Halloumi grill cheese recipe

Halloumi grill cheese recipe
Greek-Cyprian minty grill cheese

Halloumi originates from the island of Cyprus. Traditionally it's made from a mixture of sheep's and goat milk, nowadays it is also made from cow milk. It is kept in brine, has a white colour, and layered in structure.

Traditionally Halloumi is flavoured with mint, they believed it increased the cheeses shelf life. Its high melting point makes Halloumi a grillable cheese, the surface caramelizes, browns before the cheese melts.During the warm months in Cyprus, people eat it with watermelon. It also goes well with salads, vegetables, fruits, and cured meats. Halloumi is a semicircle shaped, heavily salted, 220-270 g cheese.

INGREDIENTS:

The recipe:

Use fresh, whole milk.

1. CULTURING: Pour your milk into a big pot and heat it to 30-31 °C.
While it's coming up to temperature, take a pasta filata culture, pull the two sides of the capsule apart and dissolve its contents in some lukewarm water.
30-31 °C-on, 10 liter tejhez hozzáadom a feloldott kultúrát, alaposan elkeverem.
10 percig érlelem, pihentetem a bekultúrázott tejet, a baktériumok elszaporodása érdekében.


2. COAGULATION: At 30-31°C add 2,7ml of natural rennet for every 10 litres of milk.
Cover it with a lid and let it solidify for 30-35 minutes.
During coagulation do not stir, move !

 


3. CUTTING THE CURD: Cut the now solidified milk to 1,5-2 cm curds, under 8-10 minutes.


4. POST-HEATING: Heat the curds to 38-40°C, while stirring slowly, so each curd is heated evenly and they won't stick together. This takes about 20-25 minutes. Keep this temperature for another 20 minutes, stir it every 3-5 minutes.


5. SEDIMENTATION: Let the curds settle at the bottom for 5 minutes.
The whey rises to the top, ladle out as much as you can. Heat the whey 86-92°C. Be careful not to boil it, but also make sure to reach at least 86°C.


7. SHAPING: While the whey is coming up to temperature, put the curds into moulds.
Gently squeeze out the whey from the curds, layer by layer, fill up the mould. When it's full, put a follower on it and weigh it down with 0-1x the weight of the cheese.
If you want a softer cheese, don't use any weight at all, but make sure to flip it regularly! Do not use a weight larger than the cheese weight. Flip it every 10-15 minutes.


Make ricotta out of the whey that you have saved. When it reached 86-92°C add 1 tbs citric acid for every 10 litres of whey.
Gently stir it and wait 10-15 minutes, so the proteins can rise to the top. 
Carefully skim them off with a strainer into ricotta moulds, or cheesecloth. 


Keep the residual whey at 87-90°C. During this time the Halloumi will sour, and compress.
Take the cheese out of the mould and cut it to slices thick as a finger.
Gently lower the slices into the whey, wait until every slice rises to the surface.
Wait another 10 minutes, this gives Halloumi its characteristic taste. Take the slices out of the whey.


7. SALTING:

While it's still warm rub salt on both sides of the cheese. Be careful, it's hot!
Put some dried or fresh mint leaves, whole, on the slices (you can use other herbs too).
Fold each slice in half and press them a bit.


8. STORAGE:
When it's cold, create a 6-8%(m/m) brine out of the whey, and submerge the cheese slices in it.
I recommend using jars for this! Close them and keep them in a fridge. Halloumi can be stored for a few months, you can take out of the jars, just make sure the rest stays submerged.
Because of its high melting point Halloumi can be grilled. Try cutting it to cubes and grilling them with veggies and/or meats.

Happy Cheesemaking! :D

Pasta filata culture - YoBiotik - 5 pcs

€3.60
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Natural calf rennet enzyme - 210 IMCU - 100 mL

€5.20
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500 g rectangular cheese mould with follower

€2.50
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