Posted: 8/7/2014 10:24:04 PM EDT
| Is anybody making their own cheeses? I'm interested in trying but I have a few questions. |
Tag... I've just started dabbling with this myself lately. All I've made so far is mozzarella, and it was dead easy. I used staight-from-the-debbil raw milk, so technically I can't tell you how it turned out since technically that milk wasn't purchased for human consumption, but the cats said it was much better than any store-bought mozzarella they'd purchased. 
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| I made a cheddar awhile back it came out pretty good, very creamy used store bought milk,I get my cheese making supplies from beer and wine hobby.Also made my own cheese press couldn't really justify the prices they were getting for them.Its a lot of fun,I gotta get back into it |
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I've done a lot of Mozzarella and a few farmhouse cheddars. Haven't gone any farther than that (yet).
If you are just getting started, get this book: http://www.cheesemaking.com/HomeCheeseMakingbook.html What questions do you have? |
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Cheese Forum
They have answers for everything. AWESOME cheese site. |
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How time consuming is it to make cheese at home? I worked in a cheese factory for a year but I only saw things from the point of forming the curds and then sealing the final product. I have no idea how long it took or the steps required between forming the block and then packaging it. It was thrown into the brine is all I know.
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Quoted:
How time consuming is it to make cheese at home? I worked in a cheese factory for a year but I only saw things from the point of forming the curds and then sealing the final product. I have no idea how long it took or the steps required between forming the block and then packaging it. It was thrown into the brine is all I know. It varies drastically depending on what kind of cheese and the particular recipe. Mozzarella can be made in a half hour or so using a 'quick' recipe, some cheeses age for months to years before they're ripe. |
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Quoted:
It varies drastically depending on what kind of cheese and the particular recipe. Mozzarella can be made in a half hour or so using a 'quick' recipe, some cheeses age for months to years before they're ripe. Quoted:
Quoted:
How time consuming is it to make cheese at home? I worked in a cheese factory for a year but I only saw things from the point of forming the curds and then sealing the final product. I have no idea how long it took or the steps required between forming the block and then packaging it. It was thrown into the brine is all I know. It varies drastically depending on what kind of cheese and the particular recipe. Mozzarella can be made in a half hour or so using a 'quick' recipe, some cheeses age for months to years before they're ripe. The Yogurt based cheese is a 24hr process. 2 gallons store-bought milk, warmed to 120 then add 1 container plain yogurt. Place pot in ice chest, or somehow hold that temp overnight. (12 hrs) This allows it to turn in to 2 gallons of yogurt. Season with 2 tbsp salt. Place in handkerchiefs, or other fine cloth, suspend on a string and allow the fluid to drain away from the yogurt during the day. It makes a incredibly tasty soft cheese spread. But, keep in mind, it reduces down so much (water gone) that you are eating 'two gallons' of milk over the next two days as you go nuts and eat it with every thing! TRG |
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Well I made something that behaved like mozzarella. Things didn't happen the way recipes showed them but in the end I had a decent tasting product. Lot's of variables in this batch, plus it being my first batch. What kind of rennet did you use? My first batch I made the mistake of using Junket rennet, which isn't really strong enough for making cheese. I finally got the curds to set after using 4X the recommended amount. After that I ordered some "real" rennet and haven't had any problems since. |
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I used the top selling animal rennet from Amazon. The curd never set the way a lot of the instruction sites show. There was no semi-solid mass that I had to cut. It remained in small blobs and soupy but I was able to use a slotted spoon to get most of it out. Lots of variables were at play. The milk was only 2% instead of whole. It was 3 days past the expiration date and I've read you are supposed to use really fresh milk. I need a better thermometer so I can verify my temps. I would say I ended up with about 10 ounces of cheese from the gallon of milk. Some people mention adding Mild Lipase Powder to enhance the flavor. Has anyone ever added this?
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I tried another batch tonight using the same brand milk but fresh whole milk. It was a complete failure. The curd never setup, was grainy, and looked like ricotta. Everything that I've read that says that happens with ultra-pasteurized milk but I was using just regular pasteurized milk. I'll try again sometime. |
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Looks like I need to find a different source for milk if I want to make cheese. I made another batch using the same milk from the same company and it came out like ricotta. That tells me that milk has been heat damaged. That's gotta be frustrating. Have you been using the same thermometer for every batch? Any chance it could be off calibration? |
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Quoted: That's gotta be frustrating. Have you been using the same thermometer for every batch? Any chance it could be off calibration? Quoted: Quoted: Looks like I need to find a different source for milk if I want to make cheese. I made another batch using the same milk from the same company and it came out like ricotta. That tells me that milk has been heat damaged. That's gotta be frustrating. Have you been using the same thermometer for every batch? Any chance it could be off calibration? I actually used 2 different digital thermometers on the first batch that failed and bought a new dial thermometer for the second batch. So I don't think the thermometers are a the problem. The first batch came out which means the recipe,citric acid, and rennet are good. The making process was almost identical to what this site describes for ultra-pasteurized milk. http://www.cheesemaking.com/store/pg/124.html After cutting the curd is when I can tell if the process worked or not. This image is similar to how the last 2 batches came out.  The curd should hold together as a solid mass like this.  |
| After multiple failed attempts I was finally able to get another batch to turn out using whole milk that came from Sam's club. The failed attempts included 2 more failed attempts using Kroger milk, a failed attempt using Trader Joe's milk, and another failed attempt with Kroger milk. Kroger is about 3 minutes away from my house which is why I kept trying their milk. |