Making provolone is not as difficult as it seems whether or not you use a pH meter. I have never used a pH meter for provolone or mozzarella I just do several stretch tests until it looks right.

For this batch I used Peter Dixons recipe except that I don’t cut off a piece and throw it in 170° F water to test. I test it in the cheese vat. When it’s ready then I throw it in the hot water. When the curds are ready you can easily stretch them between your thumb and a few fingers. If it stretches but the edges look raggedy wait another 5 minutes or so and check it again.



When it stretches and begins to look opaque without breaking it’s ready to stretch.



I scoop the curd into a ball and throw it all in the hot water at once. After it gets stretched a bit I squeeze off smaller sections. It’s pretty heavy lifting over your head after a while (and splashes pretty good when it slips out of your hands).



I usually pull it and fold it over itself until it gets tough. That means it’s getting cool – time to grab another piece and let that one warm some.



After awhile it will look kind of shiny and rubbery it’s done form it into whatever shape you want. I am going to age this provolone so it will be formed into large balls. If you want to slice it for sammies put it into a tube. Put it in ice water to stiffen up for about 10 minutes or so.



While the cheese is cooling mix up your brine water. Throw the cheese into the brine and chill over night.



Good night!

A few more questions. I get my cultures from dairy connection--can you  translate the cultures in your provolone recipe to what they offer? I already have thermo C. What is the curdle point  that i need to note or measure in the recipie?

Took care of the intro. I found most of the info I need for a small 1 gal provolone to get the tecnique down except for one thing I have seen in several cheese recipies. In the provolone recipie in your e=book it says after riening and adding rennet to measure the curdling point and multiply it by three to determine when to cut the curds. I usually just check for a clean break however long it takes. Does it really matter how long I wait as long as I have a good solid curd? Less math is better!!! I do use ph strips to check acidity for spinning etc. Once I found good milk I have had no problems with curd or spinning. I started with direct acidified mozz with citric acid and then moved on to cultured mozz with Rickies c201 culture. It's all in the milk!!
Thanks for the help.