Does anyone make their own cheese??

[Leia]

Hello all!!!

 

I hope everyone is having a fabulous day! I am not sure if this is the right spot to ask about cheesemaking, but I'll go ahead and post my question(s) here....

 

I am looking for a good guide for cheesemaking, both soft and hard cheeses. I have tried some soft cheeses, and they have worked pretty well. I would love to make things like cheddar.......yummy !!

 

Could anyone give me some tips? Even a good book recommendation for cheesemaking would be great! And where's the best place to get supplies?? I have been perusing the internet to see what's out there, but would love some recommendations as to suppliers as well.

 

Thanks everyone!!!!!!!

 

 

 

[Synn]

My ears and eyes are open too!

 

 

 

[Rita]

Shawna I have made this and its good but it is not as firm as the real thing, the next time I make it I might add a little more gelatin to see if it would firm it up just a little bit more. Its like a soft cream cheese as is but I used it to make mac and cheese and it melts well.

 

HOMEMADE VELVEETA

1 1/2lb grated cheddar

1 1/2c very hot water

1/2cup plus 1T instant dry milk

1/2 envelope unflavored gelatin (1 1/2t)

 

In blender, put 1/2Cup of the water and 3T of the milk, 1/2 t of the gelatin, and whip until gelatin is desolved. Quickly add to the hot mixture 1/2lb of the cheddar. Whip till blended. Pour into a 8x4x2 1/2" loaf pan

that has been lined with plastic wrap. Repeat this twice, till all

ingredients are used. Cover pan with more plastic wrap and chill overnight

before unmolding. Keep cold and slice as needed. Yield 2lbs. In all you do this in 3 batches.

 

 

Bakers Cheese

 

Author Unknown

Makes about 1 pound

(Tastes like Ricotta or cream cheese, may be used in any recipe calling for either cheese)

1/4 rennet tablet* (junket)

2 quarts warm water

3 cups non-instant ( 5-1/3 cups instant) dry milk

1/2 cup buttermilk

Dissolve rennet tablet in warm water. Thoroughly mix in dry milk. Add buttermilk and mix well. cover and allow to stand at room temperature until set (about 5-10 hours). Pour into a cheesecloth covered strainer, close the cheesecloth and squeeze out as much whey as possible. The whey must be saved for use in bread. Place the cheese in the refrigerator until well chilled (usually overnight). Knead cheese until the texture is smooth. Cheese will freeze well for up to 6 months.

*Rennet in available in most grocery stores near the gelatin section. Rennet is the enzyme rennin.

NOTE: The above recipe is from USU extension service.

 

alldoneandready

 

 

[Guest Guest]

get your printer loaded with paper and ink!

 

http://biology.clc.uc.edu/Fankhauser/Cheese/Cheese.html

 

http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Cottage/1288/

 

 

[Guest Guest]

what I have used for a press... a large coffee can with holes punched in the bottom for drainage and weights from a weight lifting set. Not perfect but it worked!

 

i have had fun using different things to color my cheese.

[ricardo]

I have a recipe for "Almost Cream Cheese"

 

While I was making it I watched as it made curds and it made me so nauseous.

 

In my mind I kept thinking of bad milk like when you pour it out and it's really chunky.

 

Just thinking about it makes me want to lose it.

 

 

 

I don't think I'm the kind of person who can make cheese.

 

[Leia]

Thanks for the info!!

 

I will be taking the time to look through the sites provided, and if I have any questions, you've been warned: I will be asking them here!!!

 

Thanks again!! I am looking forward to trying this!

 

 

Shawna

 

 

 

[Guest Guest]

my favorite cheese is mozzerella... to make that is.

 

I take jalapano peppers and dry them along with habaneros. I thread a needle and string them up on thread and hand them in my kitchen (out of the light). Once dry, I crumble them up in a bowl (wear gloves!!! no gloves then use plastic bags over your hands. if you get pepper on your hands.. wash them in vinegar)

 

Now make mozzerella and when you are at the kneading stage, add pepper flakes!

 

Look, what doesn't come out.. the dogs get! what they won't eat.. the chickens love.

[Leia]

West,

 

Thank you so much for those sites! That first one is fantastic!!! I like instructions that come with pictures!

 

Just great! I started printing the pages out to put together a nice cheesemaking manual.

 

 

Thanks again!!!!!!

 

Shawna

[Guest Guest]

The hardest thing for me about cheese making is ordering the cultures I need.

 

Goats milk I have plenty of.

[westbrook]

everything cheese

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

 

 

discussion group

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Artisan_Cheesemakers/

 

 

To subscribe via the World Wide Web, visit http://lists.zymurgia.com/cgi-bin/mailman/...fo/cheesemakers

or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to

cheesemakers-request@lists.zymurgia.com

 

 

great lists of suppliers, recipes, groups and more

http://www.smalldairy.com/

 

recipes

http://www.leeners.com/cheeserecipes.html

 

 

[westbrook]

CREAM CHEESE

 

Jack Schmidling Productions, Inc.

18016 Church Road ~ Marengo IL 60152

Phone:815 923 0031 ~ Fax:815 923 0032 ~ Email:arf@mc.net

 

 

RECIPES CHEESYPRESS CHEESE MILK CHEESE PAGE HOMEPAGE

 

 

MAKING CREAM CHEESE AT HOME

 

 

 

There are several good reasons for making cream cheese at home. The most fundamental is the fact that what is sold in supermarkets as cream cheese is nothing of the sort. It is an industrial concoction of milk, enough cream to claim it's in there and all sorts of gums and stabilizers to make it appear like what it isn't. Just read the ingredients on the label of your favorite brand. Cream cheese is supposed to be made from cream and would be outrageously expensive if it was.

