Brie/Coulommiers update

The second attempt at a soft mould cheese worked out well!

Looks and tastes good

Coulommiers with mould

I have made ‘English style’ coulommiers quite a few times - which is a cream cheese.
I decided it was time to trying a moulded (brie like) version as they make in France.
First time I have tried a cheese like this. Bit scary!

I used the exact same recipe except I added Penicillium Candidum culture (1/16th tsp for 2 l milk) just before I added the rennet.

I drained for 12 hours one way up, then turned and drained for a further 12the other way up.
I then salted top and turned and drained for 12 hours, then repeated on the other side.
I then let it dry for another day.
Once surface was dry I put in a closed container in cheese fridge at 12 degrees for about 15 days until well moulded. I turned every day and patted the mould down each time.
I then aged in the normal fridge at 4°C for a further month.

The first one I made of these I left it outside the fridge instead of in the cheese fridge and it came out bitter.

The mould is just starting to grow in this photo

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Feta Cheese

4l raw jersey milk
2 tblsp kefir
1/2tsp rennet
1/8 tsp kid lipase
1/2 tsp salt (now iodine)

I followed this recipe but have noted what I did below for my future information
https://fromthebartolinikitchens.com/2012/05/09/makin-feta-you-betcha/

Bring milk to 30°C
Add the kefir, stir and leave for an hour
Add the lipase and rennet, stir and leave overnight
Check for clean break.
Leave for 15 mins, but stir a couple of times in this time
Strain in to a cloth in a colander - save the whey (to use in the brine later).
Add salt to the whey so it is a 12.5% salt solution. Weigh the whey and calculate the amount of salt
Hang the cloth over the pan and leave to drain until the drips stop (2 to 4 hours)
Put the curd in to a bowl and stir in the salt breaking the curd as you do. The pieces are about 1cm each.
Put in to a cheese mould. Some say press and some don’t. I did it in a mould with a follower and put it in the press at a very light pressure.
Leave overnight.
Cut in to cubes and put in the brine solution for 5 days minimum and up to 3 months.

Not Cheddar - take 2

The first attempt is here
This one was made the following day following the same Mad Millies recipe but with only 5 liters of milk to try to fit in to the mould.

1/8th tsp mesophilic culture (I used this https://www.gnltd.co.uk/goat-nutrition/cheese-making-products/cheese-making-cultures/mesophilic-type-ii-cheese-culture-for-cheese-making.html)
1/8 tsp animal rennet mixed with a 1/4 cup previously boiled water. It was a very full spoon.
5l raw jersey milk, still warm from the cow
3/4 tblsp cheese salt

Heated milk to 32°C then added the culture, left for 45 mins in warm room. Was 31° at end of time
Added diluted rennet and left for 120 mins. I put the pan in another pan with 32° water in it.
This was only meant to be 60mins but I had to go out.

Also I didn’t top stir so layer of cream on the surface AGAIN
Cut the curd in to 1cm cubes (probably a bit bigger and they were trapizoid in shape). I cut with a palette knife in one dirction, then at 90° and then again along the first lines with the knife at 45° to vertical.
Left for 10 mins for the curds to start draining a bit, else they all break up when I stir.
Temp was 30°C at this point.
Raised heat to 38°C over 30 mins in the water bath stirred gently with hand during this time.
Drained curds.
Left to drain in a cheese cloth for an hour (I hung it in the cheese cloth this time in the pan covered in tea towel.
Broke curd in to chunks about 2cm across and stirred in 3/4 tblsp salt
Put in to press

Pressed 10 mins at 10lb
Turned, then 10 mins at 20lb
Turned, then 12 hrs at 50lb
Turned and out back at 10lb without cloth to get rid of the cloth marks.

This one seems a little less wet than the other one which was still draining whey when it was left to sit for a day out of the press.

The curds after cutting

... after heating

Left hand cheese here

Making (not) Cheddar cheese

I am really hoping that this will come out as a cheese which will melt for toasted chees. Other attempts I have made have not. There is a lot of suspense with hard cheeses as you have to wait for weeks or months to see how they came out.

I am planning on making a number of these so I can try at different ages... it is a slow process inputting what I learn from the results as there is a good chance we won’t still be milking by the time I get to try the first one... so it will be a while till I get a chance to try again with our own milk. I am hoping I will write enough detail here to be able to pick it up again.

