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5 from 2 votes

Italian Havarti Cheese Recipe

Materials

  • 6 gallons fresh raw milk I like to use raw milk that is no older than 2 days for cheesemaking. See notes below in this post for using pasteurized milk and the addition of calcium chloride.
  • 3/4 tsp Mesophilic culture or 2 cups well fed clabber
  • Rennet Determine the amount by using the package directions on your rennet bottle. For example I use 1 tsp double strength calf rennet.
  • 3/4 cup fine ground salt Be sure that your salt has no additives in it. This means no anti clumping agents or iodine. When you read the ingredient list it should list salt as the only ingredient. You can usually find good salt for cheesemaking at the grocery store or the health food store.
  • 2 tbsp dry Italian seasoning

Instructions

  • Warm milk to 90F. Turn off heat.
  • Sprinkle Mesophilic Culture over the surface of the milk, and let stand for 5 minutes to rehydrate. Using an up and down motion, combine the culture into the milk. If you are using clabber instead of mesophilic culture, gently whisk the clabber into your milk to combine.
  • Dilute rennet in 1/4 cup cool water and combine using the same up and down motion. Put the lid on your pot and leave it for 30 min-1 hour.
  • At the 30 min mark, come back and check for a clean break.
  • Once you have achieved a clean break, Cut curds into 1/2 inch cubes. Be sure to let the curds rest between sets of cuts. This means cut vertical and horizontal lines across your pot 1/2 inch apart, let set 5 min to firm up. Using a skimmer and knife, cut underneath your curd mass to create 1/2 inch cubes, let set 5 min to firm up. This whole step should take approximately 10 min, and will ensure a more stable curd.
  • Gently stir curds for 5-10 minutes with a spoon, be very gentle during this time and dedicate this time to bringing all of your curds to a uniform 1/2 inch cube size. The reason for this is that it is very difficult to create uniform curds underneath the surface of your curd mass, by using this next 5 minutes to get everyone down to a uniform size, you will create a more consistent cheese.
  • After you feel that the majority of your curds are a uniform size, stir for an additional 5 minutes, at this point your curds should be about the size of half a grape, and they will feel like egg whites from a poached egg. When left to sit, they will sink to the bottom of your pot.
  • Allow them to settle at the bottom of the pot.
  • Using a fine mesh strainer and a bowl, pitch off the whey until you see the surface of the curds. Replace the whey with with 1 gallon 105F steralized water (be sure that it is non chlorinated).
  • Stir curds for 10 minutes. At this point they will have shrunk slightly, and they will have the firmness of a raison. When pressed between your fingers, they break, but you feel some firmness. Allow the curds to settle to the bottom of the pot.
  • Again pitch off as much whey as you can from the pot. This means, when you reach the surface of the curds, keep pitching off whey using the bowl and strainer method, until there is very little whey left in the pot.
  • Add 3/4 cup fine ground salt to the pot and 2 tbsp Italian seasoning, stirring to combine.
  • Leave in the pot for 20 minutes with the lid on. Stir every 5 minutes or so, to prevent the curds from clumping too much. During this time, they will continue to release whey.
  • After 20 min, add 1 gallon 105F sterilized water to the pot, stir for 1 min. Leave curds to sit under the whey for 5 minutes.
  • Meanwhile prepare your cheese form by wetting your cheese cloth in the warm whey and lining your cheese form with it. Place your cheese form in a shallow baking dish, this will make clean up easier for the next step.
  • Pitch or drain off the whey from your cheese pot. Pulling curds out of the pot in chunks, press curd chunks into your prepared form until it is full. Work your way around your cheese form pulling the cheese cloth up as you go. Tuck your cheese cloth over top of your cheese and smooth it flat. Put your follower on your form and press at low pressure for 30 min.
  • After 30 min, remove cheese from press, redress and press for an additional 5 hours at medium pressure. (See notes).
  • Remove from press and place on a rack in a large plastic container. If your cheese is still quite squishy feeling, consider keeping your cheese in the cheese form and placing the whole form in the plastic container. Set the lid on the container but do not snap it shut, it should be sitting loosly in place to allow for airflow. Place the container in your refrigerator or aging area. Flip your cheese daily and dump out any accumulated whey from the container for 2- 5 days until your cheese feels dry to the touch.
  • Once your cheese feels dry to the touch, Vacuum Seal, and leave in your temperature controlled aging area. If you notice a large amount of whey in the vacuum bag, pull your cheese out and dry it for another day or so on the drying rack in your plastic container.
  • This cheese will taste good after 4 weeks of aging. Please note that it is recommended by many health guidelines to only consume raw milk cheeses after 6 weeks.

Notes

Notes; This cheese requires very little pressure to press properly. When I made this cheese, my light pressure consisted of a 1.5 gallon bucket of warm water, and about 10 lbs of books. My medium pressure added another 10 lbs of books to the top. This was sufficient enough to press this cheese well. Be sure to assess how well your cheese is pressing when you redress it. At the redressing stage, the curds should be knit together, and it should look like a cheese, and feel very squishy and floppy. If your curds are not well knit together, I would add an additional 15 lbs, if they are knit together, I would add an additional 10lbs.