11 replies to this topic

[girl chow]

I am now absolutely obsessed with making mozzarella cheese thanks to Laurel's cheesemaking party
and I think I've found the perfect combination: garlic, fresh herbs and mozzarella.

People at work are expecting me to bring a fresh batch of mozzarella every Monday (this weekend, I made fresh mozzarella with roasted garlic and thyme. It's delicious).

So now that I'm actually making the cheese, I've found a problem. I can find citric acid and rennet and all the usual supplies online or at Beecher's. No problems there.

But I need milk. Good milk! And, as it turns out, with cheesemaking, the milk requirements can be pretty specific.

When making mozzarella, cheesemakers suggest using non-homogenized milk. Why? Becuase, in simple terms, the process of homogenization distorts the milk proteins and you seriously have to shove the curds together to get a good solid piece of cheese. (I'm sure a food scientist would just love my horribly oversimplified explanation). I've found when making cheese with non-homogenized milk that the final product is creamier and is a lot easier to work with. My experience with homogenized milk has been a royal pain. It makes an OK product, but there's a lot of heating of the curd, kneading and stretching and patience involved.

So I have found one decent place in my neighborhood that sells non-homogenized milk, the Faith Dairy in Tacoma. They sell non-homogenized milk, called Creamline, that produces a creamy, rich mozzarella.

But are there other dairies out there in the greater Puget Sound area that carry good cow's milk that is not homogenized? I'd like to try a wide range of cow's milks to see if there are different flavor profiles from different cows.

How about raw cow's milk? I think I read that to get raw cow's milk here, you basically have to buy a share of a cow or a share in a farm because you can't technically purchase raw's milk (or is that totally wrong?)

Also, where do I go to get goat's milk? I really want to make chevre.

If you know of any resources, please post here. If I use your source, I'll make you some garlic mozzarella

[laurel]

This site lists how to get in touch with peopel offering cow and goat shares:

http://www.realmilk.com/where2.html

I'm jealous that you have co-workers that actually eat real food... I stopped bringing food in to work because it seems that the only thing that people will eat here are krispy kreme donuts.

[Schielke]

I might be able to get some Raw Milk info. Katie's Aunt in Port Angeles knows somebody who sells raw milk up there. Shipping of course might be an issue.

[chuck]

Boy, if non-homogenized milk is good for mozzarella I bet raw milk would be great. I found realmilk.com a week or so ago and called the Fort Bantam Creamery on Vashon Island. It's a teenaged girl who has one cow. Sounds good but she's all out of shares and there's a long waiting list she says. She did offer to connect me to some other folks but I haven't done it yet. The other places on the list sound good too, and there's one listing for goat milk.

The only other option I know of is at Whole Foods in Seattle. They sell Straus Farm milk, which is low-temperature pasteurized and not homogenized. Better call ahead to make sure they have some though.

Let us know what else you find.

[girl chow]

Thanks for the link Laurel! I have sent out some e-mails for some more information. Some of those look promising.

Schielke, give us the goods on your raw milk source! After you, like, get married and all that stuff (isn't the wedding this week or something?)

Chuck, thanks for the tip on Whole Foods selling Straus Farm Milk. I was doing some research and just discovered there is a Whole Foods in Gig Harbor, which is only about 30 minutes from my house. I went to the Whole Foods web site and did not see the Gig Harbor site listed, so maybe it's a different chain? Sound alike company? I'll have to go check it out this weekend.

I already went to Metropolitan Market in Tacoma. They sell all kinds of organic milk, but all of it is homogenized. I called Marlene's in Tacoma, a fantastic natural food store, but the lady on the phone said they don't carry non-homogenized milk (I'll have to go there and see for sure, she thought homogenization meant pasteurization ... I tried to explain it to her, but she wasn't getting it).

Thanks to all for posting potential sources. I owe you all cheese!

[chadum]

The Pike Place Creamery has had a sign indicating that you can order raw milk from them. They also carry the Faith Dairy non-Homogenized milk.

[Placebo]

Smith Brothers may also sell a non-homogenized milk, and if so it may be orderable through the Pike Place Creamery (the creamery gets stuff from them already, I believe).

