Making Cheese

[pigeonpie]

Have you tried making yogurt? It's super easy and you can eat it as is, strain it for a couple of hours to create a thick, 'Greek style' yogurt, or strain it over night to make a simple but very yummy fresh/curd/cream cheese which is great eaten sweet or savoury.

My favourite ways to use it are, savoury: mix with a little salt and olive oil, drizzle a little more olive oil over the top, and then just dip into it with fresh crusty bread (this is really moreish ).

Or, for a sweet take on it, simply spread as is on bread/toast/bagels etc with jam or honey - since it is simply super-strained yogurt, it retains the ever-so-slightly sour tang of yogurt, which makes it perfect with sweet stuff, and a great thing to have on the breakfast/brunch table. As a kid, this was one of my favourite breakfasts, and it still is.

Oh, and you can use up the whey that results from all that straining in bread/bagels etc. Yum!

pigeonpie

[Franci]

Hi guys,

I would like to know if anybody has been successful at making cheese using waitrose fresh full cream milk and duchy organic milk. I am having a problem in coagulating the milk so I was curious to know if the problem stands on the milk or in my rennet.

I know that the best thing would be having fresh milk from a farm and I am not sure if in this country it's legal to sell fresh unpastorized milk but what would be my best alternative otherwise?

Thanks

[davebrown]

I know that the best thing would be having fresh milk from a farm and I am not sure if in this country it's legal to sell fresh unpastorized milk but what would be my best alternative otherwise?

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It is legal to sell unpastuerised milk for the farm gate but not, I believe, through other outlets. How did we come to this?

I go camping on a farm in West Wales every year and it it a joy to taste their untreated, organic milk.

[beaker]

It is legal to sell unpastuerised milk for the farm gate but not, I believe, through other outlets. How did we come to this?

I think you can also get it mail order from some places - I order unpasteurised goats milk and get that delivered to London, I'd imagine somewhere must do the same for cows.

[JudyB]

It is legal to sell unpastuerised milk for the farm gate but not, I believe, through other outlets.  How did we come to this?

I think you can also get it mail order from some places - I order unpasteurised goats milk and get that delivered to London, I'd imagine somewhere must do the same for cows.

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There is a summary of both the current rules and historical background to the rules about raw milk sales in the UK on the Food Standards Agency website.

If I read this correctly in England and Wales you can buy raw cows milk at the farm gate, in a farm "catering operation" or from a milkman. My reading is that this would exclude mail-order, although I don't know what the international issues would be. The restriction to farm gate sales does not apply to raw milk from sheep, goats or buffaloes. Note also that in Scotland you cannot buy raw cows' milk at all and the website also suggests that nowhere in Northen Ireland sells raw cows' milk although the same laws apply as for England and Wales.

Edited July 17, 2006 by JudyB (log)

[beaker]

[

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[Jon Tseng]

No idea, but chuck double cream into an ice-cream maker and it churns lovely creamy butter in a jiffy.

ta

J

[rjs1]

[JudyB]

A pedant writes:

Isn't the plural of "buffalo" "buffalo"?

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No, my tame pedant just looked this up in Chambers and "buffaloes" is correct (for UK English) - for an online version see here. I'm not 100% certain that this excludes "buffalo" as a plural, but it isn't really clear.

[Franci]

Thanks, very informative. Beaker, I wouldn't mind using some goat milk, can I ask you where you buy it from? And also buffalo is not bad, it would make a great ricotta and I could try to make kaymak.

Another question. It is common here to order rennet at the pharmacy? In Italy it is, in the States they will look at you as you are coming from the space

[davebrown]

Another question. It is common here to order rennet at the pharmacy? In Italy it is, in the States they will look at you as you are coming from the space

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You might be better off going to a supermarket: Sainsbury's and Waitrose do Langdale's Rennet Essence.

[Franci]

Very kind, thank you.

I will keep you posted with the results.