I followed the Mad Millies recipe here, but not using their culture, rennet etc
I don’t think it is a really a cheddar (there is no cheddaring!) but I needed something simple to start with.

1/8th tsp mesophilic culture (I used this https://www.gnltd.co.uk/goat-nutrition/cheese-making-products/cheese-making-cultures/mesophilic-type-ii-cheese-culture-for-cheese-making.html)
1/8 tsp animal rennet mixed with a 1/4cup previously boiled water. It was probably a little bit more than that.
6l raw jersey milk, still warm from the cow
3/4 tblsp salt

Heated milk to 32°C then added the culture, left for 45 mins in warm room. Was 31° at end of time
Added diluted rennet and left for 60 mins. I put the pan in another pan with 32° water in it.
Was thr clean break good enough? Not sure... perhaps should have left a bit longer or used a spot more rennet.
Also I didn’t top stir so layer of cream on the surface...
Cut the curd in to 1cm cubes (probably a bit bigger and they were trapizoid in shape). I cut with a palette knife in one dirction, then at 90° and then again along the first lines with the knife at 45° to vertical.
Left for 10 mins for the curds to start draining a bit, else they all break up when i stir.
Temp was 30°C at this point.
Raised heat to 38°C over 30 mins in the water bath stirred gently occasionally during this.
It actually took more like 40 mins
Drained curds.
Left to drain in a cheese cloth for about 2 hours (longer than the recipe, because I had to go out). I actually left in a colander and I think it drained less well because of that.
Broke curd in to chunks about 2cm across and stirred in 3/4 tblsp salt
Put in to press - however slight setback here as it didn’t fit v well so had to press differently to the instructions.

Pressed 12 hours at 10lb
Turned, then 10 mins at 20lb
Turned, then 6 hrs at 50lb

Still didn’t quite fit so just turned and pressed gently to try to get the right shape. Hopefully it will work out ok despite not being pressed as hard as it should have been.

It is the middle cheese here.

Lancashire Cheese (again - finally)

It is nearly 4 years since I last made this. We didn’t even have the Jersey cows then! I got disappointed making hard cheeses, some of the soft ones I made came our REALLY well, but the hard ones were never great - the thing I wanted (and still want!) most was one that would melt like cheddar for toasted cheese. As a result I stopped making them (it is a lot of effort so hard to continue for disappointing results) and so this is the first time making with our own Jersey milk.

We are getting 7 or 8 liters a day at the moment, so I have to find something to do with it all which makes trying again a good idea, it may waste my time if it doesn’t work out, but we had the milk anyway.

I have read many things about cheese making recently, so I have made a few adjustments.
1st is making sure things are really really sterile. I took a tip from somewhere and have two bowls of water, one for rincing and one with a suitable steriliser for dipping spoons etc in before they go in the cheese. Unfortunately dog hairs have magic powers and can gt ANYWHERE. But trying to minimise this.
2nd I have adjusted the rennet for using fresh home made milk. I have dropped 30% off the amount used.
3rd I have added calcium cloride which is meant to make the calcium more accessible again after pasurisation (or something like that).I did this because I had it in a kit I was given and I pasturised the milk first.
Finally I was more gentle with stiring and handling the curds than previously as I have read they are very fragile and you lose good things like fat if you are not gentle.

I am also going to press at a slightly lower weight - which is frustration with the cheese press rather than because I thnk it will be better. I have a new one on order as the one I have is USELESS (no calibration and it tips over unless clamped down - which is tricky to do somewhere the whey can safely run off). It is ‘artisanal’ apparently, maybe it is just meant for decoration!
http://laviealapetiteferme.blogspot.fr/2014/06/lancashire-cheese.html

I can’t remember how I managed the temperature befor. This time I had the water in the bottom pan at about 35°C and look the top one in and out to keep it at 31°C. Ove the time the temperature in the bottom pan dropped and I just let it so it was cooler for the draining of the whey off the curds.

4l pasturised fresh Jersey milk - very creamy - perhaps 1/3rd cream (I heated to 70°C then cooled in a sink or cold water)
1/8tsp (0.625ml) animal rennet (possibly should be even less according to the recipe I am copying, but went for somewhere between that and the instructions on the rennet as rennet can be different strengths)
1/8th tsp calcium cloride (added with the rennet - maybe should have been with the culture)
Mesophilic culture for 4l of milk (according to the culture instructions)
14g salt (not iodised) 3/4 tblsp

I followed the same process as before (which is described best in the original recipe that I link to).