[girl chow]

So I went to Gig Harbor this weekend in search of milk at the alleged Whole Foods Market I found on the Internet ... you guessed it, it's a totally sound alike grocery store (what a ripoff). It was closed on Sunday, but I looked inside and it looked nothing like the actual Whole Foods chain (who granted them their biz license?).

I was mad for about 20 seconds and wondering why I just didn't call before driving the 30 minutes to GH. BUT, alas, I walked down the street and found myself in cheese heaven at Isa Mira, a brand new gourmet cheese shop and cafe (3313 Harborview Drive, Gig Harbor; 253-857-7511)

They had a stellar looking cheese display case. Hubby and I bought a hunk of Cahills Farm Cheddar, an Irish cheddar cured with Guiness. Oh yeah, it's good. I just finished it off with a pink lady apple about five minutes ago.

Here's the best part: THEY SELL CHEESE CULTURES. That's one thing I've had trouble finding locally, so now I know where to go once I start making hard cheeses (it's just a matter of time). Debbie, the owner of Isa Mira, said that she'll be carrying more cheesemaking supplies in the future and they might even start making cheese there (her shop is small, so she'd probably have to expand).

Placebo, thanks for the info on Smith Farms. I actually work about 2 miles from the dairy, but I don't think they have a retail store (I'll call or drive by and check today). I might have to find a retail source closer to home for them.

My quest for good milk and cheesemaking supplies continues...

I made mozzerella this weekend with fresh sage from my garden and garlic. Milk came from the Faith Dairy. I also picked up a quart of Faith Dairy ice cream. It's decent in an old fashioned ice cream kind of way, but not blow-off-your-socks quality. I had the butter brickle.

[Placebo]

We have cheese-making supplies (cultures, hoops, etc) at Beecher's and you can always order them from www.cheesemaking.com as well. You may be able to get Smith Farms products via the Pike Place Creamery. We ordered our first few rounds of cream through them before we started having it delivered directly to our door. I'm currently on the hunt for goat and sheep milk for home cheese projects myself.

[stumptwngardener]

Ok, all this talk about cheese is a little too far north for my taste. Is there anyone in Portland reading this thread? Who's up for a mozzarella party in Portland?

I'm not suggesting that I know anything about making it, but I do want to learn.

--Dan

[girl chow]

We have cheese-making supplies (cultures, hoops, etc) at Beecher's and you can always order them from www.cheesemaking.com as well. You may be able to get Smith Farms products via the Pike Place Creamery. We ordered our first few rounds of cream through them before we started having it delivered directly to our door. I'm currently on the hunt for goat and sheep milk for home cheese projects myself.

Thanks Placebo. I bought all my moz cheesemaking supplies at Beecher's.

I have to say, I was a little disappointed on a recent visit that the two counter folks at Beechers knew nothing about cheese cultures and couldn't give me any direction or answer any of my questions, other than how much they cost (and there were no "cheese officials" around for them to ask). I bought Ricki Carroll's "Home Cheesemaking" book and that has given me a lot of great direction and now I feel pretty comfortable with the whole concept of cultures. I highly recommend the book for all beginners like myself.

I now have such a good list of sources for cow milk, I don't need to look anywhere else. However, like you, I am absolutely now in search of goat and sheep milk.

[Placebo]

Yes, I'm still working on training materials for the retail staff regarding cheese cultures. In general, if you aren't sure what you're looking for, culture-wise, it's probably best to either startt with a kit or take home one of the books, pick out something you'd like to try and then come back for the supplies. The thing is that the cultures are pretty generic and most of what you need to worry about is in the making progres. You'd probably use the same cultures (if you're using New England Cheesemaking supplies) for jack, cheddar, havarti and a bunch of others with the differences being largely in what you do with the milk and curds as you make the cheese. There are specialized cultures for things like buttermilk, yogurt, fromage blanc and chevre, but most other cheeses you're likely to try at home will simply use either thermophilic of mesophilic cultures. For anything more specific you would probably need to move to professional grade cultures and their suppliers. In any case, I'd be happy to try and answer any further questions you have on cheesemaking processes. Buying the book was the right move and is probably what I would have suggested had I been here at the time (being one of the "cheese officials" and such).