Dutch Cheese
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the curd
Allow the milk to clabber naturally.
Heat the clabbered milk slowly to 85°F (29°C) in summer or 90°F (32°C) in winter.
Pour the heated milk into a thin muslin or crash toweling bag and place it in a draining box for 24 hours without applying pressure.
Salt the drained curd to taste, using 1/3 to 1/2 ounce per pound of curd, and mix thoroughly.
Shape and ripen
Form the curd into balls.
Scrape off any mold that forms on the balls and rub them with baking soda.
Wrap each ball separately in paper and allow them to ripen for 3 to 5 days before cleaning for market.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Milk
- Provides the curd that becomes the cheese body once it clabbers and drains.
- Baking soda
- Raises the surface pH of the balls, discouraging unwanted mold while the cheese ripens.
The step that matters
Draining without pressure. Letting the curd drain for 24 hours without pressure keeps it soft and moist. Applying pressure would expel more whey and make the cheese denser and drier than intended.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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