Cheese

[Spicoli]

I was thinking about getting into making my own cheese. I have done a few searches and found plenty of info. Just wondering if anyone else here makes cheese who could link me to a reliable online source. Thanks in advance.

[corkybstewart]

I told my wife the same thing this past weekend, she rolled her eyes and gave me the "look". I explained to her that after the upcoming apocolypse I'll be sipping homebrew, eating cheese and enjoying homemade vinegarette sald dressings while everybody else eats rats and cockroaches. Her sense opf humor ain't what it used to be.
I've seen a few websites devoted to cheesesmaking but I didn't bookmark them. Morebeer.com forums had a cheese making section I think, and there were several good links.

[Stodbrew]

Here's where I get all my cheesemaking supplies from:

New England Cheesmaking Supply.

http://www.cheesemaking.com/


They have everything you'll need, from books to molds to, well, everything.

[Thirsty in NY]

I feel another hobby taking up space in my garage...

[Spicoli]

I figure now that I have made a few wine batches, I'm going to need something to compliment it.

[HogieWan]

the beer will better compliment the cheese than the wine.

I also wanted to make my own cheese, but SWMBO said, "You can't make EVERYTHING - we can buy some stuff at the store" Of course I've tried to convince her of roasting coffee beans and making tortillas.

[Thirsty in NY]

I grew corn last summer... Maybe I can grow some barley next year too. Not sure how much of the backyard I can devote to my crops yet.

[corkybstewart]

Originally posted by HogieWan
the beer will better compliment the cheese than the wine.

I also wanted to make my own cheese, but SWMBO said, "You can't make EVERYTHING - we can buy some stuff at the store" Of course I've tried to convince her of roasting coffee beans and making tortillas.

Last year for my birthday we had a party and without even thinking about it I had made most of the food myself. We had suasages I made, salad I grew with a dressing my wife made from vinegar I made. Of course it was washed down with a lot of homebrew and then we had coffee I roasted the day before. Next year Id like to have a variety of cheeses also. Who says you can't make everything.

[HogieWan]

Originally posted by corkybstewart
Who says you can't make everything.

I thought I already told you - the wife

[Spicoli]

YEP. If the wife ain't happy nobody is.

So, I would just surprise her one day with some fresh Brie and crackers.;) Let her try it out and tell you how good it is. Then you break the good news about your new found hobby and of course your Christmas list. She'll be so excited for you I'm sure of it.

[Payson]

Making tortilla's is inexpensive and well worth it. I've made some cheese as well. It's all good wholesome fun! I can't remember where I bought the cheesemaking stuff but they also sold hot-sauce making stuff. Found it online. Homemade hot sauce is a must too. My latest interest is homemade smoked sausage. I like how you put it Corky! I explained to her that after the upcoming apocolypse I'll be sipping homebrew, eating cheese and enjoying homemade vinegarette sald dressings while everybody else eats rats and cockroaches.
:D

[Spicoli]

Hot sauce. GOOOD. I make a pretty kick arse BBQ sauce.

[corkybstewart]

We made tortillas for my in laws in France one summer for a beef fajita dinner for 50 people. Its a lot of work. Here in Carlsbad we can just go to the grocery store and get them made fresh, or there are lots of individuals here who make them, usually about $1.00/dozen.
My wife did ask me over the weekend to make some sausage for a Christmas type party she's having. All of her French friends will come over and they really like the sausage and pate type of dishes.
And she ran out of her favorite red wine vinegar a couple of weekends ago so we opened a bottle of apple cider vinegar I made a couple of years ago. It was great, especially with the shrimp and crabmeat salad she had made.

[chazwicke]

I like the idea of making cheese. I may well give it a go. I often purchase cheeses from some of our better grocers or Igourmet.com Might be fun to try some blues.

[zoom6zoom]

I think you guys would enjoy one of my favorite cookbooks,
"Better than Store Bought" (http://www.amazon.com/Better-Than-Store-Bought-Helen-Witty/dp/0060912871/sr=1-1/qid=1165279835/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/103-6804989-0933459?ie=UTF8&s=books)

[DecoJuicer]

My goal in life is to be as self sufficient as possible. Let me know how the cheese thing turns out and I may give it a crack.

[HogieWan]

I've heard mozzarella is super easy and a good place to start.

[Spicoli]

Originally posted by HogieWan
I've heard mozzarella is super easy and a good place to start.


I started thinking about this cheese thing the other day after going to our favorite Italian restaurant. The chef is a 68 year old Italian lady. She makes her own mozzarella and pizza dough. We started of with a mozzarella and tomatoe dish that has oil and fresh herbs over it. It also has a nice size piece of basil over it. So simple but totally good. The mozzarella was awsome.

[Spicoli]

Originally posted by zoom6zoom
I think you guys would enjoy one of my favorite cookbooks,
"Better than Store Bought" (http://www.amazon.com/Better-Than-Store-Bought-Helen-Witty/dp/0060912871/sr=1-1/qid=1165279835/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/103-6804989-0933459?ie=UTF8&s=books)


This book looks like a must have. All the things you take for granted.

[Mill Rat]

My homemade salsa was christened "Agent Orange" by one of my friends. I make about two gallons at a shot, and has about 7-8 pounds of ripe orange habaneros per gallon. Using it straight up does violate the Geneva convention against chemical warfare.

[Payson]

I've heard mozzarella is super easy and a good place to start.

