Kunik

Kunik (Alaskan Reindeer-Mozzarella Bloomy Rind)

Kunik is a small, rich cheese from Alaska made by blending cow's milk mozzarella curd with reindeer (caribou) cream, then aging it under a bloomy rind. This home version approximates the classic style using accessible cream cheese and a bloomy-rind rind culture, since true reindeer cream is not legally sold outside Alaska. Note the milk choice carefully: this is a soft, short-aged bloomy-rind cheese, so it should be made from pasteurised milk, or held for the full 60 days required for raw-milk soft cheese before it is eaten.

Prep

60 min

Total

60 min

Serves

Makes 3 small wheels (about 250 g each)

Difficulty

Hard

Recipe ingredients

• •2 L (8½ cups) whole cow's milk, not ultra-pasteurized
• •3 g (1 tsp) thermophilic mesophilic starter culture, e.g. MM100 or Flora Danica
• •0.5 g (¼ tsp) calcium chloride, diluted in 30 ml cool water
• •1.25 ml (¼ tsp) liquid rennet, diluted in 30 ml cool water
• •150 g (5¼ oz) reindeer (caribou) cream, authentic ingredient; substitute with heavy cream + 15 g crème fraîche if unavailable
• •300 g (10½ oz) full-fat cream cheese, as the substitute 'mozzarella-style' base when reindeer cream is not used
• •1 pinch fine sea salt
• •1 g (¼ tsp) Penicillium candidum (white bloomy-rind culture), e.g. Geo 17 or similar

Steps

1. 1 Sanitize all equipment: large stainless pot, thermometer, slotted spoon, three small Camembert-style cheese molds (about 8 cm / 3 in diameter), cheese mats, and a draining box or rack. Bring 2 L milk to 32 °C (90 °F) in the pot. Use pasteurised milk for this soft, short-aged cheese; if you use raw milk, see the aging note in the last steps.
2. 2 Sprinkle the starter culture over the milk surface and let it rehydrate for 2 minutes, then stir gently in an up-and-down motion to incorporate. Cover and ripen for 45 minutes, keeping the temperature at 32 °C (90 °F).
3. 3 Add the diluted calcium chloride and stir gently for 1 minute. Add the diluted rennet, stir for 1 minute, then stop stirring. Cover and let the milk set undisturbed for 30-40 minutes, until you get a clean break.
4. 4 Cut the curd into 1 cm (½ in) cubes. Let the curds rest 5 minutes, then gently stir every 5 minutes for 20 minutes while holding the temperature at 32 °C (90 °F). The curds will firm up and release whey.
5. 5 Ladle the curds into the molds set over a draining tray. Let them drain at room temperature for 6-8 hours, flipping the wheels every 1-2 hours so whey drains evenly. The wheels should shrink to roughly half their original height and feel firm but springy.
6. 6 If using reindeer cream: warm the cream to 32 °C (90 °F). Unmold the fresh mozzarella-style wheels, slice each into thin rounds, and layer the rounds with the warm cream in a bowl, folding gently until evenly coated. Re-shape into wheels and return to the molds to drain for 4 more hours.
7. 7 If substituting: gently fold the cream cheese with the drained, lightly salted curds until evenly combined (do not overwork), then portion into the molds and press lightly. Drain 4 more hours.
8. 8 Unmold the wheels onto cheese mats in a ripening box. Lightly sprinkle both flat surfaces of each wheel with the Penicillium candidum culture (a pinch total per wheel). Flip so both sides are inoculated.
9. 9 Age at 12-14 °C (54-57 °F) and 90-95 % relative humidity for 7-14 days. Turn the wheels daily for the first 5 days, then every other day. A fluffy white rind will form; when the rind is fully white and the wheel gives slightly when pressed at the center (the 'give' test), it is ready to wrap.
10. 10 Wrap each wheel in unwaxed cheese paper and continue to age in the refrigerator at 4 °C (39 °F) for 5-10 more days to develop the soft, buttery interior. Total age 2-3 weeks. This 2-3 week timing only applies to pasteurised milk.
11. 11 Raw milk note: a soft cheese like this is not a candidate for short-aged raw-milk making. If you started with raw milk, do not eat any of it before it has spent at least 60 days at 1.7 °C (35 °F) or colder, which is the standard aging condition that controls Listeria and E. coli in unpasteurised cheese. The two to three weeks in this recipe is not enough. For raw-milk cheese, hold the wrapped wheels in a refrigerator set to 1.7-4 °C (35-39 °F) and count the full 60 days from the day the wheel was made before eating, or simply use pasteurised milk as instructed above.
12. 12 Doneness cues for the milk in step 1: heat slowly, never above 35 °C (95 °F), to avoid scorching. Soft cheeses such as this one, and raw-milk cheeses under 60 days, are not considered safe for pregnant women, young children, the elderly, or immunocompromised people. A warm kitchen, a wet rind or a sour smell means discard the batch.