Artisan Cheese Making: Havarti

Havarti.

Of the many, many slice-able and grate-able cheeses out there, my personal favorites have to be cheddar (in an all-around sense) and asiago (in a more select sense). Havarti hasn't been on my radar except for the time or two I've gotten it sliced at the deli counter instead of cheddar, provolone or swiss for making sub sandwiches. I always liked it but it wasn't really one I gave a lot of thought to.

Then I was trying to find another cheese in my new book to make and voila! I discovered a recipe for Havarti. I remember liking it a lot, so I thought yes, I'll give it a shot.

Let me again state how much I enjoy making cheese. The process is very precise; I can be a really serious perfectionist, so it suits me fine to have something that requires a lot of careful and patient effort. From the first part of bringing the temperature to a required degree, stirring in the culture for ripening an hour, to then stirring in the calcium chloride and rennet to waiting another half-to-three quarters of an hour for coagulating... Then cutting the curds. Stirring them gently and watching them change shape and size. Wow how miraculous it is to see that happen! (See photos below.)

Cut curds at rest before stirring first time.

When you go through all the steps and then prepare your mold, fill it with curds and put the pressure on it in the press, it's exciting. Anticipation mounts as the days, then weeks, pass, and you get to test out your cheese: the product of your loving labor! And when you get the first bite, it's sort of one of those scary-exciting moments where you hope (but cannot KNOW) that your cheese will be oh-so-worth the time and effort you've put into it.



So, back to the Havarti...

The slow process of making this cheese is amazingly restful. Strangely enough, the days that I make cheese are good, happy days where I can just tune out the whole world and spend time in meditation on the Lord as I work. That is so uplifting! I end my cheese-making day tired but emotionally and spiritually uplifted from the time spent quietly contemplating the Lord Jesus!

After stirring the curds gently...

Havarti in the press.

We used the 8" mold with follower when the time came to press. It doesn't take a lot of weight; maybe 8 lbs or so--and not for a lengthy period of time, either. We did everything just as we were told. Waited about a week (Havarti is one cheese that can be consumed 18 hours after you start making it) and then cut it. It was a tiny bit salty, but only around the outside, where a thin rind had formed. Tasted very good! We had it with crackers for the Super Bowl game on Sunday. The next night, I tried grating it. YES!! It grated wonderfully, so I melted it in the microwave atop corn chips. Mmmmm....it was the taste (somewhat) of a very good cheddar but the stretchy-ness of mozzarella! We knew then that this would be a staple for us from now on.

Our homemade Havarti at just under a week.

It's a little more labor intensive than some cheeses, but it is so worth it. The labor is at the front of the project rather than the back (by "the back", I refer to the cautiousness of ripening the cheeses--flipping them daily or weekly or 2x a week, controlling temp and humidity, etc. for months at a time). It takes 5-6 hours to make Havarti.