Semi-soft cheese with white cover

[minnie]

This recipe came from Anna (from Sweden in the UK Dexter Forum) who translated from a Danish book by Ingrid Dam.
Parenthesises are her comments.

She has this as her everyday cheese for sandwiches etc.

Semi-soft cheese with white cover

- 5 litres milk
- 15 ml rennet (This is the weak kind of rennet bought in the drug store. If using professional rennet dose as you use to, maybe a little less than for hard cheese)
- starter culture (I use 30 ml sourmilk (mesophilic [Type B cheeselinks]) or 15 ml sourmilk + 15 ml yoghurt)
- white mold (I usually use a piece of camembert from the store)

A good way to prevent unwanted mold growth on the surface of a cheese is to give it a white mold cover. White mold appreciate a relatively acid environment. This cheese has a mild and slightly acid (don´t know if you say acid about cheese) taste.

Heat the milk to 30° C. Add the starter culture and the mold culture. You can use a small piece from a brie or camembert that you like. Wrap the piece of cheese in a sterilized cheese cloth and use your fingers to squeeze the cheese through the cloth and down in the milk. Keep temperature at 30° C for 2 hours.

Add the rennet. When the curd gives a clean break, after appr 20 minutes, cut it in 1 cm cubes (1/4 inch) with a long knife. Stir gently after 10 minutes. Stir with regular intervals and keep temperature at 30 degrees.

After 1 hour and 15 minutes raise the temperature to 35° C and keep it until the curds are equally firm (about 5 - 15 min). Pour the whey away and place the curds in a mold (I use a small colander for this cheese, gives it a nice ufo shape but a square mold works well too). Press lightly (with your hands only) and cover with a towel to keep the warmth for some time. When the cheese can retain its shape, turn it over (doesn´t take long).

Turn the cheese over several times and after 24 hours remove it from the mold and rub it with salt.

Let it mature in the refrigerator (6 - 9° C) in a plastic container to prevent it from drying. In the container the cheese must rest on a cheese mat, so that air can circulate (if it gets wet in the container wipe up the water). Turn the cheese over every day. In 4-5 weeks it is matured.

Here's a photo of Anna's cheese http://i423.photobucket.com/albums/pp31 ... cheese.jpg

[Mojojo]

That sounds interesting, like a camembert but a little different in the method. Wonder what heating it up in the middle there does.
Lovely photo. I swear I could almost taste it, a thick wedge on a piece of crusty bread with a little relish of some sort. *drooling*

I like the idea of using another cheese for culture (the white mould in this case). We are planning to do that with our next batch, culture a blue from a small piece of blue mould from a french one that we love (St Agur).
The cheese course lady was a bit horrified at this idea, but its good to see someone else doing the same thing.

[Glyn]

Oh WOW -This is great! I made Anna's cheese the day it was posted - 20 March and it grew a lovely soft mould & looked beautiful .As we are going away next week we decided to try it now after only 3.5 weeks and it is lovely. Mine came out with as much flavor as a cheddar inside yet with a nice soft rind and a Camembert hint. I moulded it in a cheese press without much pressure and it held it's shape well, texture that of cheddar. This is a really quick and simple way to make a tasty cheese - wonder how long it would keep?
Glyn

[minnie]

Hi Glyn,

Fantastic, I'm sooo dying to try making this cheese. Anna said it's her staple one that she uses daily for sandwiches etc...

BTW I keep forgetting to say, me who doesn't like yoghurt, yours was lovely... thank you.

Vicki

[dggoatlover]

Wow sounds great - might have to give thisone a try. Hope it works just as good with goats milk!

[minnie]

Hi Desley,

It should as Anna makes it with Dexter milk, and dexter milk has smaller fat globules than other breeds of cows milk... which I think Goat's have small fat globules too??

Vicki

[Heidi]

Hi,
When you use "sourmilk" do you just mean raw milk that has been left out to sour, and do you mean just ordinary natural yogurt?
Thanks,
H

[Glyn]

Thanks Vicki,
I must admit I 'cheat' a bit with my yogurt - I make a weeks worth and drain it for a bit then stick-blend it to get an even consistency that doesn't separate out, seems to last better . If the yogurt is mild it ends up like a low fat cream substitute.
How is the house progressing? Any nibbles yet? & When do you start shifting things across? Thank goodness our selling, buying and moving days are behind us- 5 in 5 years finally curbed the habit, but our thoughts are with you.Looking forward to you settling so we can come visit.

Hi Heidi,
I just used the mesophillic culture from Cheeselinks. Mesophillic bacteria are found in naturally soured milk along with others, but its not always as repeatable as each cow and dairy has its own collection of bacteria.Give it a go- it may be a bit different but could be just as good. I also used the Camembert mold from Cheeselinks for repeatability, but have previously used a piece of shop bought cheese for making Camembert and it turned out OK.
Glyn

[minnie]

Hi Glyn,

Getting there, and yes there's some nibbles... we almost had people looking last week on the day the floor was ripped up but the place they saw before here they put in an offer on and it was accepted... seems the market is really moving.

Someone I know, but not that well tried to buy another place up here so wants to look as she's wanting to buy here.

The place is coming up pretty well so we're really happy about that, it's not a 'dogs breakfast' as you saw it.

Looking so forward to the juggle being over and ensconced in the new home.

Vicki

[Shadowgirlau]

Sounds very positive for you Vicki.

The yoghurt sounds lovely Glyn. I haven't made yoghurt in ages and only Thursday when looking through my recipes did I start thinking about making that again along with a few other items that have been missing from my repertoire shall we say.

Kathleen