Finest Kind cheese making recipe for a hard and salty Italian cheese: Pecorino Romano.

Pecorino Romano is one of the most ancient types of cheese as well as the most famous. It’s a strong and salty hard cheese, excellent for grating over pasta dishes, a great addition to breads and casseroles. Pair it with a glass of big, bold Italian red wine or a light beer.

PECORINO / ROMANO

Equipment:

Ingredients:

ADDITION OF STARTER CULTURE AND RENNET

Milk:
Whole milk with approx 2.2% fat. Use milk not more than an hour after milking. If you need to store the milk, cool it down to 4°C as quickly as possible. Do not use cooled milk that is more than 24hrs old. Alternatively pasteurize the milk: 63°C – 30min or 72°C – 20sec.

Temperature:
Adjust the milk temperature to 36 – 38°C.

Starter:
1% inoculation with thermophilic culture.
Chr.Hansen’s DVS TCC3 or TCC4
DVS: One 50U packet contains 50 units which inoculates 500L milk at 1%. Therefore 1 unit is required for every 10 liters. One packet contains 16 tsp. Therefore 1 unit = 1/3 teaspoon. Let the milk stand (pre-ripen) at 36 – 38°C for 30 – 45 minutes.
A little (teaspoon tip, half of the unit amount of TCC3) LhB-02 can also be added for extra nutty flavour.

Rennet:
Use either powdered microbial rennet (H068A) OR liquid microbial rennet (H066, H067, H068) OR liquid animal rennet (H063, H064, H065).
Powdered microbial rennet (H068A) – 2g/100L
Liquid microbial rennet (H066, H067, H068) – 4 drops/L or 25ml/100L
Liquid animal rennet (H063, H064, H065) – 4 drops/L or 25ml/100L
Dilute the rennet in a little cool water before adding to the milk.
Stir well!!! Let the milk stand at 32°C for 45-60 minutes or until the milk has set like jelly. Test the curd to check whether it has set by inserting a knife and pulling it to one side. The knife should make a clean cut.

Cutting:
The coagulum is cut into 10-12 mm cubes. The curd should be allowed to heal for 5 min. Then cut into wheat grain size.

Cooking:
Increase the temperature to 45 – 48°C.

Stirring:
Stir for 15 to 20 minutes.

Draining:
Drain off the whey and leave the curd at the bottom of the vat.

Moulding:
Line a mould with cheesecloth (H168) and place the curd chips into the mould. 10 liters milk require a 1kg mould, 20 liters a 2kg mould etc.
The Kadova moulds (H027) can be used without the nets.

Pressing:
Press the cheese overnight with ten times the weight of the cheese on top of the cheese. Example: 10 kilogram is placed on a 1 kilogram cheese.

Salting:
On the next day, remove the cheese from the moulds and place them in a 24% brine solution for 2 – 5 days. Take the cheese from the brine and set on shelves at 12 – 14°C. Rub the surfaces with salt daily for 30 – 60 days.

Maturing:
Mature the cheese at 12 – 14°C and at 85% relative humidity for 5-12 months. Turn cheese frequently and clean periodically by scraping.
After ripening, store the cheese at 4.4°C.