Raclette cheese recipe

Raclette cheese recipe

Raclette cheese is a classic Swiss cheese, also known as one of the most popular cheeses used in the traditional Swiss dish of the same name - Raclette. This cheese is made from cow's milk and is known for its fine, easily grated texture and slightly salty flavor. 


It is an ideal cheese for a variety of dishes, ranging from the traditional Raclette dinner, where the cheese is melted and poured over vegetables or bread.

Required:

    Recipe

    Preparing
    • Before starting work, disinfect all surfaces and utensils that may come into contact with milk.
    • Determine if the milk is suitable for cheese making. It must go through the bactericidal phase (usually, cooled milk from the previous day is fine). If you have a pH meter, the milk pH level should not be outside the pH 6.55-6.85 range (which is rare). After pasteurization, the acidity of milk can increase rapidly (the pH number becomes lower).
    • Pasteurize the milk: heat it to 65C and hold it at this temperature for 30 minutes. You can also heat it to 70C and hold it for 15 minutes.
    • Rapidly cool the milk, for example, in a cold bath to 42-43C (this may take 15 minutes).
      Processing
      • Add annatto (8 drops) and Micromilk LHT/A cheese culture 1.55g.
      • Wait for 5 minutes and mix the cheese culture into the milk.
      • Leave for 40 minutes.
      • Add calcium chloride 2.5ml, rennet 0.8ml, and mix into the milk within 30 seconds. Before adding to the milk, the calcium chloride and rennet should first be dissolved in 50ml of clean water. Calcium chloride and rennet should be added separately.
      • The rennet should be added when the pH is between 6.45-6.6.
      • After adding the rennet, wait for the milk to coagulate (form a single curd) to determine the flocculation point. The flocculation point for most cheeses is 3. This means, if the milk has coagulated in 12 minutes, the next step can only be started 36 minutes after rennet addition (12x3=36 minutes). The acceptable time for curd formation is 10-15 minutes. If it's shorter or longer, the cheese's physical properties will change.
      • The coagulated mass is cut 40-45 minutes after rennet addition. Cut vertically with a 1-1.5cm spacing and leave for 5 minutes.
      • After 5 minutes, cut into 1cm cubes.
      • Leave for 5 minutes and cut even finer with a slotted spoon.
      • Heat to 40C for 30 minutes, stirring continuously.
      • Stir for another 20 minutes.
        Pressing and salting
        • Strain the whey and pour the cheese curd into a cheese mold, which we put back into the pot under a small press (up to 0.5kg) and pour the freshly made whey into the pot. This allows the pressing to happen in the whey.
        • After 20 minutes, turn the cheese and place it under the press without whey for 1 hour.
        • After 1 hour, turn the cheese and press it for another 6 hours.
        • Remove the cheese from the cloth and leave it in the mold overnight without the press.
        • Put the cheese in a 7% salt solution for 1kg of cheese and place it in the refrigerator.
        • Dry it with paper towels and leave it in the refrigerator for 1 day.
        • Prepare a new Brevibacterium Linens (BL) solution.
        • After 1 day, start to smear the cheese with BL.
        Cheese ripening (maturation) occurs in a refrigerator at 10-14°C and a humidity of 95-97%, for at least two months. The cheese in the picture is two months old. If you have any questions about this recipe, please do not hesitate to contact us at [email protected].
          We look forward to your feedback!

          * Freshly milked milk has bactericidal properties for a few hours, during the so-called bactericidal phase, when bacteria suppress reproduction. Cooling the milk prolongs the bactericidal phase. If the milk is obtained in strict compliance with sanitary regulations and rapidly cooled to +40 °C, the duration of the bactericidal phase is 24 hours and more. At the same temperature bactericidal phase period, impure milk has at least two to three times shorter temperature. The duration of the unrefrigerated milk phase is, on average, 2 hours.
          (Source: http://www.ezerzeme.lv/lv/zinas/noderigi/5222/par-piena-kvalitati)

          ** The time of milk coagulation (thickening) depends on the quantity of calcium chloride and rennet. It can be adjusted for best coagulation time, which should ideally be 12 minutes. For instance, if the first time your milk has thickened after 20 minutes, then increase the next dose of enzyme.

          *** The salt solution can be prepared as follows: 1 liter of whey, 180 grams of salt (do not use iodized salt), 5–10 drops of calcium chloride, and 1 teaspoon vinegar It is recommended to purchase a hydrometer to determine the salt concentration in the solution, because after each salting, it returns the salt to the cheese.

          Necessary ingredients for cheese making

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