Making Cheese: Halloumi

Bear · 22 Dec 2012 at 12:00

I made my first attempt at cheese making last week and decided on a farmhouse chive cheddar. It is a cheat cheddar which bypasses the cheddaring process which also shortens the process.

Ingredients:

7.5l Whole Milk
Mesophillic Starter in 1/4 cup of cool water
1/4tsp of annato (colouring) in 1/4 cup of cool water
1/2 tsp of calcium chloride in 1/4 cup fo cool water
rennet in 1/4 cup of cool water
2 teaspoons of dried chives
Sea salt or cheese salt (non iodised salt)

Heat milk very gently up to 86F. Once up to 86F, add starter and let it hydrate for 5 mins. Mix well using an up and down motion. Cover and maintain 86F and let the milk ripen for an hour.
Add annato and whisk for 1 min, add calcium and whisk for 1 min then add rennet and whisk for 1 min. Cover and maintain 86F for 30 to 45mins or until curds give a clean break.

Still maintaining 86F, cut curds into 1/2 inch pieces (horizontal, vertical and diagonal cuts) and let sit for 5 mins.

Gently heat up the curds to 102F and stir and maintain temperature.

Stir gently for 20mins or until curds firm up. The curds will be the size of peanuts.

Let the curds settle for 30mins and they should settle to the bottom of the pan.

Bear · 22 Dec 2012 at 12:02

Ladle or pour off the whey to expose the top of the curds and stir until the curds are matting together. Line a strainer with damp cheese cloth and ladle curds into it and let it drain for 5 mins. Add 2 tsps of salt and the chives and mix thoroughly

Line a mould with a damp cheese cloth and transfer curds into mould and press 8lbs for 1 hour. Remove unwrap, flip re-wrap and press 15lbs for 1 hour. Remove unwrap, flip re-wrap and press 20lbs for 12 hours or over night

Next morning remove from mould, the cheese should be nice and smooth with no visible sign of the pre-pressed peanut like curd grain.

Brine for 8 hours or over night in a cooled (55F) saturated brine solution with a dash of distilled vinegar and calcium chloride

Remove from brine and pat dry and leave to air dry at room temperature for 24 hours. The cheese is then ready for waxing and aging. Ready to eat in 1 month or leave to age if you prefer a more mature flavour. If you dont want to wax, you can rub the cheese with butter and wrap in a cheese cloth then age. Flip the cheese once a week for even ripening.

FrenchTart · 22 Dec 2012 at 13:34

Looks awesome. I'm just waiting for the train home but once back I'll be posting the Brie details

edit: mind posting a rough guide on how you made that btw?

Bear · 22 Dec 2012 at 14:29

FrenchTart said:
Looks awesome. I'm just waiting for the train home but once back I'll be posting the Brie details

edit: mind posting a rough guide on how you made that btw?

Added details above

I made a small Parmesan this weekend, will post pics after it comes out of the brine.

FrenchTart · 22 Dec 2012 at 15:22

Awesome. That will take 6-12 months to age I presume?

Cheers for the step-by-step above

Bear · 22 Dec 2012 at 15:39

FrenchTart said:
Awesome. That will take 6-12 months to age I presume?

Cheers for the step-by-step above

Aye, I thought I would start on all the ones that need aging for quite a while before I started on the soft moldy ones

FrenchTart · 22 Dec 2012 at 15:47

Good plan. I went the opposite route mostly because I didn't trust myself to make the cheese to a reasonable standard without having tried it first. That and the fact that I'm incredibly impatient

Bear · 23 Dec 2012 at 09:05

The Parmesan is out of the brining stage, and ready for air drying for a couple of days before ageing.

Very pleased with my home made cheese press made out of cutting up a chopping board.

Seems to give a very nice pressed cheese. Next up some time next week a saffron infused Manchego.

Bear · 12 Jan 2013 at 18:53

The cheese makers have become rather quiet as of late, so I thought I would update the thread with a couple of cheeses I made over the Christmas holidays. First up was the saffron infused Manchego

Next I made a blue Gouda which has been waxed

Finally a Stilton which is getting a nice covering of mold

Smigly · 13 Jan 2013 at 00:36

Can you make it with the vegetarian rennet?

posted this before I read full through. I think I might get some veggie rennet and give it a go.

I love cheese.....

Bear · 13 Jan 2013 at 08:00

Smigly said:
Can you make it with the vegetarian rennet?

posted this before I read full through. I think I might get some veggie rennet and give it a go.

I love cheese.....

As you ave already found out, you can buy veggie rennet. Veggie rennet might not be as strong as animal rennet so you might have to use a bit more but it should be clear on he packaging how much you should use.

heeeed · 13 Jan 2013 at 19:55

Veggie rennet is absolutely fine. All of my cheeses have used vegetable rennet as I knew a few veggies who would want to try my cheeses and it works perfectly well for both hard cheeses and softer textured ones

valve90210 · 14 Jan 2013 at 09:48

Wow Bear, those cheeses look amazing!!!

Where did you get all the recipes from for the different cheeses?

On Xmas Eve my family I I fried off the Haloumi I made and i have to say it was delicious!!!

I intend to do more cheese making but am currently in the process of buying/selling a flat and a house so am a bit on the busy and disorganised side but when I've got more space I really want to make more haloumi and maybe even some other, more adventurous cheeses!!!

Bear · 14 Jan 2013 at 12:26

valve90210 said:
Wow Bear, those cheeses look amazing!!!

Where did you get all the recipes from for the different cheeses?

Thanks, I got them out of Artisan Cheese Making at Home by Mary Carlin.

MrMoonX · 14 Jan 2013 at 19:47

Animal Rennet WTF why???

most halloumi is vegetarian when you buy it

looks cool though

Bear · 14 Jan 2013 at 20:22

MrMoonX said:
Animal Rennet WTF why???

most halloumi is vegetarian when you buy it

looks cool though

If you aren't a veggie then what difference does it make and who cares?

Smigly · 15 Jan 2013 at 20:29

Yayy, may have to give this a shot in that case.

Bear · 15 Jan 2013 at 20:48

Smigly said:
Yayy, may have to give this a shot in that case.

Go for it, it is strangely enjoyable. Be sure to post up your results. Blessed are the cheese makers

valve90210 · 11 Dec 2013 at 14:26

A massive thread revival I know but last night I decided to make some more Halloumi in time for Christmas.

Was very careful about the temperature control and the rennet etc and all went very well indeed!

I only made a small batch but have plenty more milk in the fridge!!!

Are there any other cheeses that are really simple to make that I could try that would be ready for Christmas??

valve90210 · 12 Dec 2013 at 16:53

I'm surprised, I thought some of the cheese makers might have come out of the wood work to answer me but it seems not.

I've done a little searching around to find recipes but not found anything that has leapt out at me at the moment. I did see one for feta but it required a culture which I don't have and by the time I can get it I won't have the couple of weeks needed to make the cheese really nice, which is a shame.

Any other ideas?