I swear... this place is killing me.

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Rbeckett

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Now I am hooled on making cheese too. Was reading some of the posts in the cheese section, got interested, did some due diligence on google and Wiki and ordered a cheese kit from Austin. Figured I would order a couple of the different kits since they were pretty cheap and it doesn't require a massive investment in equipment. A cheese press looks pretty easy to build and the rest is temp control, stirring, waiting and ageing. I can do that... So now I am patiently waiting for the big brown truck to slide in at my place and bring me my christmas present early to me. I'm payin for it so it can be christmad whenever I want.....
Bob
 
Sounds pretty good Bob. No need for regrets. Let's not be cheesey...Oh. that was bad!
 
I've had cheddar packet for years. I built a press last year. Still have not taken the time to actually make some cheese. Maybe this weekend, if the wife doesn't pencil me in for some X-mas shopping or other holiday festivities.
 
I've had cheddar packet for years. I built a press last year. Still have not taken the time to actually make some cheese. Maybe this weekend, if the wife doesn't pencil me in for some X-mas shopping or other holiday festivities.

And I thought we were bad - we got a Cabernet/Merlot wine kit last December and just put it in the carboy last week ;)
 
Good news, everybody!

Wife has more or less given me permission to make cheese tomorrow night! I volunteered to go shopping with her in GR this weekend. She even said she could go alone if I needed to be home with my cheese, but of course I told her I'd love to go shopping with her (I ain't stupid.) Just as long as I have the time to rotate the cheese as needed the first few times. From what I remember after the initial "making" the cheese sits in the press and turned over a few times as the weight is increased.

Time to go read up on some tutorials!
 
I haven't made cheese lately, but I was doing it weekly for a while!

I blame all of you guys for my cooking hobby, soapmaking hobby, the cheesemaking, the soda making, and of course the brewing.

The winemaking hobby I admit I did start on my own. You guys encouraged the rest of the obsessions!

I gained some weight since I've been on this forum- I'm up 3 pounds in 6 years due to the "hobbies"!
 
Next thing you know you'll be blowing yourself up with NaOH trying to follow Yooper's soap post.
 
Have you guys made yogurt yet? It was so quick and easy that I'm never buying yogurt again..just milk and fruit preserves. Total fermentation time was 8 hours!
 
I'm up 3 pounds in 6 years due to the "hobbies"!
Ain't real food wonderful? My cheese consumption is about the same, but my beer and wine consumption is up between five and tenfold in the past two years and I'm still in the same range. I figure I'd be up 5 - 10 at least with filtered/pasteurized. No, I don't have any science or references to imply these are related, but you'd be hard pressed to convince me there aren't benefits to live food.
 
Made Cheddar on Saturday (Well, Friday night, but it carried over into Saturday. I forgot to clip it yesterday and this morning!!

I am constantly seeing new hobbies to try. Problem is my dear wife gets tired of hearing about them and the clutter they sometimes make in the house.

This weekend I made the cheese and bottled some Chocolate Porter, kegged a wit, cleaned the sink and counter. Cleaned a bunch of bottles, counted up the empties and basically cleaned the rest of the kitchen.

Then I made pasties yesterday and messed it up again a little. Tonight I should be able to get the rest of the house cleaned and get ready for the holidays. Still quite a lot of time to go, so I imagine I'll find time to make more mess with cheesemaking or soap or something. Oh and there are still plenty of bottles to clean. I found some that I forgot I had, not to mention the several boxes of molding bottles in the basement.
 
You made pasties? With tassels and everything?

We made Colby on Saturday. Did the ricotta with the leftovers too. Yeah. Got a heaping serving spoon worth.

The Colby looks like it's working. Tried a small piece right out the press. It tastes more milky, buttery than cheesy, but a cheese taste was there. At least it didn't taste like sour milk.
 
D'oh!

I meant pastys. Pasties were after.

Cheddar was still fairly moist in the middle. I'm giving another day or so before I wax my cheese.

Colby would be interesting. I could make my own colby jack. Wife would like that.
 
I'd get my wife a set, but a couple half moon hubcaps would fit better and cost less. Colby or monteray jackwith Jalapenos is good along with a sausage cheese too.
 
Have my Mozzarella curds setting at this very moment. It's an Austin HB Kit, but has been a simple to follow set of directions so far. No suprises, the kit has followed the directions perfectly about curd formation and ripening. I love it when a kit works without having to quess what to do next. I guess I should ask Double D pastie's to bring home another gallon for some Feta tommorrow. I broke my truck or I would have already done that myself. I am jazzed, I love it when a plan comes together and works simply. AHS gets 2 thumbs up on the kit and the excelent directions. I did it, so I know just about anybody else on the planet can too....
Wheelchair Bob
 
Ha! Last night my wife said she was going to bed. I said I'd be there as soon as I got done WAXING MY CHEESE! She said why don't you come to bed and wax your cheese?

Well, the wax was already melted, so I put one quick coat on and put the cheese back in the fridge.
 
