Babybel is a trademarked name for a type of cheese that comes in little serving sized wheels. The trademark of this company is the red wax coating that the wheels come wrapped in. Many people will recognize the famous Laughing Cow. A traditional cheese making process is used to make the cheese, which comes in Original, Light, Cheddar, Cheddar Light, and Goat’s Milk Varieties. For our discussion purposes, we will follow the original recipe, which uses pasteurized cow’s milk.
Instructions
Getting Started
1. Heat milk in a cooking pot to about 90 degrees Fahrenheit. Add your milk ferments and mix well. Now, add about 2 tsp of liquid vegetable rennet and stir for one minute. Continue cooking, holding your temperature at 90 degrees Fahrenheit for 75 minutes. Cut the curd and let the mixture rest for about 10 minutes.
2. Slowly raise the temperature of the mixture to 100 degrees Fahrenheit. It should take you about 30 minutes to do this.
3. Heat six quarts of water in another kettle while you are raising the temperature of the curd mixture.. Take the water to a temperature of 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Once the curd mixture reaches 100 degrees Fahrenheit, ladle off two quarts of the whey and add two quarts of the 100 degree water. Repeat this process twice more, at intervals of ten minutes. This whole process should take just about 60 minutes
4. Pour off the whey next. Gently lay the kettle on it’s side and let the rim set just over the edge of the sink. Drain it this way for about ten minutes. At this point, it should be just starting to drip.
5. Remove the curd from the pot and break it into chunks that will fit into your mold. Line your mold with cheesecloth and pack the chunks into it. Press it for 30 minutes at approximately 20 pounds. Flip the mold and repeat.
6. Remove the cheese from the mold and the cheesecloth. Cut another piece of cheesecloth that is just large enough to cover the cheese. Put the cheese back into the press and press for three hours at about 40 pounds. You will want to flip the cheese several times during those three hours.
7. Use a plastic or stainless steel pan to dissolve one and one quarter pounds of salt in two quarts of water. Remove the cheeses from the cheesecloth and float them in the salt brine for about three hours. After floating, you will need to air dry them for three weeks. They should be kept in a cool place (about 50 degrees) with a moderate humidity.
8. After aging, the cheese is ready to be eaten or waxed.
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