Cheese Curds

After a positive experience in my first foray into cheese making (with a Mozzarella Cheese) I have decided I would like to invest the time an energy required to make a variety of cheeses.  Eventually this will require equipment for aging cheese but I'd prefer to take baby steps.

It turns out that there are quite a few cheeses that don't require any aging which can be made using similar equipment to Mozzarella Cheese.  Cheese Curds are one of these.  I decided to give these a shot.

I will use this recipe from cheesemaking.com.  It seems a bit easier than the Mozzarella really but it will expose me to a few new aspects of cheese making:

1. Using real animal rennet for coagulation of the cheese
2. Using a culture to acidify the cheese
3. Pressing the cheese with weight to cause it to drain

I don't imagine that any of this will be particularly difficult but I'm sure I will learn a few things going through this recipe.

I was introduced to cheese curds by some friends of mine from Wisconsin maybe 10 years ago.  Hadn't had them since as they aren't sold in Arizona.  I remember that they were pretty tasty but not much else about them.  Hopefully I like these since, with a 2 gal recipe, I'll have quite a lot of them.

Ingredients:

• 2 gal Whole Milk (Pasteurized and Homogenized)
• 1/2 tsp Calcium Chloride
• 1 packet of Thermophilic Culture C-201
• 1/2 tsp Liquid Animal Rennet
• 1 tsp Kosher Salt

Process/Notes:

• 5/28/16 - Cheesemaking Day - Took ~5 hrs
• Added 2 gal milk to a 5 gal pot
• Heated the milk up to 96 F

• Dissolved CaCl into ~1/4 cup of water
• Added the CaCl to the milk and stirred in
• Poured in Culture, let sit for a couple minutes, and then stirred in
• Let sit for 30 min off heat with the lid on to let the culture start to do it's work
• Diluted the Rennet in 1/4 cup of water
• Added the Rennet and stirred for 30 s

• Waited 25 min - the milk hadn't finished coagulating (should have taken 18 to 25 min per the recipe)
• Waited 10 more minutes - passed the clean break test this time with a knife

• Cut curd into a grid pattern and then waited a few minutes until the whey started to rise through the cuts
• Stirred which broke the curds into smaller pieces
• Slowly heated up to 116 F.  Used the medium-low setting on the kitchen range (4).  Ended up taking 45 min (should have taken 30)
• Let sit, covered, for 45 min at 116 F.  Stirred every 5 min or so

• Drained the curds into a cheesecloth lined colander.  Started out by scooping the curds out with a slotted spoon.  Changed my mind and just poured the hole thing into the colander when too many little chunks escaped the spoon

• Pulled up the corners of the cheesecloth to form the curds into a ball.  Tied it up on the sink to drain for 15 min
• Twisted the cheesecloth to wring some more whey out
• Put a plate over the ball and then placed a gallon jug of water on top of the plate to press the cheese

• Let drain for 3 hrs
• Removed the cheese cloth.  The curds had formed a consolidated mass which was kind of rubbery
• Broke the mass of cheese into pieces (the cheese curds) and put them into a plastic freezer bag

• Added 1 tsp of salt to the bag and then tossed the cheese curds around to evenly distribute

Impressions:

• The cheese has a chewy and slightly rubbery texture which I find pleasant.  The first day it squeaked when chewing - this is apparently typical for cheese curds.  The next day there was no more squeak but the texture is pretty much unchanged.
• It tastes quite a bit like the Mozzarella cheese.  The finish may have a bit more going on which could be due to the culture.  I have gotten a small bit of funky flavor on some of the curds which is almost band aid like although it isn't unpleasant like it sounds. 
• The salt level is very nice - every piece has a small bit of salt in the flavor but none are over salted.  I think 1 tsp is a really good amount if I do this again.
• My wife didn't like them after eating one small piece.
• I've gone through quite a few of them already - probably half the batch.  I should probably slow down as it's not exactly the most healthy food in the world.  Will keep an eye on how they keep.