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2:28 pm
December 14, 2010
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Thanks Leah's mom. I believe that the many cheese varieties that we can get today are the cheeses that could best be make in each regeon. Today we can duplicate the conditions of any place and with the proper cultures make any style of cheese just as we can duplicate the conditions used for creating cured meat from all over the world.
2:42 pm
August 24, 2011
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I want some of this cheese here on the front page of this site: http://pnwcheese.com/ Doesn't that look good? I don't know what kind it is or how it tastes but it looks divine.
2:44 pm
October 31, 2010
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I'm working on the list right now…be a few mins.!
2:45 pm
October 31, 2010
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PS: That's a brie I believe!
2:55 pm
September 27, 2011
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I have a different question about making cheese. I have read that you can make your own mesophilic starter from cultured buttermilk which I have done and so far it has worked ok, but if the recipe calls for direct set mesophilic starter can you substitute buttermilk powder for the direct set starter and if so how much would you use? I am new to cheesemaking so forgive me for asking dumb questions.
3:13 pm
October 31, 2010
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Okay – here are some REAL BASICS. (I think I may do a post in FBR with photos too but for now…just the text)
Let's say you want to make a Queso Fresco which doesn't have to be aged but does need to be pressed.
Here's a basic list of EQUIPMENT w/notes:
-Stainless Steel Soup Pot with a large enough capacity for your basic 2 gal. cheese (Could also use an enameled canner if it has NO CHIPS OR CRACKS in the enamel coating) The ss pot can be the cheap, thin kind that you can get for around $8.99 – $15.99…it doesn't need to be the expensive kind w/the heavy bottom. DO NOT USE ALUMINUM.
-Thermometer w/temperature range 0 – 220F. This could be a purchased dairy thermometer or if you already have a digital thermometer w/lower temp range, a digital meat thermometer w/corded probe, etc.
-Large SS Skimmer Spoon (has holes in it). Pick up at the Dollar Stores for about $1.00 – $2.00 if you don't already have one in your drawer. I like to have 2 – one I bend and use to cut the horizontal part of the curd but…that's another post…
-Fine Mesh SS Strainer. If you don't already have them, I got a set of 3 graduated sizes at Bed Bath & Beyond for about $8.99 with very fine mesh.
-Cheesecloth (Butter Muslin) NOT THE SUPERMARKET KIND! IT HAS TOO LARGE A WEAVE. This must either be purchased from a cheesemaking supply or go to the fabric store and buy butter muslin off the bolt It is the 90 thread. Most fabric stores carry a variety of thread count.
-Cheese Mold You can purchase a simple mold from a cheesemaking supply relatively inexpensively. Just be sure it comes with a follower as in a small tome mold. Click Here for an example.
But…. You already have one of these – you just didn't know it. (That's where the creative thinking comes in…
) A simple mold can be made from a large (food grade) plactic peanut butter jar or a plastic (food grade) gallon vinigar container. On either one, there is usually a standard "ridge" top and bottom that's a little wider than the main body of the container. Just cut the top and bottom portion off, leaving the long cylindar that is the main part of the jar or gallon container in-tact. Now you have a cylindar that is open both top and bottom. You will want to create some drain holes in the sides. This can be done by heating a metal skewer or nail over a flame, and poking holes from the inside out into the sides at regular intervals (about 1.5" – 2" apart). (A photo here would be extremely helpful…thus I need to do that post w/photos! You have to keep re-heating the nail, of course, as you go. The purpose of the heat is to seal open the holes you're making in the plastic. Going from inside to out keeps any rough edges on the outside of the mold.)
-Follower If you purchase a mold like the one in the link above, it comes with a follower. If you make your own mold, you will need a disk of some kind that will slide into the cylindar (again, a photo is worth a 1000 words…) It has to be sturdy enough to handle the weight of the press without bending or breaking. If you, or someone you know, has access to the proper tools, you could cut a round for the diameter you need from maple that is about 1/2" thick and use that. I want to experiment w/the peanut butter jar to see if the lid of the jar might actually fit if you turn it upside down with the flat top going into the mold first. You might have a plate that would fit. Get creative – you can usually find something that works. I used to take a pyrex glass storage container – the ones with the straight sides, and set that inside my home-made mold. One of the sizes I had just happened to be the correct size and worked really well. W/the pyrex, again, I just set it in there with the open side up.