The curds didn't quite fit in to the mould! But one they have drained overnight they hopefully will... (unfortunate brown colour of the cheese cloth is because it has also been used brewing beer which has stained it - it is clean, honest!)

Mozzarella Cheese

Made using ingredients from kit I was recently given.

This Mozzarella was made using citric acid then adding rennet. The recipe is here.

The curds

Curds after heating a bit and stirring

After draining the whey

After heating stretching and forming in to balls - they are soaking in salt water (which is the reason for the water looking greyish as the salt was like that)

Ricotta Cheese

Someone kindly gave us an Italian Cheese Kit. It has ingredients (not the milk obviously) and recipes for Ricotta, Mascapone and Mozzarella. I made the Ricotta and have then gone on and made a Ricotta Salata which is Ricotta that has been pressed and aged a little bit.

I will make the mascarpone and mozzarella soon. Exciting!

I used the ricotta in a very nice cannelloni made with our ham and ricotta mixed with some chopped up tomatoes and fried onions and water cress. Topped with white sauce and a little cheddar.

We had some of it that had been further salted and left out overnight with some ham and home made bread for lunch (also homemade strawberry jam and clotted cream - on a different piece of bread clearly).

Ricotta is simple to make and doesn't take any special equipment. The recipe is here.
You can mix in salt and eat straight away or let it drain a bit more for a more solid cheese.
You can then salt some more, press and age a bit also (Ricotta salata).

Lancashire cheese (from Keeping a Family Cow)

While we are waiting for our new Jersey cows (the paperwork is taking forever - they have had blood tests and are fine but we need the passport saying that before they can move) I have felt inspired to make cheese again. It has been some time, soft cheeses went well but hard cheeses not so much. They tasted OK, but the texture was all wrong. We may or may not get milk from the cows now. If not we will have to wait until next year when they will hopefully have calves - if we can manage to get them AIed sometime soon - assuming they EVER turn up!

The recipe is here, but I have quartered the volume (my mold is 6cm radius by 9cm high) and changed to metric measurements and temperatures - I have basically written what I did so I can repeat, I would start with the original if you want to try this cheese, but the conversions are here if you need them.

4l raw milk (it seems semi skimmed to me as there is not much cream on it)

200ml cream (I used UHT)

Mesophilic starter (I used 6 ice cubes of cultured butter milk)

Liquid rennet (according to instuctions on the packet I used 1 ml in cold water)

1.5 tblsp preserving salt (or more or less to taste)

Cheese mold and press

I sterilise everything I am going to use by boiling it in the pan the milk will go in before I start. That way the pan is sterilised too.

Put milk and cream in double boiler and heat to 31°C (actually went to 32.5 by mistake)

Add the culture and keep at 31°C for 45 mins

Add the rennet and stir in. Keep at same temperature for 50 mins or until you get a clean break.

Cut the curd in to 1 cm pieces and let sit for 5 mins to solidify a bit. I use a palet knife and slice one way, then at 90 degrees to that, then put the knife over at 45 degrees and reslice the lines I did one way.

Stir the curds for 10 mins, then let sit for a further 5 mins

Strain through a cheese cloth and squeeze to knit the curds together.

Put the curds back in the pan (still in the warm double boiler but don't heat any more) and leave for 15 mins

Turn the curds and leave for a further 15 mins

Cut the curd mat in half and put one piece on the other and leave another 10 mins, turn and leave for further 10 mins

Cut the curd in to 1 cm x 2 cm pieces and put in a bowl with the salt and mix well

Prepare mold with piece of cheese cloth in it and put the curds in to the mold. Put in to press and apply medium pressure for an hour (I put 5kg on my press, not sure what that makes the pressure, it might be x3)

Take the cheese out of the mold and rewrap and turn over

Return to the press at increased pressure (I did 10kg) for 6 hours

Unwrap the cheese and mature at 10-15°C (or as cool as you can). Normal fridge is probably a bit cold. You want the environment to be reasonably humid too. At the moment it is here. I have found in the past if I put in a box and try to keep humidity up the cheese goes off. I waxed the cheese also after a day to let it dry out.

