Friday, October 21, 2011

Busy Weekend of Cheesemaking Planned

I'm going to make another juustoa for my sister's brunch on Sunday for her friends, to go along with the Brie and the Stilton.  I also plan to make another Stilton this weekend, and this time, I will let it age for the full time before cutting into it...if I can hold out that long.  I've decided to not use the Stilton recipe that came with my kit from www.thecheesemaker.com.  Instead, I'll use the recipe in the book of cheese recipes I purchased.  Then the following weekend, I'll make another cheese from the book.  But I haven't decided which one yet.

Still looking for a source of sheep's milk to make a Caciotta.  But, let's face it, I've not tried real hard to find a source, so I get what I put into it, I guess.

Concerning making juustoa, I have been frustrated by the fact that when I broil it to get that nice brown skin, I have to fight with removing the whey as it gets expressed in the broiling process.  So a lot of times, I feel like I'm boiling it, instead of broiling it.  I do remove the excess whey during the broiling process, but it's messy.  Putting the curd into a 9" round cake pan is also a problem because the sides are barely high enough to hold the curd.  Finally, flipping it over to broil the other side is also a challenge.  I usually tear it, or some of the curds stick to the pan.

I struck upon an idea to solve this.  I bought a 9" springform pan for making cheesecakes and an air crisping pizza pan.  The springform pan has higher sides, and I can loosen the ring a bit to allow the whey to flow from the pan while it broils.  Also, with a removable bottom, it will make turning it over easier (it's a non-stick pan)  The pizza pan has a lot of small holes that are evenly spaced.  I can put the pizza pan on top of a cookie sheet with sides to keep it elevated and have a place for the whey to collect.  Putting the springform pan on top of that will complete the self-removal of the whey as it is expressed during broiling. I was hoping to find a better way to do this, but this should work.  If all goes well, I may eventually cut the pizza pan to fit directly into the springform pan.  That way , it will hold the curds, but allow the whey to drip through.  But I wanted to see if the whole idea works first before putting the effort into cutting the pizza pan to fit the springform pan.  So, I'm giving it a try this weekend and will report on whether this was a success or an epic fail.  

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