Since this is getting long, I'm going to address a way to press the cheese in a second reply!
3:41 pm
October 31, 2010
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For pressing:
-Cheese Press You can purchase a ready-made one (I HIGHLY RECOMMEND a DUTCH STYLE lever press. I have a couple of suppliers I recommend. One of them costs $79 plus shipping, the other $145 pluss shipping. They have various pros & cons – if interested let me know and I'll pm you w/the information.) The good thing about the lever press is that, due to the mechanical advantage achieved with a lever, you use a small amount of weight to achieve a larger amount of weight at the pressing plunger (on the cheese). (I have one that gives 5 x and 9x., therefore, if I put a 10 lb weight at 9x I get 90 lbs on the cheese using just one 10 lb weight!) If you buy a lever press, just be sure it can handle higher amounts of weight. Some only allow a small amount of weight before the whole thing tips over! (That's why I recommend the ones I do – they are made to handle all the weight you'll need w/out tipping)
But…I didn't have a real press until I had done cheese for a long time! There are several ways to make a home-made press – one of them is in Suzanne's archives here. I just used barbell weights that came from garage sales and thrift stores and rigged a way to keep them stacked up on my mold followers. Those kinds of press situations can be very frustrating as the weights tend to want to slide off and crash to the floor, but it can be done – I know because I did it for about a year!
If you're doing the makeshift press and don't want to purchase weights…get creative again! A gallon jug filled w/water weighs approximately 8 lbs. You could get a bucket and set it on top of the follower and fill w/water to weight. Approximate weight (which is good enough) is 2C. = 1 lb. So a 5 gallon pail would be about 40 lbs when full!
Another REALLY INEXPENSIVE way to do a LEVER press is an "off the wall" press which amounts to a 2x4 hinged to a wall. There are "off the wall" press plans here, but you could easily figure out how to do one yourself with the calculations for the MA (mechanical advantage).
-Cultures & Rennet The cheese supply is the way to go for the rennet. Don't even bother using the "supermarket rennet" (Junket) as it is very weak and was made for the purpose of creating deserts. You'll get a weak curd and be disappointed in your results after all your work. That being said, if you are an "experimenter", you could try using more until you get the correct consistency but that could waste a lot of milk during the trial and error!
Whew! I don't think I forgot anything… Hope that's helpful! 
5:10 pm
December 14, 2010
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Thank you for those details.
9:59 pm
October 31, 2010
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You're welcome. I did remember one more thing:
A knife with a long enough blade to reach to the bottom of your ss pot for cutting curds.
3:18 am
January 31, 2011
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Good Lord ! That was wonderful !
I am not finding raw milk cheap enough…so i have to use supermarket to make just our mozzarella and ricotta…but after the new year, as more goats are freshened I hope it will be less than 12 a gallon !!! but I love using the whey in the bread dough !
drat the big cities. Nothing to it but to move !
laur
8:12 am
January 26, 2010
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To start – just keep it simple. Yogurt cheese, ricotta — really simple and if you cook much at all, you likely have everything you need in your kitchen already. No special tools, pans, cultures, or rennet needed. Certain tools may make it easier, but they're not necessary to get started with the easier types.
The only thing you really must be picky about to get good results is cleanliness — scrupulously clean utensils and work area. No cross-contamination from cooking, splatters, pets wandering through and giving a good shake, and from wild yeasts in the air, i.e. it's best not to make bread or sourdoughs when you're making cheese, or at least not in the vicinity.
