Cookaholics Bulletin Board
http://cookaholics.org/

Cheese Curds
http://cookaholics.org/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=4337
Page 1 of 2

Author:  ldkelley [ Fri Jun 10, 2016 3:08 pm ]
Post subject:  Cheese Curds

Has anyone attempted these? I have found a few recipes on the web, they don't look too hard apart from flipping them (I found a tip to put them into cheesecloth to make that bit easier to manage). I have everything I need for ingredients other than milk.

You can't get them in FL, and my Dad loves them because he grew up in upstate NY where they are popular. Since I was in the hospital for his 80th birthday I was going to give it a try for Fathers Day.

Thanks,

--Lisa

Author:  TheFuzzy [ Sat Jun 11, 2016 4:22 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Cheese Curds

Lisa,

I'd trust cheese making.com: http://www.cheesemaking.com/Recipe_CheeseCurds.html

Author:  ldkelley [ Sun Jun 12, 2016 8:20 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Cheese Curds

Yes, that is the page I found, with the added idea from eGullet that I am going to do the milk double-boiler style with my circulator. That should make it easier to maintain the temperature.

What the heck, it should be an adventure, right?

--Lisa

Author:  TheFuzzy [ Mon Jun 13, 2016 9:37 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Cheese Curds

Lisa,

The problem I've found doing double-boiler is that it takes forever to get the milk up to temperature.

Author:  ldkelley [ Tue Jun 14, 2016 10:10 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Cheese Curds

Josh,

Thanks for the warning, that does make sense. I haven't made anything that mozzarella, so this should be interesting.

--Lisa

Author:  Cubangirl [ Tue Jun 14, 2016 4:37 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Cheese Curds

Lisa do you have an Instant Pot? I was thinking that since you can make yogurt and ricotta in it, this would not be a stretch.

Author:  ldkelley [ Wed Jun 15, 2016 10:29 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Cheese Curds

No, I have a regular electric pressure cooker. :)

Author:  ldkelley [ Sun Jun 19, 2016 7:14 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Cheese Curds

Reporting back: not bad. I would make adjustments to what I did if I do it again. The recipe has a lot of play in it ("cook 30 to 60 mins depending on how dry you like your curds" and "press for 1 to 3 hours"). I cooked for 45 mins and pressed for 2 hours and my curds are not nearly dry/hard enough.

I took note of Josh's comment about the double boiler taking a long time to get up to temp so I devised my own hybrid cooking process. I boiled some water in my stockpot and dumped in a cooler (thereby both heating the cooler and sterilizing my pot), and then used the pot to bring the milk up to temp on the stove. While that was happening I got the water in the cooler to about to about where I wanted it (96 degrees) with additions of cool tap water). Once the milk was ready, I put the stock pot in the cooler and used the Nomiku to hold the temperature at 96 for the 2 hours for the scalding and culturing process. I moved it back to the stove when it I was ready to cook the curd and raise the temperature.

All in all, it was a good experience for my first real cheesemaking experience. I have made mozz and mascrapone, but nothing like this. It was fun. I hope Dad likes it, but the curd is pretty soft and more like a queso fresco that a true northern style cheese curd. And, no squeak! I will probably try again.

I also dropped my Thermopen in the cooler. <sigh> If any one sees the next sale, let me know, please.

--Lisa

Author:  TheFuzzy [ Sun Jun 19, 2016 10:13 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Cheese Curds

Lisa,

Sounds pretty good for a first experience. My first experience involved making cheese from expensive organic raw milk, and the faulty recipe I used (from Saveur) resulted in only 2/3 lbs cheese from 2 gal of milk (for $18). The cheese was delicious, but ...

For the curds you have, I might suggest air-drying them, then doing the full three-layer batter, if you're going to fry them.

Author:  ldkelley [ Sun Jun 19, 2016 1:20 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Cheese Curds

They have already been delivered and dad intends on sharing them with his buddies over beer. I will pass along your comments regarding frying tonight at dinner in case he wants to try that but I rather doubt he will. He was pretty tickled to get them because he hasn't had them since the last time his sister visited four years ago. It was a fun present. (And the Dolphins Tickets went over pretty well, too.)

--Lisa

Page 1 of 2 All times are UTC - 7 hours [ DST ]
Powered by phpBB © 2000, 2002, 2005, 2007 phpBB Group
http://www.phpbb.com/