Mountain Dairy Cheese

[quambie]

Mountain Dairy Cheese

Use 10 litters of NONPasturised separated Milk on a direct heat bring the milk to 98.6 Farrenhight {Udder warm}
stir the milk when heating it to get a even heat throughout the milk, keep this temperature throughout the process.
when The milk is at temperature add 2.5 Mills of Rennet mixed with three to four times its amount of cooled boiled water ,In the old days they would have used a lot more Rennet but the quality is a lot better now .
pore the rennet into the milk taking care to mix it all over the top of the milk this should be done as soon as possible so the rennet dose not deteriorate.
Mix the rennet into the milk gently for about two minutes no longer than Three minutes using an up and down movement with the Wisk so the bottom of the milk is all mixed in

Cover with a lid so the surface stays warm Leave the milk to curdle about one hour

The whey should now be ready if it is a yellow and transparent you can try and cut the curds now if they break in a straight and smooth line you are ready to go onto the next stage

Break up the curds with a long knife into uniform bits about 13 mill in size first horizontally then vertically .

After breaking up the curds you can now start to stir the curds Slowly and any larger lumps should be broken up to the size the rest are Keep on stirring for 15 minuets and then remove the curds from the heat
/stove top

Line a cheese mould with cheese cloth that is warm being dipped into the warm whey and place the curds into the mould

when the mould is full fold the cloth over the cheese as flat as you can or it will leave marks on the cheese
Press out with your hands as much of the whey as possible you may be able to get extra curds into the mould if you have any then a weight may be put on the top of the mould I use eight pounds of weight about 3.0 KG .

After one hour you should be able to turn the cheese upside down if it cracks when you try to turn it leave it in the mould for a while longer then turn it putting the weights back on top leave the cheese in the mould with the weights on it until the next day Wrap the cheese in a cloth and keep it warmish for the first day then turn it each day without the cloth keeping the cheese at room temperature make sure that the cheese is always dry when the cheese is dry it cant be infected with any harmful bacteria when the cheese is Dry it can be kept in a kitchen cupboard Turn it once a week More often in the first few days keep it for un to SIX [6] weeks If a bit of mould appears it can be washed off with a little salt water READY TO EAT you should get about one KG of cheese form this amount of milk

a very fast cheese it is one of the only cheeses that are only heated once it has a higher whey content that's why it matures quickly
Good luck
Quambie

[minnie]

Hi Trevor,

Did you use full cream milk for this recipe?

I'll certainly try it when I get a day to make cheese, that's for sure!

Thanks

Vicki

[quambie]

HI Viki
Sorry for that I should have stated that it was only separated milk they used back then all the cream was used for Butter and Mascarpone I would have thought
Trevor

[Heidi]

Hi,
I gave this recipe a go last night. So far it seems like it has worked, although I didn't use separated milk, and my yield was a lot higher than 1kg. I'll let you know how it goes in a couple of months. Will be storing it in a cheese cave once its dried though, not in the cupboard.
H.

[minnie]

Hi Heidi,

Looking forward to hearing... and making cheese once we've moved and settled.

Vicki

[Mojojo]

Is it not salted at all? Or did I miss something

[Heidi]

The recipe didn't call for salt, but I did put it in a brine solution before drying it on the bench. Its been moved to the cheese cave. Having not made a hard cheese before I really have no idea if its going to work out, or even what it should look like if it is working out! On the bright side, I wrapped my first four camemberts today and put another four in!
H

[minnie]

I'd do salt, or put in brine... salt does make a difference I think.

Oh Camembert...

Vicki

[Heidi]

Getting quite distrustful of my Mountain Dairy Cheese. I had to get some pretty bad looking mould off it today. Thinking of persevering with it for another couple of months, but not sure if I'm going to be brave enough to try it. My husband has the caste iron gut of an old Billy Goat, so he may be the one who tests it.
H.

[sunhilltas]

What colour was the mould Heidi? Was it spread out over the cheese or just small spores?
Corinne

[sunhilltas]

Also how does it smell?

