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–+ servings

Raw Milk Asiago Cheese

Kate Schat
This straightforward wheel of cheese is a great beginner pressed cheese to try. It develops flavour quickly and is good in most ways you want to serve cheese. I liken it to a cross between parmesan and cheddar cheese.
5 from 3 votes
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Cook Time 6 hours
Brine 20 hours
Total Time 1 day 2 hours
Course Cheese
Cuisine American
Servings 50 servings
Calories 188 kcal

Ingredients
  

  • 4 gallons Raw milk with an average 1 inch creamline skim extra cream for other use if your creamlines are bigger
  • ¾ cup whey, strained from yogurt
  • ¾ teaspoon calf rennet or whatever the package directions say for dosage
  • ¼ cup cool water
  • 325 grams iodine free salt I used himilayan pink salt
  • 700 grams hot water
  • 600 grams cold water
  • olive oil to age optional

Smoked paprika+Black Pepper Asiago

  • 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
  • ½ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

Instructions
 

  • Using a very large pot, add the milk and warm up on medium low until 85F-90F. Take off the heat.
  • Add yogurt whey, stirring in circles and up and down. Let sit 45-60 minutes
  • Dilute rennet in ¼ cup cool water, pour into the milk and stir in circles as well as up and down to make sure its throughout. Let sit 45-60 minutes.
  • Check your milk with your finger or a butter knife, insert it at a 45 degree angle and gently move finger/knife to surface of milk. Does the curd break "cleanly" over your finger/knife? If yes, proceed, if no, let sit another 10 minutes.
  • Use a whisk to cut the curds as shown in the video. Let sit 5 minutes for curds to heal so you dont make them even smaller.
  • Put the pot back on medium low heat, set timer for 20 minutes, Stir the curds, at least for a minute every few minutes. Check the temp halfway through, it should be on its way to 105F. If its not raised much about 90F, turn the heat up a bit more.
  • The golden rule here is to follow how the cheese curds should be as their finished product NOT the time/temp. The time/temp is your guideline, but what you're looking for is curds that are a little springy and when you lightly compress a handful, it sticks together.
  • After 20 minutes, take the pot off the heat, set timer for 20 minutes, and stir the same sort of thing, for a minute, every few minutes. Make sure you're using your hand occasionally so you can feel if there is curds at the bottom matting together that should be broken up.
  • If your curds are still not at the right point (mine usually are done by this point), turn the heat back on medium low, heating to 118F over the course of 20 minutes. Again, keep stirring with your hand whenever possible to keep an eye on how the curds are.
  • When your curds are at the right place, take off the heat, let settle for 5 minutes then proceed to pressing.
  • Put a colander over a bucket or big pot to catch the whey, gently pour out all the whey you can.
  • To press your cheese, line your press with a cheesecloth, scoop the curds into the cheesecloth, dumping last bit of curds and whey from the pot overtop of it all.
  • Make sure your cheesecloth is pulled tight and not bunched up somewhere, lay one corner over the cheese curds, put the follower disc on, and then assemble your cheese press.
  • Press with firm pressure- the exact amount is a bit of a guess/trial and error. With my twist down press I twist as tight as it goes, with my bigger press, I found 2 fifteen packs of beer worked great. One of these days I'll get actual weights for it...
  • If you're unsure of if youve applied enough pressure, check it after 30 minutes, It it still looks crumbly, add more pressure OR you could have just overcooked the curds a bit. Flip your wheel and add more pressure either way if thats the case.
  • If you know you've got enough pressure, just wait til an hour and then flip, leaving it in the press for 8 hours to overnight.
  • After you take it out of the press, make the brine.
  • Mix salt and hot water until combined. I like to use an empty 7kg honey bucket. Then add cold water to cool it down.
  • Put your wheel of cheese in the brine for 20-ish hours, flipping halfway. If you're making a bigger batch, its going to need more time, more like 25-30 hrs.
  • After its brined, put it on a rack overtop of a plate or pan to air dry. Flip it 2-3 times a day. When it feels like a "clammy handshake" its time to move onto aging.
  • Its pretty flexible in how it ages, it needs a cooler environment. You can vacuum seal and put in the fridge. You can put it in a root cellar or cool room. You can mcgyver a wine fridge or mini fridge into a cheese fridge. You could wax, you can just olive oil to create a rind. In my videos I show some different ways I do it so you can explore that there.
  • After a month, you can try it! Woohoo! But the longer you leave it, the better it keeps on getting.

Nutrition

Calories: 188kcalCarbohydrates: 14gProtein: 11gFat: 10gSaturated Fat: 6gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.3gMonounsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 39mgSodium: 2637mgPotassium: 462mgFiber: 0.03gSugar: 15gVitamin A: 534IUVitamin C: 0.001mgCalcium: 380mgIron: 0.1mg
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