That's right. Quick and easy and short of stuff like rennet and citric acid it doesn't require anything you probably don't already have in the kitchen

[HogieWan]

Originally posted by Spicoli
This book looks like a must have. All the things you take for granted.

yep - I've already sent out a Christmas list addendum to include this title

[corkybstewart]

My wife bought me a cheese kit for Christmas, and 2 mushroom growing kits as well. Soon I'll be able to quit my job and live the good life "off the grid". I wish. I definitely need that book too.

[chazwicke]

Keep us posted on the cheese making. It definitely sounds interesting and fun.

[Mill Rat]

Blessed are the cheesemakers...

Oh, nevermind!

[chazwicke]

Originally posted by Mill Rat


Oh, nevermind!

Are you sure you want to start that here in this thread?;)

[surfadelic23]

7-8 lbs of Habanero!??! Mother of god, you must crap Napalm the next morning!
Homemade cheese souns wonderful as it can be hard finding stuff I like down here in FLA...

[Vienna Lager]

Here in 'America's Dairyland' there really is not much of a need to make your own cheese. Just go out into the country (not too hard to do) and every township, where farming is active, has a dairy, buttermaker or cheese maker.

[Mill Rat]

Originally posted by surfadelic23
7-8 lbs of Habanero!??! Mother of god, you must crap Napalm the next morning! It's easier if you've first had your senses of taste and smell (not to mention a good portion of respiratory tract and lungs) pretty well destroyed in an industrial explosion featuring beneze, toluene, xylene, and caustic soda. I was lucky. Jay Loero and Larry Newman died in the incident. If I'd stayed where I was three minutes before the incident, I'd likely have been a very crispy critter, too. After that little incident all that I could sense in food was capsaicin (sp?) heat. All (but the lungs) have pretty well healed up, but the sense of smell still has some notable missing elements to it. At least the hops and malt receptors have returned!

[HogieWan]

Originally posted by Mill Rat
At least the hops and malt receptors have returned!

if anyone needed proof in a god . . . :D

[paulcgi]

habanero salsa napalm rectal death notwithstanding, and back to topic at hand, I make my own cheese.
the folks at newengland cheese do have quite a bit of supplies etc but I've been buying my equipment & supplies from danlac. They are in Canada (eh) and supply everything from small homemaking up to large industrial. Egon (can only think of ghostbusters when I get email from him) has always treated us well.
I've made brie, camembert, blue along with khefir, yogurt and so on. Only thing I've not done is cheddar. For some reason I just dont wanna deal with the cheddaring process.

Similar to beer (ag more so) there is a bit of equipment that you should have. But nothing really major and you can use stuff you'll find around your house anyway before you would have to consider purchasing.
wanna give it a try?
here ya go:
heat 1 gallon of milk (whole) to 165F, stir often, add the juice of 2 lemons, stir, remove from heat. allow to sit for 15 to 20 minutes. milk will curdle. line a colander with multiple layers of cheesecloth (you'll just have to best guess it depending on the weave of the cloth)
let drain, tie up the corners of the cheesecloth and hang for at least an hour. remove cheese, add salt (~ 1/4 tsp to taste). you can also mix in herbs if you want.
this will not set very firm. there is no rennet in it. it will be more like a paste/cheese spread.
PM me if you want more details, examples, recipes etc.

[corkybstewart]

Thanks Paul, after I get started I'll get with you on some recipes. I know my wife would love homemade Camembert, that's a staple at her house(not homemade though).

[surfadelic23]

Very cool. May try that recipe after the new year. Thanks!

Millrat,
That's gotta be the most horrifying thing I've ever heard. Makes me sound like a wuss with my foundry furnace explosion stories! I just got away with a bunch of burn scars. Glad at least some of your faculties are recovering...
Ps. Like the Dead quote...

[paulcgi]

snotta prob.
few things to remember tho: RAW milk is going to give you the best flavor especially in brie/camembert type cheeses. I think that the mold in blue is strong enough that the milk wont change it that much. Because of where I live, I have easy access to raw milk (the Amish will give me raw milk for a donation to the cow)

just like beer too, waiting for the stuff to age/ripen is painful. at the same time, it's rewarding tho. especially with mold ripened cheeses because you can literally watch them grow.
they are not hard to make, but they are hard to get right. last camembert I made had wonderful flavor but not so nice consistency

Once you get that far, let me know. I'll check how much of the mold powders I have left. It takes a super tiny amount for a batch of cheese.. I had to measure it with a reloading scale because it was in the range of a few grains. I could send you some to try. the only thing you'd have to come up with is rennet. You can go to most mega-marts and get junket, but there is a lot of debate on how good junket rennet is for cheese. I've used it and it does indeed work, just not as firm a curd as with calf rennet

[DecoJuicer]

I just watched yesterdays episode of Good Eats...I know, I know...and now I really want to make my own cheese.

One of the places that I coon hunt is a dairy farm, so I could probably score some raw milk from the farmer that lets me hunt his land.

Thanks guys, now I have yet another hobby!!

[Spicoli]

I saw that last night also. I was hoping he would go more into the making than all the other stuff. I am keeping my fingers crossed for the Christmas cheese kit.

[DecoJuicer]

Did anybody make their own cheese this year? If so, how did it turn out. I think that there is going to be a cheese making kit under my tree this year.

I would really like to know if anybody tried making a cheddar, and if they did, how did it come out.