 

Needless to say, the concoction tastes nothing like real cream cheese but most people have never tasted real cream cheese so the hoax goes on.

 

 

 

Making cream cheese at home would still cost 3 or 4 times what commercial stuff costs but the taste experience would delight any gourmet. HOWEVER I have developed a process that tastes as good as pure cream cheese but actually costs less than the commercial concotion.

 

What's the secret? Ponder what cream is. It is the butter fat and some milk that rises to the top of fresh milk. Then ponder what butter is. It is simply the fat separated from most of the liquid. Because of it's long term keeping qualities and the dairy lobby, butter is much less expensive than the milk or cream that it came from.

 

My process simply puts the butter back into the milk to produce cream at a fraction of the cost of fresh cream. The trick is to make the butter go back into the milk and not float around like an oil slick or iceberg.

 

The objective is to emulsify the butter to make it think that it is water soluble and blend it back into the milk. The most convenient emulsifying agent is an egg yolk but this requires the mix to be pasteurized and imparts a yellow color to the end product. No problem, just points to keep in mind. The other agent is lecithin which is available as a food supliment at health food stores.

 

THE PROCESS

 

The following recipe assumes that the cheese maker has a basic knowledge of cheese making or has at least read my cheese making web page. CHEESE MAKING

 

INGREDIENTS:

 

1 quart milk

1/2 lb butter

2 tsp liquid lecithin

1/2 tsp mesophilic cheese culture

1/8 tsp liquid rennet

1/4 tsp salt

 

You can use any sort of milk, whole, 1%, reconstituted non-fat dry, powdered whole milk. I use the latter.

 

1. Heat the milk to 145F.

 

2. Melt the butter in the microwave and then pour into blender. Add lecithin and blend for a few minutes slowly adding warm milk till the blender is full. Pour this into the rest of the milk and stir thoroughly. If there is still some butter floating around, pour this off with some of the milk into the blender and whiz a bit more and return to the kettle.

 

3. If you use an egg yolk instead of lecithin, hold the mix at 145F for 30 min to pasteurize.

 

4. Cool the mix to 86F and add the meso culture. The amount specified assumes a direct vat culture. If you use fresh culture, I would guess about 2 tbs would do. Ripen for 30 minutes.

 

5. Dilute 1/8 tsp liquid rennet in 1/4 cup water and then add only 1 tsp of this dillution to the cheese and mix thoroughly for several minutes.

 

6. Cover the kettle and set aside at room temp to curdle and acidify. The prescribed pH for this cheese is 4.7 and it took 6 hours to reach this level at 70F. The books say 12-18 hours so I could probably reduce the amount of culture used.

 

7. Cut the curd carefully and slowly stir in 2 cups of water at 170F then slowly heat this to 125F, stiring gently just to heat evenly.

 

8. Pour curd into a cheese cloth line colander and then hang bag to drain.

 

9. When dripping stops, press bag of curd lightly between boards for several hours. Lightly means a few pounds and flip the bag a few times.

 

10. When the texture is as desired, put curds in a bowl and mix in the salt and then press the curd into small molds and cover with plastic wrap.

 

As with most cheese, this one is best if brought to room temperature before serving.

 

For additional cheese RECIPES

 

If you would like to participate in a discussion group devoted to cheesemaking, join us at the.......

Cheesemakers' Digest.

 

To join, send the word "subscribe" in the text to:

 

cheese-request@hbd.org

 

 

 

RECIPES

 

CHEESE PAGE

 

CHEESY PRESS

 

http://schmidling.com/ccheese.htm

 

 

[Dora]

Thanks for bringing this up. I was able to buy 4 large cartons of small curd cottage cheese for 99 cents!!! Now what do I do with it? lol We like cottage cheese, but won't eat it all before we lose it (pull date is tomorrow). I know it will be good for a while - we are using one dated Feb. 29. It is the 4% fat type.

Thanks for all help.

Dora

[TXQFMom]

favorite site for cultures...

 

http://www.dairyconnection.com/hobbyiest.html

 

good book is Goats Produce Too....

[westbrook]

cottage cheese... use it instead of Ricotta cheese.. make italian.. stuffed shells! then freeze what you made to be eaten at another time.

 

When I make Manicotti, I will purchase several boxes of manicotti pasta and stuff and stuff.. *hint.. stuff dry, make sure your sauce is a bit more liquid and not cooked down so thick.. the water will be absorbed into the pasta and cook it.

 

After it is cooked, freeze it! I usually buy huge tin pans to be thrown away after done. After it is cooled, I move the manicotti or shells into smaller containers that are microwavable and freeze.

 

And that is how I would use the cottage cheese!

 

Pasta stuffing

1 pound Ricotta or cottage cheese in your case

1/4 pound of mozzerella - grated

1 egg slightly beaten

1 teaspoonful-1 tablespoon sugar depending on how much cheese you are using

3/4 cup parmesan cheese - grated or dried

 

Optional... Parsley or spinich.. finely chopped

 

place in a cake decorating bag or container and fill pasta.

 

the amounts I use...

 

2 large containers of ricotta

1 large mozzarella cheese

4 eggs

1 cup parmesan cheese

filled 4 boxes of manicotti (14 to a box) 56 filled manicotti – 3 to a person feeds 18 people with 2 left over.

that took 1 ½ gallons of sauce

 

place a layer of sauce on bottom of pan, then a layer of pasta, more sauce. Repeat if you want layers.. works for Lasagna too.

 

bake at 350 degrees for 40-50 minutes.

 

[GirlNextDoor]

 

I like to add herbs and spices like garlic, oregano, black pepper and basil to my cottage cheese mixture.

[Cat]

http://fiascofarm.com/dairy/index.htm

 

http://www.cheesemaking.com/