heat the milk to 90°F (33°C), then stir in the starter culture. Mix, and let rest at the target temperature for fifteen minutes. Add the rennet, and stir for one minute. Cover, and let the milk rest at the target temperature for forty minutes, or until you get a clean break (see
page 83
).

Insert a curd knife, and make one cut through the curds to test for a clean break. Once you have a clean break, cut the curds into ⅜" (1 cm) cubes, and let them rest at the target temperature for five minutes.

Gradually increase the curd temperature to 100°F (38°C) over thirty minutes, stirring to keep the curds from matting. Hold the 100°F (38°C) target temperature for an additional thirty minutes, again stirring to keep the curds from matting. Let the curds rest for five minutes at the target temperature.

Drain off the whey to the level of the curds with a sterilized measuring cup. Ladle the curds into sterilized camembert molds, and place the molds on top of cheese mats. Allow the curds to drain for thirty minutes at room temperature, then flip the molds and mats into a large catch bowl.

Muenster by Any Other Name

In spite of its German name, true Muenster was first developed in the 600s in a monastery in the French region Alsace, bordering Germany. The cheese makers were either Irish or Italian monks—history is unclear. The flavor profile of Muenster runs the gamut of mild when young, to quite strong when well aged. However, the Muenster cheese that is made in the U.S. (and that many everyday cheese consumers are familiar with) is a relatively bland cheese, and has no real resemblance to the robust version known in Europe. No one is quite sure how the “true” Muenster lost its kick while crossing the pond.

Repeat this process every twenty minutes for five turns, then let the cheese stay out of refrigeration for twelve hours on a cheese-drying mat.

Remove the cheese from the molds, and soak it in the brine solution in the refrigerator for twelve hours at 50°F (10°C). Be sure to flip the cheese in the brine to ensure an even coating. After twelve hours, remove the cheese from the brine, and pat dry with a towel.

Put the hydrated
B. linens
in a spray bottle, and using the finest mist setting possible, lightly coat the cheeses. Place the cheese in your ripening box, and store at 60°F (16°C) at 95 percent humidity for two weeks. Wipe down the cheeses with a clean cloth dipped in brine solution every other day. This will encourage the even distribution of
B. linens
throughout the cheese. After two weeks, remove the cheese from the ripening box, and allow it to air-dry at 50°F (10°C) at 95 percent humidity in the refrigerator or ripening cave. Ripen for six weeks, turning daily. Every third day, wipe the cheese down with a damp cloth soaked in brine solution.

Yield: 2 pounds (950 g)

A variation on this cheese is to wash the outside of the cheese with a sweet Gewurztraminer wine instead of the brine solution.

CHAPTER SIX
Butter and Ghee

No discussion of cheese would be complete without the mention of butter. Most people have a love affair with butter, and in a world of hydrogenated oils and fake fats, what could be better than indulging in making your own? There are several types of butter; the two most common types are sweet cream butter and cultured butter.

Once you’ve made your own fresh, sweet butter, you’ll never go back to the store for this simple luxury.

Cultured Butter

Virtually all butter in North America falls under the category of sweet creamed butter. With this type of butter, fresh cream is beaten to remove moisture. Cultured butter is regular butter with mesophilic culture added to it to for additional flavor. This culture provides for a butter that is rich with a full, slightly tangy flavor.

INGREDIENTS

1 quart (0.9 L) heavy cream or whipping cream

2 tablespoons (28 g) of yogurt

1 quart (0.9 L) ice water

Salt

TOOLS

Double boiler

Food processor

Potato masher, or two forks

PROCEDURE

Heat cream to 120°F (49°C) in a double boiler. Stir in the yogurt; cover. Let cream ripen for six hours, making sure the temperature does not drop below 105°F (41°C). Refrigerate overnight.

Heat mixture to 6°F (16°C), and pour it into a food processor, filling less than half way to allow for foaming. Process at high speed. The cream will foam and become more viscous, forming a smooth, then rippled, ring around the blade. When the ring collapses into a slushy mixture of butter particles and buttermilk, stop the machine.

Remove the cover. You will see granules of yellow butter in the white buttermilk. If the mixture appears primarily white, run the processor for a few seconds, until you see real yellow.

Drain off the buttermilk, and add strained ice water in equal volume to the buttermilk removed. Replace the cover, and process for one minute. Drain off the water using a sterilized measuring cup.

If the ice water was cold enough, your butter should be firm, not sticky or greasy. Scrape mixture into a clean, chilled bowl. Using a potato masher or two forks, knead the butter to remove as much water as possible. When no more water can be poured off, salt to taste, and enjoy.

Yield: 1 pound (450 g)

Ghee

Ghee is also known as drawn butter or clarified butter. It is essentially butter with all of the milk solids removed. This makes it ideal for sautéing, because it can stand higher temperatures without burning. Although ghee is typically used in Indian cooking, it has many everyday uses around the kitchen.

Clarified butter, also called ghee in Indian cooking, is ideal for a dipping sauce, and because it has the milk solids removed, it is more heat tolerant than butter.

INGREDIENTS

8 tablespoons (112 g) butter

TOOLS

Heavy-bottomed stainless-steel sauce pan

Skimmer

Colander

Butter muslin

TECHNIQUES

For illustrated steps, see Techniques for Making Fresh, Soft Cheeses, on
page 48
.

PROCEDURE

Melt the butter over low heat in a heavy-bottomed saucepan. Allow it to foam for four minutes, then remove it from the heat.

Let the butter cool for several minutes. You will notice that the milk solids settle to the bottom of the pan and the butterfat stays on the surface. Use a skimmer to remove the butterfat from the surface, and then pour the liquid through a colander double-lined with butter muslin. Refrigerate when completed.

Ghee can be stored in the refrigerator in an earthenware container, and will stay fresh for about one month.

Yield: 8 tablespoons (112 g)