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11:16 am
September 30, 2010
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Can someone PLEASE tell me what kind of stainless steel pail was used to process the milk into curds. It was really pretty, with a handle and a pour spout. I have combed Amazon and can't find anything!! Also, if I do 2 gallons of milk at a time, I suppose I'd need at least a 9 qt pail, correct?
Thanks for any info you can give!
Carrie
11:33 am
May 14, 2005
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Carrie, are you talking about that cool pot Laura had? It's a Weck. Totally awesome, though a little pricey. I aspire to have one some day! It's actually an electric water bath canner, though it's perfect for cheesemaking, too, and has the ultimate temperature control.
http://www.amazon.com/KITCHEN-…..38;sr=1-13
My favorite cheesemaking pot is a 12-quart stainless steel pot. You could get away with a 9-quart. I'd go for at least a 10-quart, though. I like a little extra room in the pot. For one-gallon recipes, like mozzarella or soft cheeses, I use a 5 1/2-quart pot. There are 4 quarts in a gallon, so you could certainly go a little smaller, but like I said, I like a little extra room!
11:50 am
September 30, 2010
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The Weck I am ON to…that's next after I find a cheap wine refrigerator for my cheese cave. Buy.com has them all the time.
I was coveting her stainless steel pail. But I suppose any stainless steel pail will work. I will get both sizes..thanks for the info!!
12:05 pm
May 14, 2005
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oh I see–I'll see if I can nudge Laura to look in here and tell you!
By the way, anyone from the retreat (or here!) looking for good milk for cheesemaking (and don't have your own source), New England Cheesemaking has a "good milk" list here, state by state:
http://www.cheesemaking.com/go…..klist.html
1:00 pm
January 26, 2010
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It's a Maslin Pan -
http://www.leevalley.com/en/ga…..38;p=46628
A bit pricey there but I know theirs is a good weight of stainless steel. I've been using mine more than 10 years and it's held up beautifully. I know other web stores carry Maslin pans – can't speak to quality elsewhere. Might be the same pan, might be a different manufacturer/grade of metal.
BTW, feel free to ask here or email me directly of you have other questions – I'll be sending out additional resources to everyone in the hard cheese classes who left me their email addresses, plus some answers to questions that required a little research – just a bit behind on that due to the usual post-trip chaos & a nasty summer flu that's making the rounds in the family. Fingers crossed I can catch up and get that information out to y'all by the weekend.
3:15 pm
September 30, 2010
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I DO have another question :)
I am in the process of thinking through my cheese cave. I'm thinking a 16 bottle wine refrigerator might work due to limited space. We already have two refrigerators and a chest freezer. If I can get, lets say 8 rounds in a wine cooler, and after they "ripen" for let's say 3 to 6 months (or whatever the recipe calls for). Is it acceptable to move those ripened rounds to a regular refrigerator to make room for new cheese? Or, do you always need to keep the cheese at that temp for best flavor/storage practices?
Thanks!
Carrie
3:41 pm
January 26, 2010
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Carrie – Ideally, you'd leave the cheese at the optimum storage temp. until use, but in a real world we run out of space and have to move it around. I move cheese to the big regular fridge when needed to clear space for more cheese rounds (and once for lion's mane mushroom kits – LOL)
4:14 pm
September 30, 2010
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Ok..good to know. I may go the old fridge route with regulator. Oh..and I bought a Maslin pan with lid. I have problems…
I justify it that I can use it for many other things. I like that handle and pour spout. It will result in less physical damage to myself when dealing with hot liquids :)
And that Weck electric canner..that's next. I can use that to WBW and get rid of my big canner pot which results in more room on my stove during major canning/processing. :)
I have an answer for everything.
8:07 pm
May 14, 2005
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Carrie, we can justify anything. Just let us know if you need help. 
8:24 pm
February 10, 2009
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I love Lee Valley, and I Love that pot! I'm not ordering it today, but it's on my list of things to save up for. …it's a lovely useful looking pot with a heavy bottom and easy to handle, smaller base to fit on burner and good to use for many things.
So many things to save for, so little time! (and money)
10:14 pm
February 8, 2009
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I've been drooling over that Maslin pan for years :) It's the bomb if you are into jams, especially. Lee Valley has some great stuff for sure. I did order my SS canning funnel from them LOL
dede
10:52 pm
February 22, 2010
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I went to the Lee Valley site…that's the pan I've been looking for! However…not the price i was looking for
. These garage sales have spoiled me. I'll start saving now for next summer…I wonder how my Grandmother ever canned anything without all those "must have gadgets".
7:02 am
May 14, 2005
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They sure did everything the hard way, Miss Judy!
I'm really interested in the Weck for cheesemaking, because of the temperature control. I wish I'd gotten to take Laura's hard cheese class so I could have watched her use it! Laura, I assume you used the Maslin pot inside the Weck in a water bath? I'm just drooling over the idea of being able to control temperature inside the pot so easily. More screwups with cheese are related to temperature than anything else.
