Belper Knolle cheese

We pasteurize 15 liters of milk of any maturity.

Add Ingredients

Add calcium chloride.

Heat to a temperature of 35 degrees.

Add mesophilic starter culture, wait 3 minutes, and mix well.

Add rennet.

For this cheese, you can add half of the manufacturer’s recommended amount.

Mix well and stop the milk. After that, cover with a lid and leave at room temperature for 12-18 hours. Wait for the curd to become firm and pull away from the edges of the pot.

Forming the Cheese Mass

When the curd is ready, transfer it to a drainage system (cheesecloth) and hang it to drain the whey. This may take 12-36 hours. Wait until the whey stops dripping.

To help the whey drain better, you can periodically squeeze the drainage bag with your hands.

Forming Balls

Next, transfer the cheese mass to a bowl and weigh it.

Based on the weight of the cheese, add the required amount of salt: 1 gram of salt for every 100 grams of cheese.

Also, add granulated garlic at a rate of 2.5 grams per 1 kg of cheese.

It’s better to wear rubber gloves at this point. Mix everything well, after which form balls from the cheese, compacting them well.

The finished balls are rolled in spices. You can choose from: black ground pepper, smoked paprika, dried herbs.

You can also add a pinch of mustard to the coating to prevent mold formation on the cheese during aging.

You can use hot pepper for the same purpose.

After that, leave the balls at room temperature (up to 22 degrees) for 12 hours to dry. Then roll them again in the same spices.

Next, place them in a container and put them in the refrigerator to age at a temperature of 10-12 degrees (we need low humidity, up to 50%, so that the balls dry better and mold doesn’t form, so the container should be slightly open).

The aging time depends on you. In principle, you can eat it right now. Or leave it to age for a week, two weeks, or a month. At each stage of aging, the taste and texture of the cheese will be different.