Making Cheese

[ilikefood]

That cheese looks excellent!

[jupe]

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

[Reignking]

You can't just post pictures without telling us how it was!

[jupe]

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.

[jupe]

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

[ilikefood]

Please tell us more about this cheese. What type? Could it be cheddar? Also, where do you get all of your recipes from? I have yet to take the plunge into cheese making but am more tempted every day with your photos

[jupe]

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.

[jupe]

Port brined cheddar!

[ilikefood]

Jupe - Thanks for the reply and info. Do you think raw milk produces a better cheese than a pasteurized and homogenized milk would? I should be able to get raw milk and have contemplated using that if I start into cheese making. Also, can raw milk be used for soft cheeses that don't require aging?

[jupe]

Jupe - Thanks for the reply and info. Do you think raw milk produces a better cheese than a pasteurized and homogenized milk would? I should be able to get raw milk and have contemplated using that if I start into cheese making. Also, can raw milk be used for soft cheeses that don't require aging?

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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

[Reignking]

Great stuff. My wife thinks I'm nuts for wanting to do this, but these pictures and explanations should change that

[jupe]

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

[jupe]

Guinness Cheddar!

[Reignking]

When pressing your cheese -- does everyone just leave it sitting out in the open air? Or an enclosed setting (closet, wine fridge, garage, etc) to keep it at a certain temp?

Or to keep away from pets

jupe -- great stuff on your blog -- thanks for the equipment portion too. I'm try to cost things out first to justify the expense.

Edited March 20, 2009 by Reignking (log)

[jupe]

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.

[jupe]

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.

[ztutz]

This one should whet your appetites:

Actually, it tastes remarkably good. Not varietal, but a nice sharp tang, and the texture is great. 18 months of aging: looks like QA was not on the job when the wax went on that day...

[Pam R]

I've been making whole milk (no whey) "ricotta" lately using citric acid as the coagulant (heating the milk, citric acid and salt together until about 175-185 until it curds separate, then straining and if I want it smooth, blending it).

What kind of shelf-life is there on this ricotta? I'm going to try making it this weekend, but I'm wondering how long it will last in the fridge.

[Reignking]

After months of thinking, planning, researching and...well...procrastinating, my wife kicked me in the butt and promised to people that I would have homemade cheese at our Christmas party. I went to find the recipes which were the easiest -- those with the least equipment and ingredients. I settled on cream cheese and Ricki's 30-minute mozzarella (after I found the kit locally.

After talking with the store owner, we were concerned about milk sourcing. I went to Whole Foods, and talked to their manager, who assured me that the whole milk was pasteurized (not ultra-pasteurized). Only one way to prove it!

When I started mixing the curd, it started breaking up on me. I had always imagined the pieces would all stay together -- definitely not! So, I was concerned at that point. Moving on, I was stunned how much whey I was pouring off. As I did, the curds looked good -- like they were sticking together. I wasn't able to really "pull" it together -- it was more of a folding. And while one side did become smooth, it wasn't the perfect sphere or oval that I was imagining.

18 ounces of mozzarella:

So...taste? FANTASTIC! I couldn't believe it -- I would've sworn it was buffalo milk, because it was so creamy. Such a relief that 1) I was able to find "good" milk and 2) that the result was so great.

[A Canadian Foodie]

Well - that was a lot of reading and some very valuable information. My work is definitely cut out for me. I have the rennet. I have the milk. I have citric acid, and didn't know I needed a culture... for fromage blanc - my first cheese. But, I shall wait and get what I need and then attempt it. When I travel through the former Yugoslavia, there are many farmers in the markets there selling young unripened cheese that is nothing I have ever tasted in North America. It is soft, yet holds its shape. It is pure, and buttery, yet not rich. When we travel there the next time, I am going to try to find someone to show me how they make it... but, there are just as many that are not delicious, as that are - so I will have to find one I love, and then beg them to teach me how. That probably won't be difficult, as the people there are usually so proud of their culinary abilities in charcuterie and cheese making... and they should be!

But, until then, I was hoping I could make some fromage blanc - and then attempt bocconcini. I saw no information here - or on any of the sites referred from here (though I only briefly checked out each, so far) about bocconcini.

I will search Edmonton for the culture recommended by Fias Co Farms, and then buy it from where she does, if I cannot find it here. But, once I get it done, I promise to share.

Yogurt cheese, though, is so easy to make. So nutritious, delicious, and economical. The longer you hang it, of course the drier and sharper the flavour. I roll batches of mine into balls, and store them in EVOO (completely submerged) and they last for months that way. When I have unexpected guests, I take enough out for an appetizer tray, role them in a variety of herbs, seeds, and garlic, and they are deadly. All of that, including recipes are here.

I will definitely be checking back here regularly. The photos really help!

Thanks!

Valerie

[Honkman]

Very impressive to read so much about cheesemaking in this discussion and see all these results. We are just starting to dive into the world of cheesemaking with some soft cheeses. One of our first attempts was Fromage Blanc (with chives)

Edited July 18, 2010 by Honkman (log)

[Chris Hennes]

Which recipe did you use for that? Were you happy with the flavor?

[Honkman]

We followed the basic recipe from Ricki Carroll's "Home Cheesemaking" and used the direct-set Fromage Blanc starter. Overall we liked the slightly sour taste of the fromage blanc.

One of the ingredients we really miss from Germany is good "Quark". There is some quark commercially available in the US but it tastes lousy. So it was time to make our own which tasted actually better and fresher than most of the quark you will get in Germany. It's very versatile - you can eat it with salt and pepper on bread, mix it with fresh fruits, mix it with jam and use it as a crepe filling or use it for quiche dough.

[GlorifiedRice]

I went and got this topic to ask a question...

My home has some molds from a damp basement. Can I NOT make cured or hard cheeses now?

Wont the bad molds infect the cheese?

[chezcherie]

We followed the basic recipe from Ricki Carroll's "Home Cheesemaking" and used the direct-set Fromage Blanc starter. Overall we liked the slightly sour taste of the fromage blanc.

One of the ingredients we really miss from Germany is good "Quark". There is some quark commercially available in the US but it tastes lousy. So it was time to make our own which tasted actually better and fresher than most of the quark you will get in Germany. It's very versatile - you can eat it with salt and pepper on bread, mix it with fresh fruits, mix it with jam and use it as a crepe filling or use it for quiche dough.

did you use the jim wallace recipe on ricki carroll's site? took a workshop with him recently and he was quite enthusiastic about the newly developed quark recipe.