Well I'm impressed. 5 Bucks and I made some pretty decent cheese already. Nothing like that good old instant satisfaction. I am about ready for the next rung on the ladder. A brined Feta, followed by a Jack with Slim Jims and jalapeno and wax aged in the kegerator at 55 to sharpen it up a bit. Slim Jims are such an under used ingredient and really bring a lot of flavor to the party in a very small package. Run em in the food processor till broken down to very small bits and added just before pressing. Should be an excelent tasting cheese advebture. I'lll let ya know how it works out.
Bob
 
Im diving in this weekend, I picked up a gal of milk and a lemon, I can't wait.

Cheese is good, Beer is good, Cheese and Beer together even better.

Cheers :mug:
 
Update, The cheese is great, was so easy to make I can't believe it, it taste great too.

1 gal milk, 1/2 a lemon=about 1/4 cup, 1/4 cup white vinegar, 1/2 tbs salt.
Maybe 3/4 tbs salt next batch.

About an 1 hr start to finnish and it was done.

Im going to get 5 gal of milk today, I really want to age some of this, aged 3 to 6 months its suppose to become parmesan, cant wait.

Cheese-cheers :mug:
 
Got my Rikki Carrol cheese making book today. Lots of great info, good techique training and a bunch of good recipes for not so common cheeses. Now I just gotta get busy and try a few of the more different and tasty variations. I'm kind of like Andrew Zimern, I will try anything once so I am definately interested in some of the possibilities in this book. Def worth the 16 bucks directly from her site.
Wheelchair Bob
 
2 gallons of milk yields a ton (more like 2.5 pounds this time) of faux-chevre/bakers cheese. Last night I used some as a base with some crushed black pepper and thyme to make a fantastic cheese spread. Tonight I made up a cheesecake base with it to make a tray full of bite sized lemon tarts.
 
Jakenbacon, you just had to go there didn't you??? Now I gotta go look at how that goes and maybe give it a try too. I love Thai food and I use sririachi pepper sauce by the quart. Not too hot, but planty of flavor. Darn, another new investigation and some experiments. I absolutely love this site, all kinds of stuff to get into and lots of help to keep you going on new stuff.
Wheelchair Bob
 
Tonight My wife and I made 2 two gallon batches of cheese, in 1 we added diced sun dried tomato's and a pinch or two of Italian seasoning, and the other batch we left plain as I want to age some of it to make it into parmesan cheese.

Oh and the first batch, its all gone.

Cheers :mug:
 
Got two Gallons for a cheddar/Jack. Stopped at the Win Dixie and got some fresh Jappaleennoos (Yeah I spelled it that way on purpose), some Poblanos, Ground pork, and some hard salami. Gotta degrease the salami and pork, cook it up and make a big ole batch of Pepper, salami Jack, The Poblanos and Pork are for chile Reinyos with Mozzarella and dutch smoked Havarti. Still looking for the Hot sauce urge, but I know t's comin...
Wheelchair Bob
 
We took our Gouda out the press tonight. Lost some small chunks to cloth being stuck in it.

We're using store bought, pasteurized, but not ultra pasteurized, 2% milk. So far, it looks to be working.
 
Got the Pepper/Salami in the press. Take it out and dry it before wax in a few days. Plan to age it at least 6 months to develop the Monteray Jack . Went together flawlessly and was so simple to add the extra ingredients. When I added the saly\t I put it in with the processed salami and peppers and let it draw out the excess water from the peppers and dumped it in. Mix well and put in press as normal. Too easy. Hope your Gouda turns out well, it would go great with a dark lager like a doppel or a bass dark ale clone.
Bob
 
I have been thinking about doing some cheese making too. I was a dairy farmer in a previous life so I am well schooled on the first part of the process.
I read somewhere that it works pretty good to use dried milk and just add in heavy cream to get the butterfat content where you want it to be for the type of cheese you are making. Don't have to worry about potential effects of homogenization that way.

One of these days I will get started, but I have too many brewing related projects going to start anything else now.
 
Rural,
I have been using store bought Vitamin D milk and it is doing fine too. The dried milk and heavy cream would definately allow you to make the heavier fat cheeses with less waste. You could bulk up you 1 gallon of milk to have the protiens and fat of 2 and have less whey to use or throw away possibly. That is one thing about doing this at home, we can experiment on a small scale and perfect an item beofre using larger quantities and possibly wasting them with a bad plan. My Pepper-Salami is in the final press phase and coming out to dry this afternoon. I figured since it has to air dry I might as well double the press time and turn it over so that I can get as much excess water out sooner. That should reduce my drying time and I can wax it sooner so it doesn't get mold or bacteria on it that I dont want. So jump in when you finish brewing that batch
Bob
 
I've been brewing for many years, as well as growing and making my own hot pepper sauces, and am now moving to cheese as well. Looking forward to trying something new!
 
Cheese and Sausage is a great way to wait for your beer to age. By the time your brews are ready to drink you can have sheese and snausages to go with it too. So far cheese has been super easy and it goes right into my fermenting chamber at 55 degrees. The fermenting brew keeps the humidity up and overcomes any possible bad smells or off flavors too. Once my Pepper/Salami Jack ages a bit I plan to do a cold smoke on it and rewax it to finish ageing. That should be tasty when it is done. I also think home made cheese is creamier and tastes better than anything you could ever buy in a grocery. A cheese shop would have a hard time keeping several flavors seperated and equally good too. Knowing what I am putting into my food also allows me to control the good, bad and ugly.... Have a great time with the new branch of the hobby tree.
Wheelchair Bob
 
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