Coulommier Cheese

Having made cottage cheese I progressed on to making a soft cheese. It seems that some recipes for Coulommier make it like brie (with a mould added to the mixture to make the skin and make it runny inside) and some make it as a un-moulded soft cheese. I have started off without the mould.

There are a lot of variables in cheese making. I have not really for the hang of what effect the different things will have on the final cheese, so just follow the recipe and see what happens.

Once the curd has been created (heat the milk and add starter which acidifies the milk and rennet to set it) you ladle it out in to the molds (I used egg rings). The book I have describes being able to scoop of long lengths of curd. Either my curd was more soggy than they imagined or my ladle is not right as I found I could only get lumps the size of the ladle. But it all seemed to work out so I won't worry about it.

You have to tip the cheese upside down with something on top, I only have one cheese mat so I had to improvise and used a pizza dish with holes in it. Hence the dots on top of the cheese. I used 2 liters of milk.

All the curd added

After a few hours draining

Finished cheeses after 24 hours draining

It is amazingly tasty and is just like real cheese! Very encourage to try out other things as it was so successful. Perhaps a cheddar (although you have to wait a long time to try that) and eventually Brie/Camembert type thing. Perhaps some more soft ones first for instant gratification.

If you want to try making cheese I would buy a book. That can tell you how to do it properly. Being a beginner myself I cannot! However below is the process I used for reference.

2 liters of whole milk (not homogenized)
3 ice cubes of starter
1/2 tsp of rennet (or according to instructions on the packet - mixed in 2 tsp water)
Molds - I use 4 egg rings (9cm diameter), but you can use a single larger brie mold too

Heat milk to 32°C add the starter and stir well, leave for 30 mins (sit pan in warm water - in sink or a larger pan to help maintain temperature)
Add the rennet. Stir well.
Leave to form curd (approx 1 hr although I left it for 3 hours the first time and it seemed to work either way) until you get a clean break. Again, sit the pan in warm water in the sink or a larger pan to help keep warm.
Put the mold/s on to a cheese mat on a chopping board and ladle the curd in until all the curd is used. You want to skim slices off the top of the curd with the ladle. It may take you quite a while to get it all in. I have found quite a variety of how fast the whey flows from the curds making room for more. In the end though they all drain down to a similar size, so don't be tempted to try more molds - you will end up with very thin cheeses. I think raw milk is giving a much slower draining curd although it could just be to do with the fat content or something as well. I find I can pile up the curds quite a lot but don't fiddle too much otherwise all the curd flops out of the molds.

Ladle the curd in thin slices

Keep packing the curd in until all used up

Place another cheese mat (or something with holes like a pizza dish) on top
After 1 hour turn over and leave upside down for an hour
Leave for 24 hours somewhere warmish ie not in the fridge.
Take cheese out of mold and salt all over. Store in the fridge on cheese mat. Ready to eat straight away, may improve with keeping a few days, but won't keep long.