Butterkase
Q. Hello. My question concerns the raising of the heat from 86F to 104F. Over what period of time should that temperature increase take place?
A. This will take place over a 15 minute period, give or take.
Q. Hi, Regarding your recipe heat is increased as 102-104 F, than coagulate with rennet which works at 90 F safety. I confused, can you please explain.
A. 90F is the given general temp for rennet usage, but every cheese has it’s preferred rennet temperature. The rennet will work a bit faster at the higher temperature but makes a slightly tougher curd, which actually works well for this style of cheese, but would not be great for other types of cheeses. Rennet can survive higher temps, but the enzyme doesn’t begin working well until the temp drops below 112-115.
Q. I have a question about using Geotrichum Candidum. Your Butterkase recipe calls for a wee bit of it. How vital is the inclusion of the Geotrichum? Might I get a satisfactory result without it?
A. The Geotrichum will dry off the surface after the initial yeast layer is established from the ambient environs. It will form a thin barrier and prevent other unwanted molds from establishing on the surface.
Q. If I were to age this in a vac bag after a few days of drying the surface, is there any point in adding the geo, or can I just follow the recipe but leave the geo out? I have seen other recipes for this cheese and none of them include geo.
A. Butterkase always has a surface ripening component. Geo is a part of it. I would never advise using VakPak on a high moisture cheese like this.
Q. Hi there, I am thinking of making this Butterkase recipe and I see that it calls for 1Packet C21 Buttermilk Culture, which I don't currently have. I have also made your Limburger recipe which calls for "1 packet C21 Buttermilk Culture or 1/4 tsp. MM100 Culture". I do have the MM100 Culture. Can I substitute that for the Buttermilk Culture in this recipe as I do in the Limburger recipe?
A. The MM100 is quite similar to our buttermilk culture, and you can use it for the Butterkase. We would recommend reducing the amount to 3/16 tsp. or 1/4tsp.
Q. Made this cheese first of november, and just tasted it. It tastes fantastic, but it didn't turn out how i was expecting it to. came out a little crumbly, definitely couldn't be sliced. Just wondering if you had some insight. Still tastes great, so i call it a success, but just wondering...
A. This should be a very soft high moisture cheese. The most likely culprits are too much acid development or drying out the curds too much. You can try cutting back the culture amount a bit, especially if using raw milk, and try to keep the curds a bit more moist. The other issue could be dehydration from low moisture during aging.