Anyone Making Their Own Cheese?

[deenamr]

After reading Animal Vegetable Miracle I am thinking of giving it a try. Any recipes or experiences would be appreciated.

 

[Rosalind]

Yep. The recipe she uses for 30 minute mozzarella is good once you get the hang of it. Use liquid rennet, not the tablets--the tablets don't dissolve quite right, it's hard to break it into even pieces. The New England Cheesemaking Supply company is a good source for stuff, and Ricki Carroll's Home Cheese Making book has some lovely recipes.

Once you get the hang of things, it's easy. Be prepared for some ricotta-type failures, though: if you get the heating part wrong, the mozz turns into ricotta. Which is good in its own right, but not what you want really.

 

[Burbs]

It makes a great winter project. My kids love the mozzarella. Whole, unpasteurized non homogenized milk seems to work the best but can be very hard to find. We pasteurize it our selves prior to converting it to cheese. If you live in an area where there are still small scale dairies you may find someone willing to work out a deal.

BTW it is illegal for them to sell it to you, they could lose their certification.

Here is a good web site for supplies and recipes:

http://www.cheesemaking.com/

 

[deenamr]

The New England Cheesemaking Supply Co. website actually listed someone about 2 miles from me with fresh raw cow milk for sale. She charges $5.00 per gallon - I am not sure if that is a good price. Also one of my co-workers has a lot of dairy goats and makes goat cheese.

 

[Burbs]

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That seems pretty high to me. I am paying $2 but I provide my own container and usually get 15 gallons at a time.

 

[Crusty McPottydoodle]

Came across this site on my travels.

http://biology.clc.uc.edu/fankhauser/Cheese/CHEESE.HTML

What I like is that he shows that one doesn't require all the fancy equipment to make some cheese.

I am on holidays for 2 weeks as of next Friday evening. At some point during that time, we are going to try making the feta recipe.

Cheryl

 

[Rosalind]

Hey, check out the soda recipes on that webpage! I'm gonna try it! Good find Cheryl!

 

[Crusty McPottydoodle]

Quote:
Thanks. I have my uses.

Cheryl

 

[Burbs]

Quote:
I would stay away from Junket rennet that he references in his recipe. I have had issues in the past using it. The curds are not as firm and it does not seem to set as much of the milk solids. I always ended up with a poor yield.

 

[Crusty McPottydoodle]

Quote:
I would stay away from Junket rennet that he references in his recipe. I have had issues in the past using it. The curds are not as firm and it does not seem to set as much of the milk solids. I always ended up with a poor yield.

Thanks for the heads up - good to know.

Cheryl