Hard Parmesan-style grating cheese — Photo: Nerodiseppia, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AParmigiano%20Reggiano%20Modena.JPG

American Dairy Age - Italian-American cooking

American Parmesan-style Grating Cheese

Name: American Parmesan-style Grating Cheese
Prep time: 2 h
Cook time: 8 h
Yield: About 1 small home batch
Ingredients: 2 gallons pasteurized whole cow milk; 1/4 teaspoon direct-set thermophilic starter culture; 1/2 teaspoon calcium chloride diluted in 1/4 cup cool non-chlorinated water; 1/2 teaspoon single-strength liquid rennet diluted in 1/4 cup cool non-chlorinated water; Saturated brine, chilled; Extra non-iodized salt for dry rind rubbing during early aging

American Parmesan-style Grating Cheese is a cooked-curd American Alpine or grating-style cheese with thermophilic culture, firm pressing, brining, and controlled aging.

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Difficulty

Advanced

Prep time

1 to 2 hours active

Cook time

4 to 8 hours make day

Total time

6 to 12 months or longer in controlled aging

Servings

About 1 small home batch

Region

Italian-American and national dairy markets

Era introduced

American Dairy Age

Introduced by

Italian-American cooking

Recipe tools

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The Story

American Parmesan-style grating cheese reflects Italian immigration, wartime substitution, pasta dinners, pizza parlors, and the green-can era of shelf-stable grated cheese. The recipe below keeps that history practical for a home cheesemaking setup: use pasteurized milk, sanitized tools, measured culture, controlled temperature, controlled humidity, and refrigerated aging rather than casual countertop ripening. For named modern cheeses, this is a historical style entry and not an affiliated, commercial, or proprietary formula.

Ingredients

2 gallons pasteurized whole cow milk
1/4 teaspoon direct-set thermophilic starter culture
1/2 teaspoon calcium chloride diluted in 1/4 cup cool non-chlorinated water
1/2 teaspoon single-strength liquid rennet diluted in 1/4 cup cool non-chlorinated water
Saturated brine, chilled
Extra non-iodized salt for dry rind rubbing during early aging

Equipment

Large stainless steel pot
Accurate dairy thermometer
Long curd knife
Slotted spoon
Colander
Butter muslin or cheesecloth
Cheese mold
Cheese press
pH strips or pH meter
Aging refrigerator or cheese cave

Directions

Read the safety notes before starting. Use pasteurized milk only, sanitize every tool that touches milk or curd, wash hands well, and discard the batch if it smells rotten, turns slimy, grows black or pink mold, or shows swelling that does not match the style.
Warm the milk to 90 F. Add thermophilic culture, rest 3 minutes, stir 1 minute, cover, and ripen 45 minutes.
Add calcium chloride, then rennet, stirring each diluted addition for 30 seconds. Hold at 90 F for 40 minutes, until the curd gives a clean break.
Cut the curd gradually to rice-size pieces over 10 minutes. Stir carefully so the curd pieces stay separate.

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