I love quality Greek feta. It’s not easy to find feta that balances creaminess, saltiness, acidic bite/piquancy, and a just-firm-enough texture; which are the qualities I look for. For me, it has to have what I call a “belly of the goat” flavour too.
For those interested in the details, my most recent approach is:
A non-traditional milk blend of 25% cow’s milk (Jersey and Guernsey at 5.2% fat, preferrably unhomogenised), with the remainder being goat’s milk.
CaCl (if any of the milk is homogenised) and lipase.
Mesophilic starter. Ripening @ 30 C / 90 F for 1 hr.
Rennet @~0.7 ml/l.
Coagulation (rennet to curd cutting): ~1.5 hrs.
Cuts @ 1 to 1.5 cm, with 45 min wait incuding two stirring interludes.
Draining: ~24 hrs.
Salted @ 50 g/kg and brined @ 8%.
Yield: typically ranges about 15 to 30% w/v original milk.
Cutting the curds
Draining
Feta cheese