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Hi Tom,
I notice that you have replied to a lot of posts on this forum recently, which I really appreciate. To make things a little less confusing, Curd Nerd has had a massive revamp in the last few months. One of the main things we are working on is getting this forum running and more active, which lacked in the past and takes some time. Hopefully in the next couple of months it will kick off a bit more. We are also working on some new cheese recipes and troubleshooting posts, which will be posted quite soon. In the meantime if you have any suggestions for new material, please let us know 🙂
Alexa
Curd NerdHi Ken,
You will need to convert the measurements as it is all in metric. I have conversions planned for the future, but for now maybe this link will help
http://convert.french-property.co.uk/Alexa – Curd Nerd
Hi Ryan,
Welcome to the Curd Nerd forum! It is great to hear of your instant love for cheese making, and even better that you made a fantastic cheese on your first attempt…well done 🙂
Making your own cheese can very quickly become a life long hobby.To put it simply, Queso Fresco and Queso Blanco are pretty much the same cheese when it comes to appearance, texture and taste.
The difference – Fresco is made with either rennet or a starter, and Blanco is made with an acid.
So from your description it sounds like you made Queso Blanco.The other difference between the two is that Fresco melts very easily. Blanco doesn’t, which makes it a great cheese for frying so I’m told, though I haven’t tried frying mine before. Maybe something to try in the future.
Ps. there are no stupid questions when it comes to cheese making, there are so many variables and all sorts of questions pop up all the time
Keep going with the cheese making and keep the community updated, we love hearing what people are up toAlexa
Hi Ryan,
How is your cheese going?
Considering that you are back 13c/70% I wouldn’t imagine that too much damage had been done. You will need to judge it based on how much unwanted mould has grown. If it is only a little it should be okay, although it may alter the taste of your cheese if left for a while.
If you haven’t already, I would firstly try and wipe off the mould how you normally would, with a clean cloth dampened in brine. If that doesn’t do the trick, then you can try a more risky method. You could cut away the areas affected with unwanted mould. This method is temperamental…sometimes the cheese recovers and sometimes it doesn’t. Your decision to do this will need to be judged on how affected the cheese is. If you try the cutting method, I would recommend salting the cut areas and letting it dry before putting it back in your wine fridge.
Basically, you will want to try and remove as much of the unwanted mould as you can, and if you achieve this then your cheese should turn out as normal.
Hope this helps.
Hi Jessigo,
If your curd is disintegrating it could be a couple of things. Firstly, check that your rennet is still viable. If it is then you may need to increase the amount of rennet slightly. Secondly, how are you incorporating the rennet? It needs to be mixed in gently (up and down, back and forth motions) rather than stirred or whisked. Also make sure that the rennet is incorporated very well…if it is not mixed in properly this can cause the disintegration of your curd.
Hope this helpsThanks for your feedback.
The login area is something that I am working through with our techy to improve. I agree, it’s definitely not that obvious where it hides, especially if you haven’t used the forum before.
Will update here when it is fixed.
Some great looking blues here!
Lycheese, I would personally give this a salt wash if it were mine. There’s just a few spots there that look like they could head in the wrong direction so better to err on the side of caution. It certainly won’t hurt it.
Hi John
Thanks for posting this. It will be very helpful to other cheese makers in Australia.
I may start a sticky (post that stays at the top) with links to suppliers so they are easy to find for others.
Hi Tony
As Pete says, let us know more about your cheese making process and we can do our best to guide you towards a better curd for next time.
: )
If you are wanting to store your Halloumi over a longer period, you need to store it in a brine solution that will raise the salt content, normally applied to Halloumi.
For longer storage in the fridge, pack your Halloumi in jars and pour over a 8-10% brine solution. This should enable you to store your cheese for up to 4-5 months if the solution is right.
There are two points during the cheddar make that are most important in terms of reaching the right pH range. At draining (whey from curd) and at the point of salting.
User6244, your range was quite high for best results in a cheddar. You want your curd at 6.0-6.2 tops when draining. And you want it down to around 5.4 at the time of salting.
Did you record your process and your ranges for this make? It would be great to track how the cheese turns out, with the pH ranges you had so you can also see the difference in your next make with the new ranges.
Hi Elaine
What recipe are you following?
My thoughts would be to ask if the temperatures when waiting for the curd set were in range? You should have seen a set within an hour so I would assume you never got it to set. Unfortunately, adding more rennet won’t help once you’ve got a thickened milk as it’s too hard to distribute right through. It can also impart a bitter taste if you add too much rennet just to get a set.
It looks to me like you’re doing a fantastic job User6244! Those cheeses look great.
Look forward to you letting us know they’ve worked out perfectly.
Then the cheese bug will really kick in!
Oooo! That does sound delicious Lesley. I’ve only just finished my breakfast but I could eat that right now.
I work on a rough guide of getting 100grams of cheese for every litre of milk so your yield seems fine. You should definitely have a smaller curd with a Parmesan make so I would say you’re on your way to a good cheese : )
Now for the hardest part…waiting for the cut.
