First attempt at Cheese

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snccoulter

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So my wife got me a cheese making kit for Christmas and I am finally able to give it a try Sunday. I am going to make a farmhouse cheddar, from Home Cheese Making 3rd Edition by Ricki Carroll. Given my propensity to overdue just about anything I take a shining to I built a cheese press today. It only cost me about $35 so my wife thinks we got off easy so far. :tank:

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Awesome. How long will it take before its ready to eat? I bought my wife the cheap mozzarella kit and she made two batches and lost interest. I've been a little too intimidated to try anything else yet
 
That looks crazy. Have the rennet and culture in freezer. Its funny. I can make beer. But cheeze is making me go huh?

Report your results. Errors and triumphs when yiu make :)
 
Welcome to cheesemaking, snccoulter!

I got in about seven years ago...it's awesome!

If you keep everything clean, follow the recipe, and use decent ingredients, you'll be fine, everytime. You might not be 100% on style, especially at first...but I've never had a cheese turn out inedible.

Take the plunge, get the process started...then, Relax, don't worry, and pair some homemade cheese with a homebrew! (RDWAPSHCWIAH? It might catch on!) :)
 
The Farmhouse Cheddar should be ready in about a month.
Why let a little bit of curdled milk intimidate you. I plan on making salami here soon also. What is more fun fun than Beer Cheers and Salami.
 
The book tells you what you need to know as to when to put presser 10 lbs for 10 min then 20 lbs for 10 min the 50 lbs for 12 to 16 hours... for this cheese so far it has been easy.. i have it hanging right now.

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So my wife got me a cheese making kit for Christmas and I am finally able to give it a try Sunday. I am going to make a farmhouse cheddar, from Home Cheese Making 3rd Edition by Ricki Carroll. Given my propensity to overdue just about anything I take a shining to I built a cheese press today. It only cost me about $35 so my wife thinks we got off easy so far. :tank:

That looks like the one we built. We're following the time, pretty much, but we didn't do anything to rate the weight. We just keep it tight and to where it's squeezing out liquid, for the first pressings, anyway.

It'll be next week before we try our Colby. So far though, it *looks* good.

Have you done anything to determine how much weight you're pressing on it?
 
I am going to get some other springs here in a few days. I thought the springs I had would work but they are to strong 50 lbs is about 1/4 inch compression. What I did was place a scale on it and start compressing the springs. I am going to build a scale so I can track the compression therefore track the pressure being applied. Today I went with good an firm for the 50 lbs that it will sit under tonight...
 
snccoulter said:
I am going to get some other springs here in a few days. I thought the springs I had would work but they are to strong 50 lbs is about 1/4 inch compression. What I did was place a scale on it and start compressing the springs. I am going to build a scale so I can track the compression therefore track the pressure being applied. Today I went with good an firm for the 50 lbs that it will sit under tonight...

You could probably get a fish scale and hang it from the top stationary piece of wood and attach it to the bottom piece that moves. In theory that should measure the amount of force pushing down as you apply it

Now that I take another look at it maybe you would have to add one more piece of wood up top? Not sure how it works just by looking
 
Here is my cheese at apporx. 50 lbs of pressure. Will take it out of the press at about 8 in the morning hopefully it will be ready to dry and then paint with wax in about 4 to 5 days.

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Well here is the result of my first attempt at cheese one nice looking cheese wheel I think...

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So in my first attempt I think I screwed up. I add calcium chloride and let sit for an hour before adding bacteria culture. A quick look back at directions I should have added it right away. So my milk sat at 86 dehrees buliding whatever bacteria that was not the culture. So is it safe to continue?
 
If you are asking me I could not tell you. The recipe I did did not use calcium chloride..
 
I was just posting here cause it was my first attempt as well. Just questioning whether I have contAminated it or not. I rolled with it and now its under press.
Cheers!
 
Well I hope you get the answer you need. Feed some to the neighbors barking dog if it dies don't eat it if it lives you should be fine... Just kidding I don't think it will make you sick it may not taste the way you wanted it to but you should be fine to eat...
 
Steve, great thread and cool looking press. You've inspired me, waiting on the mail for rennet and citric acid to make some mozzarella but see myself jumping into this.

Wish you still lived close by but happy for you and the family you got out of this stinky dusty valley.
 
Thanks Dan, It took up over half my day doing the farm cheddar but it sure was fun.
 
I should be waxing the cheese tomorrow if I can get a natural bristle brush before I leave town tonight. Then to let it age for 30 to 60 days.. Yumm
 
Anybody make a press like this one? I'm thinking it is the route I'll take. I like the aesthetics of it. Or should I stick with something more traditional?

 
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We tried a wedge of our first cheese today. Colby.

Moist and creamy, but not wet and gooey. Not doughy. Not as dry as store bought though. We're well pleased with the consistency and texture. I think the press is working well. Maybe for dryer cheese we could tighten down more and more often.

The flavor is mild and clean. No sour milk taste at all. We'd like it to be a little richer though. Maybe it will get there with age. It's definitely Colby all the same.

There are a few small mold spots under the wax. I dunno. We waxed the heck out of it.

I'm calling this a damn good first run. :ban:
 
Good to hear the cheese turned out. I made a few batches of Mozzarella today. they turned out good real easy to make.
Dan I was looking at making a press like that, but decided for a first time thing the other would be easier. I will be making one that looks like that just because I like the looks. Probably this summer when I can get the tools out for longer than a hour without fear of getting rained on. YES I will watch out for the finger...
 