Turn cheese daily for first week and twice weekly thereafter. Ready at 4 weeks and will get better up to about 12 weeks and will go downhill after that apparently.

Cheddar

A while ago I tried making cheddar. It was nice, but not really like cheddar. I haven't made any cheese in yonks, I do fully intend to get back to it one day (the usual time for everything ie 'when the house is done'). Perhaps I will never master cheddar as there seem to be many variables which must be precisely right. However it won't matter as one of the local supermarkets (Leader Price) which opened recently does very nice (Scottish) extra mature cheddar. Hurrah for cheese on toast! I didn't realise how much I used cheddar for until I didn't have it...

Toasted cheese (on home made sourdough bread)

Cheddar two

We just sampled the 2nd cheddar we made (the fourth one is in the press now). This was made using the original recipe and was the reason I changed to another recipe or method, because I was concerned that I had cheddared (drained the whey) at too high a temperature. The second method drains the curds in water at 40 degrees whereas the original one did it over a hot pan and was harder to control the temperature.
The upshot of this is that the cheese is a bit dry and has less flavour than the previous one, but still pretty tasty.

Why doesn't the cheddar MELT??

We tried the first cheddar a little while ago and it was still quite mild. We tried the rest of it recently. It is now sharper and more cheddary, however it still doesn't melt like cheddar. We made toasted cheese and it didn't melt and spread as it should.
I read up a bit, and it seems this can be either because the acidity is to high (not clear to me why this happens, maybe if you leave the milk to ripen too long), or because the moisture content is too high (happens if the curds are too wet when you start pressing). Apparently the most likely issue for the beginner cheese maker is the moisture content. The 3rd cheddar I made was crumblier when it went in to the mold and took more pressure to get it to stick together suggesting the curds were dryer. So I have made a further cheddar to this recipe. The wait is frustrating as you don't get feedback on your changes to a recipe for some time - and it is hard to remember what previous cheeses tasted like. This time I let the curds drain longer than before. If you drain too much you start losing some things you want in the cheese, and can also get to the point where the curds won't stick together. All v tricky.

More cheddar

We have tasted the first cheddar we made, it wasn't exactly like cheddar but was very tasty, we thought a hint of wensleydale in there. We have left half of it to continue maturing to see if it becomes any more cheddar like, it was only a month old after all.
I have decided to use a slightly different process this time as I feel that the way I did the cheddaring (draining the whey in a warm atmosphere) resulted in the curds being a bit too warm which can result in some of the stuff you want in your cheese draining out too. It will be quite a long time until we can see whether the change made much difference or not.

4 liters milk
4 ice cubes of starter
2.5ml (1/2 tsp) rennet (mixed in a little water)
30g (approx 2 tbl spoon) salt

Heat the milk to 32°C and add the starter. Stir well and leave for 1 hour (off the heat)
Add the rennet, stir well and leave for a further hour

Check the curds are set (you can see on google ways of doing this. I slide a knife down the side of the pan, if you can pull the curds away from the edge of the pan then it is ready)

Bit hard to see

Cut the curds in to about 2cm cubes (I cut one way across the pan, then the other - making columns of curds which I then cut up by cutting through the same cuts with the knife at 45 degrees off vertical)

Columns of curd

Cut with knife at 45 degrees along the same lines

Raise the temperature of the curds and whey to 38°C, this should be done slowly over something like a 30 min period.
Maintain this temperature for a further 30 mins
Drain the whey by pouring through a cloth in a sieve (or colander). Leave to drain until the whey stops running (you might need to help it a bit by tipping the sieve around some)

Chop the lump of curd in to 2cm, or there abouts, cubes
Place the cubes in a bowl and put the bowl in a pan or sink with 40°C water in it.
Leave for two hours, draining the whey from the bowl periodically and stirring the curds gently to stop them sticking together
Add the salt and mix well before placing in the cloth lined mold.

Put the cheese in the press with just enough weight to press the whey out. Leave for a hour then turn and increase the weight.
After a further 12 hours turn again and add more weight. You are aiming for something like 8psi at this point but it will depend what your press can do.
Continue turning every 12 hours for a further 2 days.

Leave to dry at room temperature for a couple of days then wax and store in a cool place for at least a month, but preferably more.