[Glyn]

Hi Heidi,
Thanks to your O ring I now have lovely white separated fluffy milk so I thought I'd try the MD cheese. Not only does it not have salt but no added culture which is a bit odd, that means that it will develop with its own bacteria which is a bit hit and miss for a hard cheese. I made it, but put in both mesophillic and salt.

I have been making hard cheeses for a couple of years off and on - once I got past the frustrating "junket" failures I tried a few other avenues. I found that the washed curd cheeses like colby and gouda had less chance of 'going off' - I think its getting the whey out that improves the keeping quality long enough for it to flavor. Cheddar for all the extra work tasted pretty much the same but took longer to ripen. I found that even with all the salt rubbing I still got lots of unpleasant molds and the rinds were hard and cracked. Eventually I tried waxing my cheeses- looks fantastic and they certainly stayed nice and moist and very few developed nasty molds but the bits of wax that infiltrate the house drove me mad. I think they escape and scatter everywhere in that feverish heady moment when you discover that you have finally made a good looking cheese that tastes great and has the right texture. By the time you come to, your home is infested with red wax you've trodden into the floor,fridge, carpet, plates, glasses sink ....
Then I ran out of cheese fridge space - 2-3 months of storing cheese takes a lot of space. I started making feta and storing under oil (Not olive) in the pantry and found if you reduce the salt it ages to quite a nice tasty cheese for cooking.(Also discovered that if you keep it in brine in the fridge until its semi soft then dry and put under oil you get lovely firm on outside soft creamy inside lumps).

I make a Farmers Cheese which is a simple hard, quick ripening cheese and so I started storing that under oil once it was properly dried and so far so good. These are not top quality cheeses - these are the everyday cheeses for sandwiches and cooking but we enjoy them on crackers and with a plow-mans.
Anna's Cheese using a white mould covering also works very well, as it definitely didn't let any other mould get a look in and the white mould looks and tastes great. I just feel if I had started making these first rather than the classics I would have had edible cheese and confidence far sooner. Once I have mastered these and learned what changes have what effect I'll step up to the classics.

Having said that I have a Colby on the go this morning - lets see if i can stick to the recipe!
Glyn

[Heidi]

Hi All,
Let's see, the mould in one part was a lovely fluffy white one (possibly off the camembert which is stored, sealed, but in the same fridge) and the other mould was a very nice shade of red. The cheese also feels very slimy, probably due to the fact that it would still have a fair bit of whey in it, and has a distinctly unpleasant odour about it (like off cheese????!!!).

I am thinking that I will stick to camembert and edam for a while. Glyn, what farmhouse cheese do you make? I'm thinking of doing Anna's cheese though, because it seems like it would be stored well with the camembert in that they require the same mould, (I like that type of mould! Velvety soft!!!)although the measurements are a bit confusing for me since I'm not using cheeselinks cultures.

Also, your description of wax infiltrating my house had my laughing... I just KNOW that is what would happen to me as well, that is of course, after I burnt myself with the hot wax, then spilled in on the floor! So glad the Oring was the right one, I was hoping you weren't going to be disappointed (I know that feeling when something arrives that you hope is going to solve a problem, and it just creates another one!).

Bye for now,
H.

[Heidi]

Euthanased the Mountain Dairy Cheese today. It was too foul smelling to be any good. When I did cut it open, it had holes all through, either from gas production, or the curds had not knit together in the first place. I did have a very tentative taste of a tiny bit, and it was off, extremely and violent yucky! Anyway, chooks loved it!
Bye for now,
H

[Shadowgirlau]

Sorry to hear about your cheese. That must have been very frustrating ( I would have been so so dis appointed and frustrated myself)

Kathleen

[Heidi]

Somewhat disappointed, but have my Edam and Camemberts to console myself with! Its all a learning experience anyway!
H

[minnie]

Hi Heidi,

Sorry about the cheese, I always think about what I learnt from the ones that don't turn out.

Hope the Edam and Camemberts go well, it's good camembert weather that's for sure, not like our last two lots and it turned 40 degrees!

Vicki