8:01 am
October 31, 2010
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Those Maslin pans are really nice looking! I wonder if they come any larger – looks like this one is just a 9 quart which is pretty small. I'd like to have one that's at least 3 gallon with some headroom!
9:13 am
February 10, 2009
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Suzanne, in your mozzarella tutorial, it says not to add the lipase if using store bought milk because it will make the curds too soft. I'll be using low temp, vat pasteurized milk from Hartzler's Dairy so I'm wondering about whether or not to use the lipase… if you're not sure, I guess I'll try it both ways and see what happens and report back!
No supplies yet, so it'll be a little while, but if and when I figure it out I'll let you know I guess!
9:27 am
September 5, 2011
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This is a bit off the subject, but a couple of weeks ago, I made the caperphilly (spelling?) cheese that is on here. I set it out for a couple of days to dry, and didn't wax it because last time I waxed my cheese it molded everywhere so I was deathly afraid of doing that again. So now the cheese has been in the "cave" downstairs and I checked on it the other day and it has started to have small mold spots. What????? Why does it do that? Is it something I am doing wrong? I know from Ricki's site that I can just wipe it off, but I want to make sure that it's not something I am doing wrong. Also, if I don't wax it, should I have put an "olive oil" base on it?
Thanks for your thoughts and advice!
9:43 am
May 14, 2005
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I'm not sure re the lipase with 145-degree pasteurization. If you do try it, report back!
Re the mold — I've found that I have far more mold issues with unwaxed cheese than waxed, and I've gone back to waxing because I just don't have time to tend unwaxed cheese. It does required tending! I'd try waxing again if I were you—it sounds like you just had a bad experience with waxing, but I don't find it's generally that way with waxed cheeses. Might have been a small hole in the wax somewhere.
11:18 am
September 30, 2010
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Suzanne McMinn said:
They sure did everything the hard way, Miss Judy!
I'm really interested in the Weck for cheesemaking, because of the temperature control. I wish I'd gotten to take Laura's hard cheese class so I could have watched her use it! Laura, I assume you used the Maslin pot inside the Weck in a water bath? I'm just drooling over the idea of being able to control temperature inside the pot so easily. More screwups with cheese are related to temperature than anything else.
Suzanne, she had the two plastic gallons of milk inside the Weck getting up to temp. Then she poured the milk into the pan sitting on the table and started adding ingredients. The curds were lovely. She wanted to show us what happens when you screw it up and how to fix it, so THEN she put the pan directly into the Weck and heated it way up. It was really cool.
12:00 pm
October 31, 2010
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BanjoBetsy – I agree w/Suzanne on the wax. When you don't wax you have to do WAY MORE TENDING than you do w/ the wax. I've waxed quite a few cheeses and only had mold underneith when there was a small breach in the wax. Otherwise it is not a problem and you literally don't have to do anything w/your cheese except the turning part. You also don't have to be concerned about maintaining a proper humidity level in your "cave" when you're using wax.
After you wax, wait for it to be cool enough that it isn't super-sticky. Then I set mine on top of a paper towel or a piece of parchment paper and let it harden up a bit more. (The paper towel/parchment paper keeps it from sticking to a counter or cooling rack and pulling a piece of wax off when I pick it up again.) After it hardens up a bit, pick it up again – carefully – and take a little inventory of the surface looking for any place that there may be a small breach, pin-hole, etc. If you find any thin or questionable areas, just dab a bit of wax on the spot (or you could dip one more time if your wax is still hot) to cover that spot.
Oh…and it definitely helps the wax stick better to the cheese if BEFORE you wax you place your dried, ready-to-wax cheese into the fridge to cool down for at least 1 hour (or more if you have the time).
BE SURE THERE'S NO MOLD ON THE CHEESE SURFACE BEFORE YOU WAX! Sometimes a bit of mold will grow during your drying time if your humidity is high. And, of course, definitely avoid baking bread either during cheesemaking OR during the drying period as those little yeasties get floating around in the air and LOVE cheese! I also don't use any cloth towels that have been used for general kitchen duty during cheesemaking process even if they're fresh from the washer. Either dedicate cloths towels JUST to the cheesemaking process and then store them in ziplocks between cheesemaking or use paper towel – you'll be glad you did when it comes to dealing with molds!
12:13 pm
January 26, 2010
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For two of the classes I warmed the milk in the Maslin pot before adding the culture, and in one I just stuck the cold gallon jugs directly in the warm water, then poured them into the Maslin pan later when I had a minute. Either way works – I use both methods at home. It's just a matter of timing and what else I have going on in the prep phase. Sometimes there's just a minute here and there, so the milk doesn't get poured out of the jugs until later but overall, I prefer not warming the milk in plastic . . . just because.
I also have 5 gallon SS pots that fit into the Weck that I use for 4-gallon cheese batches. Plus I used my Weck for gently melting 5 gallon buckets of soap oils when I had the soap biz.
Suzanne – the Weck definitely helps with temp control. Mine's not as precise as it could be these days because the temp markings are mostly worn off and I have to guess a bit. The new Wecks have a slightly different dial area and I suspect they might hold the markings better.
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