Artisan Cheese and Prosciutto.
This is a blog about making cheese and preserving meat at home. We will make all kinds of cheeses together including soft-ripened, cheddar, stilton, feta and a tomme. We will also cover basic charcuterie or the art of preserving meat using salt and smoke. We will make prosciutto from ham and duck breast, make our own bacon and even learn how to make sausages and cure them. I don't claim to be an expert in any of this, but please join me for the learning and fun.
I got some bacon sides (pork belly) from Polyface Farm and made some bacon. I do not have a smoker, so I did not smoke my bacon. This rub does not use curing salts, so there is no sodium nitrate or sodium nitrites. Great bacon. Look at the video and go out and get some pork belly and start making your own!
For the Rub
1 lb of Salt
1/2 lb of Light Brown Sugar
2 table spoons or Pepper Corns crushed in a mortar and pestle
1 table spoon of Coriander seed crushed in a mortar and pestle
2 table spoons of Juniper berries light crushed in a mortar and pestle.
It has been a long time since I wrote anything. Sorry about that, but that does not mean I have not been busy making cheese. In the month of March I have been doing an experiment with Toscano Pepato . I got this recipe from Riki Carrol's web site and I have made it a few times. It is sort of like an Italian Pepper Jack cheese. It is made in the grana style (think Parmesan and Romano) but it is not aged nearly as long. It can be aged longer, but I only age mine for 4 months usually. Well in March so far I have made a Toscano Pepato every week. Each week I have tried something slightly different in the making. The idea is to use the video blog to see how the experiments have turned out! I have kept the ingredients of the basic recipe the same, but have changed things like what temperature I ripen the cheese at, and what peppers I add to the cheese.
The basic recipe is pretty straight forward:
3 gallons of milk (I use Trickling Springs Cream Line Whole Milk)
1/4 tsp lipase powder
1/4 tsp calcium chloride
1/8 tsp mesophilic starter (I use MM100)
1/4 tsp thermophilic starter (I use TA61)
rennet to set in 20 minutes (1/4 tsp + 1/8 tsp of single strength)
Heat milk to 98 degrees and hold at that temperature for 90 minutes. I add the lipase powder, calcium chloride, mesophilic starter and thermophilic starter when the milk reaches 70 degrees.
After 90 minutes add the rennet and stir with an up and down motion for 2 minutes. Quiet milk and let set for 20 minutes. Check for a clean break.
If you have a clean break cut the curd using a whisk into 1/4 inch pieces. Heat milk slowly to 118 degrees (over about 30 minutes). The more you stir the cheese the drier the curd will become. The drier the curd the longer you can age it. If you keep the moisture content high, then you can eat the cheese in 4 months, if you stir more, then you can age it for 9 months or a year. Just depends on what you are going for. Experiment and have fun. Make some that will age in 4 months and make some that will age in 9 months to a year.
When the curd has reached the right temperature, let it sit for 5 minutes. Pour off the whey down to the level of the curds. Add curds to your cheese cloth lined mold . Layer the curds and pepper. Layer of curds then sprinkle on the pepper, add more curds and then sprinkle on the pepper.
Once all of the curds have been added, press the cheese at 10 pounds for 1 hour, flipping the cheese after 30 minutes. If the cheese is showing signs of the rind closing, increase the weight to 25 pounds. Press at 25 pounds for 1 hour, flipping the cheese after 30 minutes. The rind should be almost closed by now. Increase the weight to 50 pounds and press for 12 hours. After 12 hours remove the cheese from the mold. Put back in the press and press at 50 pound for 4 more hours. This should remove any cheese cloth marks in the cheese.
Remove the cheese from the mold and put into a 20% brine solution for 12 hours per pound of cheese. After the appropriate time remove from the brine and put in your aging cave.
Another easy to cheese to make is Ricotta. Fresh Ricotta is much better then the store bought, and it does not take that long to make. In fact it can be made in under two hours. 1 Gallon of Whole Milk will produce about 1 pound of cheese, so the price is very comparable to store bought Ricotta. Remember to buy pasteurized milk and not ultra pasteurized. For acid we will use White Vinegar with 5% acidity. Don't worry your cheese will not taste like vinegar. The whey will taste like vinegar, but not your cheese.
