Homemade grilling cheese (queijo coalho) is the squeaky Nordeste cheese that browns on a skewer and does not run. The live grate cook is here: how to grill queijo coalho. This page is the make. If the Brazilian shop is empty, halloumi works on the grate. Rinse it — it is already salty.
What it is
Queijo coalho is pasteurized milk, rennet (coalho), calcium chloride, and more salt than minas, then pressed so the block holds over embers. Boxed UHT milk will not set. The home pot below is one US gallon. Cheese-making liquid rennet is sold at home-dairy shops. Follow the dose on the bottle.
How it is used
Cut sticks and grill them as on the coalho cook. It also sits with cuscuz, which is steamed flocão de milho (corn), not US couscous, and carne de sol (how to make carne de sol). It is not the cheese for Romeu e Julieta. That plate wants queijo minas.
Where to buy it
A Brazilian market may have queijo coalho in the cheese case. If the shop is empty, make the pot below, or buy halloumi (Mt. Vikos is a named US brand) and grill that. Mozzarella and cheddar melt through the grate. Queijo minas is a table cheese, happier off the fire.
What to buy
- Low: halloumi, rinsed, no extra salt
- Usual mid: a homemade 1-gallon block, pressed overnight
- High: a Brazilian-shop queijo coalho
Ingredients (one block, about 1 lb / 450 g)
- 1 gallon (3.8 L) refrigerated pasteurized whole milk, not UHT
- Liquid rennet, the 1-gallon dose on the bottle (often about 1/4 colher de chá / 1.25 ml), mixed in 1/4 cup cool water
- 1/4 teaspoon (1/4 colher de chá) calcium chloride, mixed in 1/4 cup cool water
- 2 tablespoons, 36 g (2 colheres de sopa) non-iodized salt
Method
- Use a clean pot and a clean thermometer. Heat the milk to 97°F (36°C). Keep it under a boil.
- Stir in the calcium chloride water for 1 minute. Stir in the rennet water for 1 minute. Stop. Cover. Leave 40 to 50 minutes, until a knife cut is clean.
- Cut the curd into 1/2-inch (1 cm) cubes. Smaller cubes make a drier cheese that holds on the fire. Rest 5 minutes. Stir slowly 10 to 15 minutes, keeping the pot near 97°F (36°C).
- Ladle off most of the whey. Dissolve the salt in a little of the warm whey. Fold that into the curd.
- Pack the curd into a rectangular form or a cloth-lined loaf pan with holes or a rack under it so whey can leave. Press with a 2 to 4 lb (1 to 2 kg) weight for 90 minutes. Flip. Press 30 minutes more.
- Unmold. Chill overnight, uncovered on a rack for the first hour, then wrapped. Grill the next day.
How you know it is done
The block is firm, a little salty, and squeaks when you bite it. On the grate it should brown and hold, not melt into a puddle. If it melts, it needed a smaller cut, more stir, or more press. If it never set, the milk was UHT.
When it goes on the table / storage
Make it the day before the fire. Keep it cold. Use within 5 days. Distance and doneness for the grate stay on the coalho cook: embers, not flames.
What to leave out
Use the dairy-case gallon, not boxed UHT milk. Raw milk needs a home pasteurization first (145°F (63°C) / 63°C for 30 minutes, then cooled to 97°F / 36°C). Press the cheese if it is going on the fire, so it holds on the grate.
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