Suggestions on cheese making supplies

[Moose_MI]

So I’m branching out into cheese making. I’ve got the cheesemaker.com starter kits and have made mozzarella and feta...very cool! I plan to process 2-4G of raw cow milk a month and have a cheese cave ready to go.

Any suggestions for molds, cultures, mat’s, etc. that I should be stocking to be able to explore a wide variety of soft/hard aged/fresh cheese/butter?

Thanks!

 

[passedpawn]

oh where to start... a cheese cave is great. You might look into that. I made one out of a wine cooler. They have almost the perfect temperature, no controller needed.

 

[Moose_MI]

Thanks...I have a cheese cave ready to go...it’s an appt size fridge and I’m using an ITC-608T temp controller/humidity monitor.

I’m going to hold off on a press for now. I don’t plan on waxing...just vacuum seal. Would welcome suggestions about cheese molds, cultures, or general supplies that are good to have around to make a variety of cheeses.

Thanks

 

[bernardsmith]

Rather than buy dried cultures you might consider buying some kefir grains and using the kefir to culture your milk for cheese making. Kefir contains dozens of both meso and thermo-philic cultures so you can make both lower temperature cheeses and higher temperature cheeses. I have made everything from Cheddar to feta to alpine to chevre using the cultures from kefir (I use about 1/4 cup of the kefir to inoculate the milk) and I make hard cheese from the kefir itself (I store about 1 gallon of the kefir I get from feeding the grains and use this to make the cheese). All that said, kefir does not contain the cultures you need to make blue cheese and I am not sure about brie or Camembert.

Regarding a press, they are very easy to build yourself. Simply buy two bamboo cutting mats and four 12 inch bolts with 8 nuts and 8 washers and drill the boards so that the holes are about 1 inch from the corners. This allows you to press your cheese whether in molds or free form (squeaky curd). Cost is about $20. for all parts - and your weights can be gallon milk containers filled with water (1 gallon = 8 lbs) or bricks...

For mats I use the plastic mats used for embroidery and sewing projects you can buy at craft stores. You can also use sushi mats. I use both.

 

[mashpaddled]

Thanks...I have a cheese cave ready to go...it’s an appt size fridge and I’m using an ITC-608T temp controller/humidity monitor.

I’m going to hold off on a press for now. I don’t plan on waxing...just vacuum seal. Would welcome suggestions about cheese molds, cultures, or general supplies that are good to have around to make a variety of cheeses.

Thanks

What is your plan to shape cheeses without a press? There are a lot of ways to build a press without having to buy an expensive press although if you want to make extremely hard cheese (e.g. Parmesan-like cheese) you will need to be able to load up a lot of weight for a long period of time.

You will need some molds to shape cheese. IMO a round hard cheese mold will work for just about anything you want to make. Get cheesecloth as well. If you have raw milk you could use the occupants of the milk rather than buying cultures but if you need cultures you can get the C201 and C101 cultures which gives you both a thermophilic and a mesophilic culture. You can blend them or use separately as necessary. Those two will be sufficient for most styles of cheese that do not require a mold culture for internal or external development. You will also need rennet.

 

[Kent88]

Just be careful with raw milk. I have family members who can handle raw milk, but you really need to be able to trust that the farmers care about cleanliness. If you don't plan to pasteurize, be sure to age your cheese long enough (60 or 90 days minimum, I think) for the bad bacteria to get under control.

Vacuum sealing is good for hard cheeses that don't have funk growing on the sides. Vacuum sealing cheese mold will create something unpleasant to look at.

 

[bernardsmith]

I am certain that top quality raw milk makes the best cheese but you can add Calcium Chloride to most store bought milk to help repair the damage the heat does to the calcium in the milk. I make cheese almost every week and unless I am getting raw goats milk from a friend I simply buy my milk from the supermarket. Just be sure to buy the very freshest milk you can find.

 

[Moose_MI]

Just posting a coupe pics of my first go at Fromage Blanc and Cheddar. Cheddar is a PITA .

I’m finding that I still need the calcium chloride addition to get a curd with the raw milk. I think it’s because it’s usually 10-14 days old in the fridge before I actually get a chance to use it.

 

[bernardsmith]

What makes cheddar a PITA? You simply have to keep on turning the blocks. I make a squeaky curd cheddar almost every week (from a gallon of milk, so it gives me about a pound of curds) and the whole process from start to the end of the clean-up takes less than 5 hours with 40 minutes of ripening and 40 minutes of renneting.

 

[Moose_MI]

Recipe I used had me....

Heating & cooking the curds for an hr
35 minutes of letting curds set
Cutting the curd mass into strips
Keeping the curd mass warm for 2 hrs and having to turn 8 times
Milling the curds for 30 min while still keeping the curds warm
Pressing for 48hrs
Drying 2-5 days
Aging 3-6months

...oh and add the 2 hrs it took me to get the curd to set because I’m still learning. I started boiling utensils around 10:30 and started 2nd pressing at 7pm.

...but I learned a lot.

 

[bernardsmith]

Squeaky curds are not aged and the cheddaring time is about 30 minutes although I press the cheese for about 60 minutes before I cheddar. Cheddaring is really using the mass of cheese to help extract the whey and firm the paste. If I begin by sanitizing equipment and kettle at 6.00 by 10.30 or 11 have put everything away.

 

[Moose_MI]

I see. The recipe I was using did not have any pressing before the cheddaring and had a 2hr cheddaring step.

So here it is after the final 24hr pressing @50lbs..

Now I just hope it stays together as it dries for a few days.

 

[bernardsmith]

This looks good. If you have a sharp knife you might want to remove the excess pieces of cheese. They can be good harbors for mold that you don't want because they can provide crevices of moisture etc

 

[Moose_MI]

Thank You!! I was a little frustrated when the curd did not set and I almost dumped it but I’m glad I persisted.

Excellent suggestion about trimming...I would never have thought of that and assumed it best to save every little morsel.

Kind sir..if you should ever find yourself in SW MI it would be my honor to host you. I specialize in mediocre to good homebrew, rookie cheeses, and good/exceptional BBQ.

Please do look me me up...a good time I will assure you.