Equipment Needed
Strainer or Skimmer
Cheese Cloth
Colander
Stainless Steel Pot
Thermometer
Large spoon
Rubber Spatula
Ingredients
1 Gallon of Pasteurized Milk (not Ultra Pasteurized)
1/4 cup of White Vinegar
Method
Rinse the cheese cloth in cold water and wring it out by hand. Double over the cheese cloth and line the colander.
Put the milk in the stainless steel pot and add the vinegar.
Heat the milk to 186 degrees over a medium heat. Make sure that you stir the milk often at the beginning to make sure it does not stick. Do not over stir the milk or you will break the curds and will not get any cheese.
As the milk starts to heat, you will see the curds rising to the top. These curds are very soft so be gentle in your stirring.
When the milk reaches 186 degrees, cut of the heat and let the milk sit for 20 minutes.
Using the strainer or skimmer gently lift the curds out of the milk and put into the cheese cloth lined colander.
Let the curds drain in the colander for 10 minutes.
After 10 minutes draw up the sides of the cheese cloth and tie into a knot.
Place the rubber spatula over the edge of the pot and hang the cheese from it. Drain for another 30 minutes.
Remove Ricotta from the cheese cloth and use immediately or refrigerate and use within 3 days.
In today's blog, something fun and very easy. It is Lemon Confit and the very first thing I did for charcuterie. It is so straight forward I won't do a video about it. Here is what you do.
Ingredients
12 Lemons
1 Box Morton's Kosher Salt
Non-reactive container big enough to hold the lemons and salt
Method
1) Scrub 12 Lemons and dry them.
2) Cut them in half.
3) Pour 1 inch of salt in the container
4) Add the lemons
5) Cover the lemons with remaining salt
6) Store in a dark place for at least a month.
How to use
Simply take out a lemon, cut it in half, remove the pulp and pith and finely slice the rind. Use the rind in salads, stews or anything else you like. The salt that has been used to cure the lemons will be lemon flavored itself and is great in many dishes.
As a novice cheese maker it is often hard to find good resources to use. So, in this blog I am going to list some resources that I have found very helpful in learning how to make cheese at home. The first thing I would like to say is stay away from those cheese making kits. My opinion is that they are over priced for what you get. It is cheaper and better to put together what you need and this gives you the flexibility to experiment as well. But as with all things, research is very important. So here are some recommendations.
Books
A very good book for beginning cheese makers is Mastering Artisan Cheesemaking by Gianaclis Caldwell. It gives a real good introduction to cheese making. It goes through the entire process of making cheese and gives a lot of detail, but it is not over whelming. Then it give some really good recipes to try.
Another good resource is Home Cheese Making by Ricki Carroll. Ricki is the so called "Cheese Queen" and her book has been a standard for about 20 years. It contains good information and is a good introductory book.
Supplies
As I have tried to show in my videos there are a few basic supplies that you will need to begin with. They are things that you should have around the house.
Instant Read Thermometer -- I have a thermapen, but I would not recommend the one I have for cheese making. You can get a good instant read thermometer from a place like Bed, Bath and Beyond for under 10 dollars.
Stainless Steel Pot -- Get a pot that can actually hold at least 2 gallons of milk. Most recipes call for this amount of milk.
Cheese cloth -- Available from several sources.
Stainless Steel strainer and spoon -- You can get a set of 5 stainless steel utensils from Amazon for about 12 dollars.
Cheese Presses -- A cheese press is needed for making hard cheeses. There are lots available, but for the money I would recommend the Sturdy Press. That is what I have and it works great. You can check them out at The Cheese Sturdy Press
This list of resources should get you started in making cheese at home.
Here is the second part of how to make Duck Breast Prosciutto. I take it out of the salt, rinse it off, wrap it in some muslin and hang it in the cheese age refrigerator for a week. My Duck Breast only need a week to dry out because they are so thin. If you are using thicker Duck Breast, and thicker is better, then it might take 2 or 3 weeks to fully cure. If after a week it is still a little "squishy" let it stay for another week.
Today I make Duck Breast Prosciutto. About a week ago I did a Ham Prosciutto and you may have thought there is no way I can do that. Well, I didn't think I could either, until I tried making Duck Breast Prosciutto. It was so easy to do, and so tasty, that it gave me the confidence to try doing the Ham. So, watch the video, go out and buy a duck breast or two and make Duck Breast Prosciutto.
