Asiago Cheese Recipe

Heat & Acidify Milk

Begin by heating the milk to 95-97¡F (warmer during the colder months and with higher fat%).

Once the milk is at the target temperature the following two cultures can be added:

1. 3/4 to 1 pack of C201 Thermophilic Culture or 1/8 tsp of TA061 Culture
2. 1/16 tsp LH100 Culture 

This may seem like a small amount of culture because Asiago depends on a very slow acid development and much of this will take place on the second day while the cheese rests in the mold before salting.

The milk should then be allowed to ripen for 30 minutes before adding rennet.

Coagulate with Rennet

Add 5 ml of a single strength calf rennet once the milk has ripened. Enough rennet is added to form a good curd in about 25 minutes.

Stir the rennet into the milk in an up and down manner so that the milk quickly comes to rest.

Once the curd begins to set you will notice a thickening as the surface tension increases. It is still too soft to cut at this point.

When the full coagulation develops the curd will split cleanly.

Cut Curds & Release Whey

Once the curd has firmed it can be cut into about 3/8-1/2 inch pieces. The curds should then be slowly stirred for about 15-20 minutes until they become firmer. The temperature should be adjusted to the original culture temp.

Cook Curds

Once the curds are firm, the heating of the curd begins by heating to 106¡F in 20 minutes. It is then held at this temp while stirring slowly for 15 min.

During the next 10 minutes, the heat is increased to 118F (during cool weather or with high fat % milk it may need to go as high as 123¡F).

At this point the curd should be dry enough but will need to produce more acid before draining. This can be accomplished by allowing the curd to settle to the bottom for another 20 minutes. They should be stirred lightly to keep from matting every 3-5 minutes.

Drain Curds

Asiago needs to be drained well while keeping the curds separate. This will allow for the somewhat open texture of this cheese.

The curds need to be cooked to their final moisture then a cloth and draining pan are sanitized in hot water in preparation for the curd transfer and whey drainage.

The whey is then removed to the curd level and the curd is transferred to the draining pan.

Mold Curds

The curds can now be transferred into a cloth lined cheese mold.

I use a mold diameter of about 7.5 inches for this cheese. The cloth should be folded over and a follower placed on top.

Press Curds

12 lbs of weight can be applied to the cheese mold for 30 minutes, then removed. After 30 minutes, flip the curds in the cloth and press with 25 lbs of weight for the 2 hours. After 2 hours, turn, re-wrapped and press with 25 lbs for another 2 hours.

At this point the cheese should be well consolidated. The weight can be removed and the cheese replaced in the mold.

The mold should be kept warm overnight at 75-85¡F while the bacteria continues to work producing more acid in the cheese. No salt should be added on the second day and again it is held overnight.

Salt & Age

On the third morning the cheese will be brined in a saturated brine at a rate of 3 hrs per lb. of cheese.

The cheese is now ready to be aged for 30-40 days.

The aging temperature is 54-58¡F and humidity of 85-87% should be maintained. Any surface mold should be wiped away with a saturated brine solution.