Haloumi cheese is very hard

I made halloumi from raw cow's milk. I followed Ricki Carroll's recipe and it tastes right but is very hard. I am wondering when cooking in the whey, it never did rise to the top, could this be why? Why wouldn't it have risen and should I have waited longer than the 60 minutes stated in the recipe?

cheese-making

Best Answer

The cheese failing to rise and being hard are definitely related, but it's more likely that there was a problem in the cheese chemistry (particularly, in the culture), than cooking it longer in the whey would have helped. In other words, the most likely problem culprit is your starter/culture being poor quality or somehow added improperly. You are using non-chlorinated water, correct?

This is, of course, assuming that you followed Carroll's recipe exactly. If you cooked the curds at too high of a temperature, or for too long, or if you re-cooked the cheese in the whey at too low of a temperature, those would also cause similar problems.

While it's not uncommon to need to cook halloumi in the whey for longer than expected (for example, see Gavin Webber's cow-milk Halloumi video; he has to cook it for twice as long as the recipe specifies), Carroll's cooking time of an hour is already very long for finishing the cheese. Other recipes specify more like 15 minutes to 1/2 hour.

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Quick Answer about "Haloumi cheese is very hard"

Halloumi or haloumi (Greek: ????????) (/h??lu?mi/) is a semi-hard, unripened cheese made from a mixture of goat's and sheep's milk, and sometimes also cow's milk. Its texture is described as squeaky. It has a high melting point and so can easily be fried or grilled, a property that makes it a popular meat substitute.

Why is my halloumi hard?

Halloumi can become a little rubbery and tough if you don't know how to use it. There are a few things you can do to avoid this: cut your slices of halloumi on the thicker side \u2013 very thin slices tend to become a little hard, rather than soft and squidgy, like thicker slices do.

Why is halloumi so rubbery?

When halloumi cheese is being made, the curds are typically cooked at high heat for at least an hour, but often more. This gives the cheese a rubbery, semi-firm texture that "squeaks" between the teeth and a higher-than-normal melting point which means it softens when heated but doesn't melt entirely.

How do you melt halloumi cheese?

How to Fry Halloumi

Cut the halloumi into 1cm / \u2153in thick slices.

Preheat a skillet on medium heat. ...

Add halloumi slices to the skillet and cook for 1-2 minutes until golden brown, then flip and cook the other side for another 1-2mins.

Serve as is, or squeeze a little freshly lemon juice over the top.

Should halloumi be soaked?

Halloumi should be soaked for a minimum of 3 hours maximum 6 hours. Cut each block into 8 slices. Give each cheese slice a light coating of olive oil. Place halloumi in hot frying pan and cook until browned on both sides, turning only once halfway.

Why is it so Difficult to Melt Halloumi? | Food Unwrapped

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