[beaker]

Beaker, I wouldn't mind using some goat milk, can I ask you where you buy it from?

I haven't bought any for a little while but I used to mail order it from enquiries@cnwc-goats.co.uk. However having a quick look I think it is now sold mail order from http://www.graigfarm.co.uk/catalog/cat_4.htm - it is listing unpasteurised goats milk for mail order.

[Carolyn Tillie]

I'm resurrecting this thread to see who else might be interesting in keeping a cheesemaking thread alive...

Kevin and I have gone down the path and become rather maniacal cheesemakers with some successes and some failures, all of which I am willing to share. Thus far, we have made a simple cheddar and a blue (both are now aging) as well as some goat which was eaten immediately. This week, throwing ourselves back into it, we have produced a sage cheddar (needed pressing longer), a caraway cheddar (looks great!), and two whey cheeses from the remainder. As I type, Kevin is in the kitchen now, heating up yet another batch of cheddar but we are experimenting with the addition of cream.

What I can't find on the 'net is a community of like-minded home cheesemakers who are sharing their experiences and/or recipes. Ricki Carrol's site has a few shared recipes from her readers. This site has a link to a discussion forum, but it doesn't seem to work for me.

We like the smell of the caraway cheddar and will probably experiment with making some that have other seeds or flavors but aren't finding exact recipes.

Care to come along and share your cheesemaking experiments?

[Abra]

Ok, good, this will give me the kick-start I need. I bought a Deluxe Cheese Kit a couple of months ago, but was knee-deep in charcuterie projects at the time. Now that it's too warm to hang meat in my garage, my thoughts are turning to the coolness of the fridge. A good ricotta, and a source of mascarpone that isn't worth its weight in gold, are probably up first. But fresh chevre sounds like a big hit in our house, too. Tell about yours, Carolyn.

[Dave Weinstein]

I regularly (except when the temperature is too hot) make a raw milk chevre.

This is a fresh raw milk cheese. I don't have a particular problem with it, but I do warn people before offering them any.

I buy my milk from Rainhaven Goat Dairy; among other thing she posts her monthly test results on the milk. If you are doing a fresh raw milk cheese, you should be very particular about your supplies.

I make it in gallon or half gallon batches, depending on what I expect to be using.

Step 1: Heat the milk in stainless pot up to 86 degrees Fahrenheit. Remove from the heat, add the culture packet, mix well. Cover the top of the pot with plastic wrap. I use the Chevre culture from New England Cheesemaking.

Step 2: Let the cheese age in a room at between 60 and 70 degrees for between 16 and 24 hours.

Step 3: Boil the cheese muslin. Pour the curds into a collander lined with the muslin. Pull the muslin over the curds (so there are no exposed curds), and let drain for 4-6 hours, in a room between 60 and 70 degrees.

Step 4: Squeeze the last of the whey out of the cheese, and place the cheese in a glass pan.

Step 5: Add salt and spices. By default, I do it in one step, with 1/2 T of Truffle Salt per half-gallon of milk. Blend, cover, and refridgerate. The flavor will be infused in 2-4 hours.

Step 6: Wash and then boil the cheese muslin again, before putting it away for the next batch.

I trust the resulting cheese for up to two weeks, if kept well refridgerated.

Other notes: It is illegal to import or sell fresh raw milk cheeses.

Edited July 26, 2006 by Dave Weinstein (log)

[Carolyn Tillie]

Ok, good, this will give me the kick-start I need.  I bought a Deluxe Cheese Kit a couple of months ago, but was knee-deep in charcuterie projects at the time.  Now that it's too warm to hang meat in my garage, my thoughts are turning to the coolness of the fridge.  A good ricotta, and a source of mascarpone that isn't worth its weight in gold, are probably up first.  But fresh chevre sounds like a big hit in our house, too.  Tell about yours, Carolyn.