A word about aluminum — if you regularly cook with aluminum pans, if you cook your tomato or sauerkraut dishes in aluminum, there's no need to go buy a different pot for your first batch or two of soft cheese. The caveats about aluminum have more to do with the particulars of aluminum cookware in general than about safety issues specific to cheese. Aluminum will not react to the acidity in cheesemaking any more than it will to other acidic foods. If you find you like making cheese, by all means, invest in good, SS equipment as soon as you can afford to. (FWIW, I switched to SS some 25 years ago.)
8:36 am
February 10, 2009
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laur, have you checked the "good milk" list on the New England Cheesemaking site? Here's the link to it.
http://www.cheesemaking.com/go…..klist.html
Even though I grew up buying raw milk from several farmers around here, and also helped a friend who's family milked a fairly large herd so I'm pretty well known, I can no longer beg, borrow, buy or sneak milk from any local farmers… I buy my milk from one of the small dairies on this list that uses the low-temp vat pasteurization so it works very well for both cheese and yogurt.
8:37 am
October 31, 2010
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Nanna-
On the powdered buttermilk, my thought is that you couldn't use the powdered for one main reason. The culture needs to be live. I'm guessing that since it's powdered and stored at room temp that there aren't live cultures in the powdered. That would be the main thing to find out from the mfgr. of the powdered product – does it contain live cultures? If so, it probably should be stored in the freezer – or at least the fridge – to keep them alive.
8:40 am
October 31, 2010
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LauraP -
The aluminum is a flavor factor also. If you ever try making cheese in aluminum, you'll find that it actually takes on a metallic taste that is not very pleasant.
The ss pots don't need to be "fancy-pants" – just the cheap "supermarket type" that are the thin stainless steel. Usually cost around $8.99 – $14.99….The thin ones are not real great for actually cooking since they heat unevenly and often end up resulting in burning on the bottom of the pot but they're great – and inexpensive – for making cheese!
9:26 am
January 26, 2010
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Honey, of course aluminum is a flavor factor. It's one of several reasons why I tossed the aluminum stuff decades ago. The same applies for teflon, silverstone, and various other non-stick wonder finishes. Nevertheless, anyone who's already cooking with the stuff is used to it and can use it to get started, then move up as $ permits.
Basic cheesemaking is so easy. I don't want anyone to be discouraged or think they have to put off trying until they have all the 'right' stuff. Dive in, learn, and experiment with the simpler types – you'll learn as you go and will discover when just the right tool makes a big difference and when you can make do with what you have and be perfectly satisfied with the results.
11:06 am
September 27, 2011
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Leah's Mom
Thanks for your info. I will have to check on that but I am sure you are correct on that.
11:44 am
October 31, 2010
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Nanna said:
I have a different question about making cheese. I have read that you can make your own mesophilic starter from cultured buttermilk which I have done and so far it has worked ok, but if the recipe calls for direct set mesophilic starter can you substitute buttermilk powder for the direct set starter and if so how much would you use? I am new to cheesemaking so forgive me for asking dumb questions.
Nanna – you can still use your liquid cultured buttermilk even if it does specify a direct set culture. Think of your buttermilk as a "mother culture" and use the corresponding amount for the DVI (DVI is another term for "direct set"…it stands for "Direct Vat Inoculation".)
If I recall correctly (edit: 4 oz.) mother culture (your buttermilk) is equivalent to the pre-measured packet of DVI culture. [I'll have to double-check on that but I'm pretty sure that's the equivalent.]
And…no question is a dumb question!!!! If we don't ask we don't learn!
Edit: Whoa…was I off on that!!! It's not 1 oz, it's 4 oz prepared culture that equals 1 packet!
11:41 am
April 8, 2010
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Hi everyone.
I have a question about making cooked cream cheese.
I have made this cheese numerous times in the past year and it worked out great, however the last 2 times I have tried making it, it failed.
After I cooked the curds and pour it into the butter muslim to hang, the whole thing flows through the butter muslim instead of just the whey.
I am using store bought cream, the same brand that I was using before.
Does anyone have any ideas what may be causing this?
Thank you.
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