Cheesy update

The first cheddar has been maturing for a few weeks now. It has gone pretty mouldy on the outside, but I have read not to worry about this. Although the first one isn't ready to taste yet, I have made a second one in the hope that it is ok and we will want more. I decided to 'wax' this one. Actually it isn't actually wax but some easier to apply stuff that you paint on with a brush and leave to dry, no need to mess around melting it like wax.
We plan on starting another one soon.

First cheddar maturing

Magic cheese coating stuff

Second cheese (with organised label)

I have made several more batches of coulommier as it is quick and easy and very tasty. It seems that if you use raw milk it is better if it is very fresh, I made one batch with raw milk that was a couple of days old and it was still nice but had a more sour flavour. The cheese is better if aged in the fridge for 2 or 3 days as it dries out a little more and has a less sharp flavour.

I have made more ricotta with the whey from the various cheeses and it is in the freezer mixed with spinash waiting to be made in to raviolli. We have a LOT of whey and so have been feeding it to the cats, dog and chickens. The dog and chickens seem quite keen on it, but strangely the cats are not sure. It is a shame we don't have pigs at the moment to feed it to, that would be a good traditional thing to do with it. We have also used it making bread and pizza dough. It is quite nice but slightly bland to drink, I have found some cocktail recipes that use it, but I am not convinced that is a good idea (typically they are a take on whiskey sours with whey instead of egg).

I started a parmesan and plan on getting more of them going soon too. This one is a bit covered in dog hairs as they were on the cheese cloth (I did not notice) when it came out of the washing machine. I did boil it before using it so hopefully it will be ok.

I have got the culture for making a brie/calembert type cheese. Basically it will be the same recipe as the coulommier with an additional mold culture added to give the rind and soften the inside. 

Making Parmesan Cheese

We haven't tasted the cheddar yet as it needs 4 weeks minimum to mature. But I am pushing on and making parmesan anyway as that takes much longer to mature and if we don't get it on it will never be ready.

4 liters semi skimmed milk
1/3 tsp  rennet
Thermophilic starter according to instructions on the packet (I bought mine here and used half a packet and kept the other half in the freezer for later)

Heat the milk to 33°C
Add the starter and stir thoroughly.
Maintain the temperature for 30 mins to let it ripen
Add the rennet and stir again
Leave for a further 30 mins
Cut the curd with a knife and then break down the pieces further by gently dragging a balloon whisk through the curds. Continue to do this for 10 mins
Increase the temperature of the curds to 43°C over 10 mins (stirring occasionally)
Increase the temperature of the curds to 55°C over a further 10 mins (stirring occasionally)
Strain the curds out using a sieve (keep the whey to feed to the dog/cat/pig/chickens/compost/etc)
Transfer the curds to the mold lined with a cheesecloth
Fold the cheesecloth over the top of the curds, add the follower and put in the press
Press until the whey runs (5kg on my press = approx 1psi))
After an hour take the cheese out of the press, unwrap it, turn it over and rewrap it
Return to the press with double the weight (10kg for me) and leave for 24 hours
Remove again and unwrap and return to the press for a further hour up the other way to smooth the cheese
Put in a covered container somewhere coolish (warmer than fridge) for 2 days

After the 2 days (you might want to make the brine the day before to let it cool)
Put 1 liter of water in a pan with 250g of preserving salt and bring to the boil
Cool to 10-12°C and pour over the cheese in a container just slightly bigger than the cheese
Leave for 24 hours turning the cheese over occasionally to get both sides salted
Remove from the salt and leave to age, after 2 weeks oil it or wax it and let it continue to age for something like 9 months - should improve with age.

The cut curds in the whey before heating

After heating (curds are hiding at the bottom)

Curds strained out from the whey

Farmhouse Cheddar

For the last few days it has rained and rained and rained and then rained a bit more. So we mostly stayed inside. Probably you can see from recent posts I spent a lot of the time cooking. One day I made 3 different kinds of cheese. Coulommier - this time using raw milk to see if it made any difference to the flavour. It is too soon to say really, but the curds were rather different in the final cheese has come out a bit more solid, but it is hard to tell whether that was the different milk or a slight difference in temperature or something.
I also made a farmhouse cheddar - this has a bit of a simpler method to real cheddar which involves a lot of a process called cheddaring which involves chopping and stacking and re-stacking the curds many many times while draining the whey out. The final cheese was ricotta as this is made from whey of which I had a lot by now. You are still left with lots of whey but you have extracted more of the goodness. The left bottle is the original from the Coulommier, the other three have been used to make ricotta too.