Steve, you'll probably get it made before I do and I know your time is more pressed (cheese joke.. see? :D)

I've been screwing around with a basic wooden brewstand that I built, tore apart, redesigned and then added a bunch of silicone tubing, QDs and a pump. Removed the pump resituated and built a better splash guard for it. Dwelved into a plate chiller and then read about Jamail Z's IC re-circulation set-up. Built it with QDs and tested the cooling effect, tested again. For what it's worth the the re-circulation works amazingly fast.

I've also been petering about with electric. If I ever finish my simple, and I do mean simple compared to the awesome rigs on here; it will be amazing if I ever brew again. Might even buy and extract. Haha. No.

Very happy you brought up making cheese. Seen it before on the threads around here but when you mentioned it. You motivated me man! I'm like a new brewer except now it's cheese!

Cheers my friend!
 
My redneck cold smoker I built it today I built it with the 2 plastic buckets some flexible ducting and a computer fan to draw the smoke from the smoker through the ducting and the plastic containers. Don't forget the duct tape I used to seal everything off. I figure the smoke will cool down enough while going through the ducting it will be able to cool off even more in the first plastic box then be pushed into the second plastic container then out the smoke stack. I will use it to smoke my next batch of cheddar and to smoke my own bacon on Friday. I have the pork belly coming into Safeway here in the next day or two. I am also told that smoked deviled eggs are the bomb...
Here is a pic of my first cheddar all done up in cheese wax.
And here is a pic of the lasagna I cooked with my fresh mozzarella it was good...

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I'm going to post a picture of the cheese press I'm building. You are going to have to use your imagination on the final product.


The wood is from an old bed that is not longer needed. This pic is just the basic planning stage. I think it is upside down in the photo. At the top is the base, the wood below it will be mounted vertically to the base. It is a fulcrum style press. Haven't spent any money on it yet, just used stuff around the house. I will have to buy a bottle of Elmer wood glue and some hardware. Should be able to get the thing finished up for under $10.

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Not sure I'll use the knobs on the top. They are available and can use them.. The plunger in the middle I think I'll round off the edges at the top of it. Probably also round the other end so the corners don't interfere with the flow at the base. I know what I mean but not sure I explain what I mean.. Again.. Use your imagination.

I meant the fulcrum lever I'll round at the bottom so there is no interference. The plunger will also be rounded at the top for aesthetic reasons only. Hope that makes sense to you.
 
snccoulter said:
The Farmhouse Cheddar should be ready in about a month.
Why let a little bit of curdled milk intimidate you. I plan on making salami here soon also. What is more fun fun than Beer Cheers and Salami.

Let us know how the salami went. I got my partner a mincer and she is looking at trying it out but would be really interested on how yours went.
If you don't mind me asking how you make it too.....like what you used and how much :)

Cheers
 
As soon as I get to it I will post up the recipe and info but I have to convince my wife i need a good meat grinder/sausage maker.
 
According to my wife's reading, if cheese gets little spots of surface mold on it under the wax, that usually means it wasn't dry enough before being waxed. The internet says either let it dry longer it dry it in a drier place.
 
I got it made! The cheese press. Life? Hmm, maybe not.

Anyway, here it is. I need to do some cosmetic stuff to it, stain on the raw edges, maybe stick those round dohickies on the the top and round out some corners. Plus I need to calibrate it. I used my grain scale to get an idea of what 10 pounds of pressure would take, not much, depending on where I pushed on the fulcrum lever.

I'm happy with it because it is the look I was going for and I had the wood on hand. This litttle (it's not that little unfortunately) cost me $7.83 for a bottle of Elmer's wood glue and some hardware. Okay, maybe I"m bragging there. This thing just worked out very affordable for me.

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Thank you for doing that Pappy.

I'm just getting into this cheese making thing. We're homebrewers who make their own beer. I think we are all in some sort of naturalist state of mind. What goes along with letting bugs work on things we love. Cheese! It's natural! :)

Cheers Pappy!
 
Looking good Dan. I am glad I could inspire you... Now get to work on a hard cheese. When I get back from Seattle I will scan some of the book's recipes and e-mail them to you..
 
Thanks Steve! I look forward to putting this thing into action. The mozzarella turned out pretty good and was so simple to make. I used the microwave method but want to learn the hot water batch method, seems more ligit. It was great on pizza. The homemade crust turned out decently but I'm a bit out of practice making bread. I'm think I'm going to get another sourdough starter going. I tried it once before but it never really flourished here in the valley. Maybe it has something to do with all the spraying in this valley. I had one for three years in Hawaii, sourdough loves Hawaii, the desert too. I'll give it another try.
 
I am willing to bet it is the water unless you use distilled water the valley uses lots of chemicals in the water..
 
I got it made! The cheese press. Life? Hmm, maybe not.

Anyway, here it is. I need to do some cosmetic stuff to it, stain on the raw edges, maybe stick those round dohickies on the the top and round out some corners. Plus I need to calibrate it. I used my grain scale to get an idea of what 10 pounds of pressure would take, not much, depending on where I pushed on the fulcrum lever.

I'm happy with it because it is the look I was going for and I had the wood on hand. This litttle (it's not that little unfortunately) cost me $7.83 for a bottle of Elmer's wood glue and some hardware. Okay, maybe I"m bragging there. This thing just worked out very affordable for me.

cheese-press-58013.jpg

Looks sturdy and adjustable.

Do you have a pet squirrel or something?
 
Yep it's pretty sturdy.

Pet squirrel? :fro: Nope, no squirrels two cats and a small dog. The cats will sometimes stand at the outside door and wait to be let in. My dog will only use the doggy door. He loves the freedom.
 
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