Homemade Yogurt **Updated** Cheese and Buttermilk

[MissPrissy]

I have been busy! I committed myself to refurbishing our church nursery and have been working 12 hour days to get it done.

What a job!!

Thank you all for the compliments. I have neglected my blog but I haven't had time to sit down for more than a minute at a time.

Yayyyy on your cheese!

I am here now LOL present and accounted for!

 

[ozark hen]

welcome back we tend to be like chicks without their mama when you are gone for very long.

Did you get the church nursery done? Tell us about it.

 

[cookinmom]

Yep, we were missin' you! Give us all the details, please. I sure don't know how you managed to squeeze that in with everything else!

 

[mom'sfolly]

I made mozzerella day before yesterday and made pizza crust with the whey (recipe came with the cheese kit) and it was yummy. My six year old and I made it together and both boys made their own pizzas. I really like the pizza crust, and it didn't need a couple of risings, soit was fast.

3-3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 pkg or 1 Tbls rapid rising yeast
3/4 teas salt
1 cup very warm whey (120-135)
2 Tbs olive oil

Mix 2 cups flour, yeast and salt in large bowl. Stir whey and olive oil into the dry indredients. Stir in enough flour to make a soft dough. Knead on a lightly floured surface until smooth and elastic. Cover, let rest for 10 minutes. Oil and dust pan with cornmeal. Shape dough and top. Bake at 400 F for 20-30 minutes or until done. Makes two 12 inch pies.

I used about 3 cups of flour, but that will vary.

 

[MissPrissy]

We do alot of homemade pizza, too. The crust is super easy to make.

Kids are usually more apt to try eating something new when they help with preparing it. It works the same way when growing things in the garden. The more effort they put in the more willing they can be to eat new things.

I am glad you tried the cheese and enjoyed the end result.

 

[FluffyChickenMama]

I have a question or two.. you guys might find stupid but I dont make this kind of stuff homemade.. (Im limited to my laundry soap... lol..) I was wondering since you can make the curds and whey isnt there a way to make cottage cheese out of it?? and when you said to add buttermilk culture, what is that and where do you get it?? and can you make American cheese the same way and one more.. where do you get the renin and that other stuff to even make the cheese.. I would love to do this if I knew where to buy the stuff..

Is the Stoneybrooke farms yogurt you use to make yogurt.... is that just yogurt too??

Please excuse so much stupidity in one post..

 

[MissPrissy]

Stoneyfeild farms is the brand name of an organic yogurt -one of the better yogurts available in my area. Yes it is yogurt and it is full of live cultures which you need to make your own yogurt. You can buy powdered/freeze dried cultures to make yogurt as well. I just prefer to use the organic brand with 6 different cultures in it. It tastes good, it is easy to pick up a cup at the grocery store and it can be frozen and used later to start another batch of yogurt. With a quart of good organic yogurt you can culture a few gallons of milk to make your own delicious yogurt at home for a fraction of the cost of the commercial yogurts.

Yes, you can make cottage cheese. Here is a link for an easy to follow guide -http://mi.essortment.com/makecottageche_rloh.htm This one uses both cultured buttermilk and rennet to make cottage cheese.

There are several place on the internet to order your supplies. You might look around where you live and find a local supplier. Where I live I have never had any luck with a local supplier so I buy my supplies online from a couple of places. Kits are available to make it easier to get the type of cheese you want.

http://www.cheesemaking.com/

http://www.cheesesupply.com/

Have fun and good luck with your cheese making. Come back and let us know how it goes.

 

[ozark hen]

Miss Prissy, I finally made a deal with a dairy farm!! He wants eggs in exchange for fresh milk!!!!!!!!!! He found out I can make fresh yogurt and he wants some yogurt too!

What a deal!! Now can you tell me how to make fresh butter out of the cream I will take off the top of my milk? do I just put it in my mixer with some salt???
I am making yogurt from this fresh milk, hopefully, by Monday as we are so busy this weekend but I am so anxious! I will be making my mozzarella finally!

 

[MissPrissy]

Skim the cream off the milk. The butter is better if the cream sits a couple of days in the refrigerator but this is not a requirement. Also almost soured cream yeilds more butter than fresh cream. But ignor all of this for now. LOL

Beat the cream in a covered blender to keep the splashing milk down. The cream will seperate into liquid (buttermilk) and yellow granules (butter). Pour off the liquid (save it!) . Pour a bit of ice cold water over the butter and blend for just a bit more (this washes the butter). Pour off the water and save the butter. Using a spatula press the butter forcing out any liquid caught in the lumps. At this point you can also salt it or leave it unsalted. Store in a tightly covered clean dish in the refrigerator.

Then bake some biscuits and slather them with your fresh home made butter!

Cow milk should yeild some really beautiful cream, Ozark hen. As well as a fairly good amount from a nice fresh gallon. You will enjoy it so much. It is unlike anything commercially produced for the grocery store shelves. Yummy!

I can't remember the yeild of cream to butter but if you save a good bit of cream (1 gallon or more) you'll get over a pound of butter not to mention the great buttermilk for baking!

 

[ozark hen]

woo hoo, what would we do without you? I am getting more milk Monday or Tues. so the fresh is sitting in the fridge right now letting the cream set up. This is going to be awesome! Thanks so much, I will let the cream set up until tomorrow night, it was brought home this morning and then skim it off and wait for to add the next batch. I will use this milk to make the wonderful neighbor his yogurt to take to him on Monday or Tues. He was so excited to get the eggs.

I feel like Martha Stewart...but with an attitude.