What do you DO with so much whey?

I am having trouble getting enough weight on to the cheese press, so not quite sure how it will turn out. The leverage is only x2 and the internet say you want something like 10psi, with a diameter of 5inches that means I need to get 80lb on the arm which seems quite unfeasible (full kettle is about 4kg, bag of rocks about 9kg which is what is on there now). In addition there seems to be a slight design flaw in it that the base isn't long enough and doesn't extend as far as under the weight, so for the moment it is clamped to the work top.

The cheese stays in there for 5 days being turned every day.

After a couple of days it is now looking a bit smoother and rounder than this but tastes extremely bland and has a more rubbery texture than I typically like in my cheddar. Hopefully it will be better after the month maturing that is recommended (or more if you can wait longer)

4 liters of milk makes about 1lb (1/2 kg) of cheddar.

Method for Farmhouse Cheddar
4 liters whole milk
6 ice cubes of starter
2ml rennet (diluted in 8ml of water)
9g salt (1 tbl spoon)

Heat the milk to 32°C
Add the starter and stir well
Leave for about 40 mins (I left longer for about an hour) or until the milk smells of butter.
Add the rennet and stir well.
Leave a further 40 mins until curd forms
Cut the curd in to 2cm blocks (approx)
Slowly raise the temperature of the curds to 38°C, stirring gently as you do so
Leave for 10 mins (maintain the temperature) to let the curds settle to the bottom
Squish the curds to the bottom of the pan and to one side and ladle the whey out the pan
You now have a 'mat' of curds. Cut it in to 8 thin pieces and stack them one on top of the other and leave to drain for 10 mins. Ladle out any whey that comes out of them.
Pull apart and re-stack so a different one is on the bottom and they are all upsidedown
Leave a further 10 mins and remove any whey
Continue to restack every 30 mins until the whey stops running and if you squeeze the curd only a few drops of liquid come out. Maybe a couple of hours.
Crumble the curd in to 1cm size pieces
Add the salt and mix in well
Place the curds in a damp cheese cloth in the mold and put it in the cheese press for 4 hours with just enough weight to squeeze out whey.
Remove the cheese from the mold and wrap in a new piece of cheese cloth and put back in the other way up. Put back in the press for 24 hours with a heavier weight (I used 4kg). Repeat 5 times (I increased weight to 9kg at the 2nd rewrapping)

Remove from the press and allow to air dry for a day then coat in oil and store for at least a month. Turn daily and wash off any mould.

Ricotta Cheese

Ricotta is made from whey. You don't get much from the whey, but it was interesting to do and seemed less wasteful to use the whey from the Coulommier and the Farmhouse Cheddar for something.

Method
However much whey you have (I used 4 liters here)
Heat it until it just boils
Add half tsp citric acid or vitamin c (or a squirt lemon juice) per 3 liters of whey
The whey should go cloudy.
Allow to cook for a few minutes
Strain through a cheese cloth.
Put the curds in to a bowl and add a little salt (to taste)
Put the cheese in to a container where it can continue to drain a little (cheese mold, coffee filter)

Use for recipes such as ricotta and spinach ravioli (coming soon...)

Goats Cheese and Onion Quiche Recipe

Makes 4 small ones (10cm diameter)

Pastry (see here)
120g plain flour
80g butter
1 egg yolk
Salt (unless you use salted butter)
Possibly a little water

Filling
1 onion
150g of goats cheese or other soft cheese (I used the Coulommier we recently made)
1 egg + 1 egg yolk mixed in a bowl/jug (or you can mix 2 egg yolks with about 50ml of cream or a variety of other egg mixtures work too)


Method Fry the onion gently with salt and pepper until golden
Make the pastry by crumbing together the flour and butter then add the egg yolk and possibly a little water.
Refrigerate for 30 mins
Put pastry in to the tins (you can roll out and cut shapes the right size, or grate and then squidge in to the tins to cover the bottom then the sides or break of lumps and squidge them in to the tins in the same way)
Refrigerate a bit more

Crumble the cheese in to the tins, add the onion and pour over the egg mixture (leave a few mm at the top so they don't overflow as they cook)

Bake in the oven at 180°C for 40 mins or until the pastry is golden brown and the egg mixture has set.

Perfect picnic food

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.