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:

CODE	DESCRIPTION
H012	20 LITER WOODEN CHEESE PRESS
H924	LARGE CYLINDRICAL WITH LID
H108	FLOATING DAIRY THERMOMETER
H108B	FLOATING THERMOMETER COVER
H168	CHEESECLOTH

 

Ingredients:

CODE	DESCRIPTION
HC50TCC4	TCC4 MOZZARELLA, PARMESAN, GORGONZOLA, PECORINO, ASIAGO
H064	LIQUID ANIMAL RENNET
HD001	IODINE ANTIBACTERIAL
H214C	CALCIUM CHLORIDE

PROCESS

Milk: 

Whole milk with approx 2.2% fat. For the H924 cylindrical mould, approximately 20 – 30 liters milk is required per batch. A smaller mould H921 for 10 liters milk is available.  Use milk not more than an hour after milking. You can mix full cream milk and skim milk to ensure you have a low fat content.  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 for 30min or 72°C for 20sec.

Temperature: 

Adjust the milk temperature to 32°C.

Calcium Chloride: 

Add Calcium Chloride to the milk only if the milk has been pasteurized, cooled for some time or if the cows are on dry land. 

Starter Culture:

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. 1 unit = approximately 1/3 teaspoon. Let the milk stand (pre-ripen) at 32°C for 30 – 45 minutes.

Rennet:

Use either powdered microbial rennet (H068A) OR liquid microbial rennet (H067, H068) OR liquid animal rennet (H064, H065).

Powdered microbial rennet (H068A) – 2g/100L
Liquid microbial rennet (H067, H068) – 4 drops/L or 25ml/100L
Liquid animal rennet (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 curd:

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

Cooking:

Whilst stirring slowly heat curds to 35°C over 10 minutes. Then stir and heat to 46°C over 40 minutes

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. Take care to keep the curds warm.

Pressing: 

Press the cheese for 5 – 6 hours with eight times the weight of the cheese on top of the cheese. Example: 8 kilogram is placed directly on a 1 kilogram cheese. When using the cheese press, hang a bucket of water from the arm. To determine the weight on the cheese place a scale under the press with a small tupperware on the scale and fill the bucket hanging from the lever with water until the scale reads the correct weight. Turn the cheese regularly while pressing taking it out the cheesecloth, turning it over, placing it back in the cheesecloth and into the mould. Do this every 1/2 hour for the first hour and then every hour. The curd should be kept warm while pressing. Wrap dish cloths around the mould. Or place the press  in a pot with a little water at the bottom and keep the water at 35°C. 

Salting:

Remove the cheese from the moulds and place them in a 20% brine solution.

To make a 20% brine add 2kg salt per 8-9 liter water. Now add 150ml Calcium Chloride (H214) per 10 liters brine. Measure the pH of the brine with pH sticks (H202A) ( available from Finest Kind). Add tiny quantity of citric acid to the brine until the reading is pH 5. Brining times are as follows

• 500 gram 4-8 hrs
• 1kg 12 – 24 hrs
• 2kg 36 – 48 hrs
• 4.5kg 48 – 60 hrs

Take the cheese from the brine and set on shelves at 12 – 14°C. 

Maturing:

Mature the cheese at 12 – 14°C and at 85% relative humidity for 5-12 months  turning the cheese regularly.  Clean the cheese by wiping mould off frequently. Apply olive oil to the surface from time to time.  After ripening, store the cheese at 4.4°C.