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One of my few regrets about moving out of Wine Country is that I used to be surrounded by dairies. Now, living in the city, Trader Joes is my only supplier of goat milk and it is pretty expensive (something like $3.00 a quart) and I was surprised that Whole Foods only sells the ultrapasteurized version which is a cheesemaker's nemesis. That made my chevre REALLY expensive to produce. I followed the instructions in Carrol's book and my resulting chevre was surprisingly dry and crumbly -- I was expecting something creamy like Laura Chenel's. It tasted good, but had the consistency of a feta without the sharp tang (no brine).

Dave makes me jealous and I may have to start hunting around for a less-expensive supply of goat milk.

I REALLY wish I could find sheep's milk, but that seems close to impossible! I'll have to stick to cow's milk cheeses for a while...

[Toliver]

I REALLY wish I could find sheep's milk, but that seems close to impossible! I'll have to stick to cow's milk cheeses for a while...

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Do you have a farmer's market in your area? They may be a good source or may know of someone they can refer you to.

edited to add: Also try food co-ops and health food stores for possible sources or referrals.

Edited July 26, 2006 by Toliver (log)

[Dave Weinstein]

Dave makes me jealous and I may have to start hunting around for a less-expensive supply of goat milk.

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The milk I buy is of excellent quality, but it is definitely not inexpensive. It runs around $9/half gallon, or $16-$17/gallon.

Since I'm making a fresh raw milk cheese, I'm far more picky about the quality than the price.

--Dave

[Abra]

We have a goat dairy here that sells chevre, but I find it really bland and un-goaty. They say it's because of the breed of goat - is that possible, or is it, as I imagine, more about their cheese-making technique? Because I might be able to get raw milk from them, but if all I could do with it is make more of what they're already making, boring goat cheese, why bother?

[Dave Weinstein]

You should be able to get the Rainhaven milk; I know it has been available in the Pike Place market before. Contact Debbie over at Rainhaven for where to buy information.

I'm watching the weather forecasts, because we're right on the cusp of "safe for making cheese" weather.

[Carolyn Tillie]

I'm watching the weather forecasts, because we're right on the cusp of "safe for making cheese" weather.

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Oh, you must expand on that statement! What is NOT safe cheesemaking weather, pray tell? Can it be too hot? Or too cold? Or too moist? I'm terribly curious...

p.s. You are paying more for your goat milk than I am! I'm impressed and probably should suck up and just buy more...

[Carolyn Tillie]

I REALLY wish I could find sheep's milk, but that seems close to impossible! I'll have to stick to cow's milk cheeses for a while...

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Do you have a farmer's market in your area? They may be a good source or may know of someone they can refer you to.

edited to add: Also try food co-ops and health food stores for possible sources or referrals.

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I did make a round of phone calls and mostly idiots answered the phone who had no clue and/or no referrals. The farmer's markets are next...

[Dave Weinstein]

I'm watching the weather forecasts, because we're right on the cusp of "safe for making cheese" weather.

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Oh, you must expand on that statement! What is NOT safe cheesemaking weather, pray tell? Can it be too hot? Or too cold? Or too moist? I'm terribly curious...

p.s. You are paying more for your goat milk than I am! I'm impressed and probably should suck up and just buy more...

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It's raw milk. I want the temperature to be in the 60s or below for the entire 30 hours or so it will take to make the cheese.

[Carolyn Tillie]

I'm watching the weather forecasts, because we're right on the cusp of "safe for making cheese" weather.

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Oh, you must expand on that statement! What is NOT safe cheesemaking weather, pray tell? Can it be too hot? Or too cold? Or too moist? I'm terribly curious...

p.s. You are paying more for your goat milk than I am! I'm impressed and probably should suck up and just buy more...

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It's raw milk. I want the temperature to be in the 60s or below for the entire 30 hours or so it will take to make the cheese.

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I get it -- you are brave. Most of the home cheesemaking books warn against making raw milk cheese. Since most of US has been having a heatwave, I guess that is a critical issue.