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Here are some shots at my first try at blue cheese. The really gorgeous cheese there isn't mine, it is the cheese I'm using for the inoculation since it contains live roqueforti cultures. If this technique and recipe works, it means making blue cheese would cost right about $5.00 a pound, and even less than that if you can re-culture the roqueforti from your own cheese.

It sits on the kitchen counter, and the cats mostly leave it alone, they are more interested in the fish on the other counter The reason I do it this way is pretty simple, unless you have a hydrolic press and some stainless steel forms, you are going to futz with your weights. Maybe the weights are leaning just a bit too much to one side, or maybe you want to observe how fast the compression is happening so you'll know if you need to shim. All sorts of reasons to keep it out in the open so you can see it. None of the equipment should cost very much. For home pressing you want solid, strong, food grade plastic. Wooden presses look really nice, but they just aren't practical. Just remember if you build your own, the press needs to be able to handle fifty pounds of pressure for 12-24 hours. That's the equivalent weight of six one gallon milk containers, so for weights the only practical things are usually free-weights.

Guinness Cheddar!

Grilled cheese sandwich made from home made cheese (if you read my blog, it's #6)

I have set up cheese experiments with the following combination's so far (details on my blog): * Skim milk (pasteurized and homogenized) * 1% (pasteurized and homogenized) * 2% (pasteurized and homogenized) * Whole (pasteurized and homogenized) * 1% + 2% (pasteurized and homogenized) * 2% + whole (pasteurized and homogenized) * whole plus heavy cream (pasteurized and homogenized) * Raw cow * Raw goat In addition to that, some experiments have included washing the curd, brining, and other changes. The net result for a home cheese maker that wants to make a medium sharp to extra sharp hard pressed cheese is this: * Whole milk is useless, it causes more problems than it solves * Skim milk is useless, unless you just want to make a photogenic loaf (it may age well, I don't know yet, but young skim milk loaves are dog food) * Cream isn't necessary unless you want to correct some visual defects in homogenized milk * Using a ratio of 60% 2% milk, and 40% 1% milk, with calcium chloride and fresh rennet will give you a great slicing cheese without costing very much (I can post the exact recipe if you would like) * Raw milk is easier to work with, makes a better looking loaf, ages better, is more nutritious (more beta carotene), has a more complex flavor, and costs 3x-5x per gallon than the stuff you get at the store. So, it is better to start off practicing with pressed hard cheeses with just lowly old 2% until you get the hang of it, then move on to raw. Otherwise, if something gets screwed up, you are out a lot less money. And of course, Ultrapastuerized/homogenized is useless since it will never form a curd. As for soft cheeses, I made a fantastic chevre with raw goats milk, so yes you certainly can

Port brined cheddar!

I've read cheese style guidelines and I can tell you most if not all the cheese I've made breaks at least a few rules each. This loaf is probably closer to havarti than anything else, with a nice elastic texture, an open/checked center, and very mild flavor. I'm not actually getting recipes from anywhere, I am creating variants of the simplest of hard cheese recipes--1 gallon milk, 1 cup cultured buttermilk, rennet, and salt. With that simple formula, I'm doing experiments with fat levels, weights, raw/homogenized, etc. The recipe for this one is actually quite simple: Recipe * 1 gallon skim, pastuerized and homogenized * 1 gallon 2%, pastuerized and homogenized * 2 cup cultured buttermilk * 1 tablet of rennet * 10 drops calcium chloride * Mortons kosher salt Then it is pressed, dried, waxed, and aged. You can see all the details of this particular make here, and the resulting tasting fifteen days later (today) here. I suspect the open interior is due primarily to trapped whey, which seems to happen in 2% milk but not so much in any other. The skim, 1%, whole, and raw milks have had quite different interiors than this.

Here is today's cheese, it tastes great and has a fantastic texture, even after only 15 days.

It's quite good, needs a bit of a contrast like pear or fig, but the flavor is fantastic. The next batch will have a bit of cream added to it for texture, and maybe less pressing. Since this was raw goat milk in March in the NW the fat content may be less than other times, I am not sure. Regardless, I could cut it and it was more firm than most goat cheeses I have had in stores. Still delicious.

Here is my first attempt at chevre that came out of the mold today.

Again, these are variations on recipes presented in Charcuterie, but I would never have attempted them without the book. So, in honor of St. Patricks, here is home made corned beef with butter lettuce, home made raw milk cheddar, and avocado (which you can't really see).

Though not directly from the book, this was inspired by it--and it's something I make quite regularly because of how easy and delishus it is. Cured then confitted pork loin. I like to serve it with a variation on home made mayo, but with almonds, more lemon juice, and cilantro blended in as well.

Latest raw milk cheddar. It is delicious and only a week or two old.

One last reply, and I promise I'll go away. I know I won't change any opinions, and there are a lot of analogies of the usefulness of arguing on the Internet. So with that in mind: * I'm operating on the very critical assumption that Harold McGee doesn't want us to eat poorly cooked pasta. If that assumption is incorrect, then please disregard everything I've said on the matter. * The entire point of conservation is to add up otherwise inconsequential advantages into something substantial. * In my opinion, assuming McGee is using energy conservation as a hook, angle, or agenda is a bias. While I don't advocate trying out every technique written about in the NYT, I do believe that McGee is in a rare circle of experts that should be evaluated fairly before being disregarded out of hand. Bottom line--in my opinion the argument is not sound. It doesn't mean the end result isn't true, I don't know the answer to that. But from an intellectual standpoint I cannot accept your arguments based on their own merits. And now I'll go away

Ooh, now *that* is what I'm talkin' about. However, I am gonna try to find some PVC pipe big enough that I can fit the weights on the press. I LOVE the pic though, and post your recipes if you can!!