Today's recipe!

[Yooper]

I love feta, and haven't made it lately. The only issue I've had is that the cheese softens too much in the brine, so I wanted to try a different recipe. This is the one I'm doing today: http://fiascofarm.com/dairy/feta.html

It's ripening now, so I have no results yet but I think it'll turn out great.

 

[Yooper]

Well, it's been in the brine for a while now, and this is definitely the best feta I've ever made! It's still not crumbly enough, but I did crumble some last night on our salads.

We had a big salad with fresh baby greens from the garden, greek dressing, and some of the crumbled feta. I'm very happy with this recipe, and I'll be doing it again soon.

 

[HalfPint]

Dang, that sounds like it may be a good pick for my first cheese. Where do you recommend I get cultures and all that other stuff I need? I'm not really sure how to do this, but it seems very very easy once I get all the right stuff.

Yoop, do you use regular homogenized/pasteurized milk, or do you try to get raw milk?

Thanks,
Jacob

 

[Yooper]

Dang, that sounds like it may be a good pick for my first cheese. Where do you recommend I get cultures and all that other stuff I need? I'm not really sure how to do this, but it seems very very easy once I get all the right stuff.

Yoop, do you use regular homogenized/pasteurized milk, or do you try to get raw milk?

Thanks,
Jacob

I use raw goat's milk. You can used store milk, but not any that is ultra (or high heat) pasteurized, because it'll never form a curd.

I got some of my cultures from cheesemaking.com, and some from austinhomebrew.com.

 

[Odawg]

I've only made two batches of cheese myself. Both were 1 pound, using store bought gallon milk. The first one turned out pretty good. The second has been in wax for over a year now. I might have to try a Feta batch someday.

 

[HalfPint]

I use raw goat's milk. You can used store milk, but not any that is ultra (or high heat) pasteurized, because it'll never form a curd.

I got some of my cultures from cheesemaking.com, and some from austinhomebrew.com.

Good to know.

Just wondering, but where do you get your goats milk?

 

[Yooper]

I finished off that first batch, and it really did get better with age. I made another batch today, from yesterday morning's milking.

I have an interest in a goat herd, so I get goat's milk as an owner of the herd.

 

[android]

yooper, what is it that makes the feta crumbly? just draining off the why effectively? and how do you get it into blocks?

 

[Yooper]

yooper, what is it that makes the feta crumbly? just draining off the why effectively? and how do you get it into blocks?

I hung it for 24 hours to drain- and it's firm then. Not hard, but firm. Then I cut it into blocks of the size I wanted. I let it sit at room temperature in a sanitized container, and then added it to the brine. It's the brine that makes it crumbly eventually. I guess it's the salt going into the cheese through osmosis. It has to do with the pH of the brine, and the pH of the cheese, I guess.

 

[Goblet]

My first feta softened too much in the brine too. Plus it melted into a puddle on my pizza. Tasted really good though. Like you, I switched to the instructions from FiascoFarms (at least the part about longer draining and sitting at room temperature before brining) and now it tastes great and has the right texture too!

It helps to take the feta out of the brine on the day you're going to use it and let it sit in plain water, to remove some of the salt. Usually I replace the water with milk or whey after about 15 minutes, and let it sit in that until I'm ready to use it.

I use feta on pizza. My fav: chopped rosemary, baby spinach, smoked duck breast, peach slices, add the feta halfway through cooking... or same recipe sub pineapple for the peaches, or sub with thyme, pears, and add pine nuts. My Chicagoan spouse thought I was crazy until he tasted it. Now we almost never have tomato-sauce type pizza.

 

[Yooper]

Oh, that pizza sounds awesome! We'll have to try it. Our garden is producing tons of lettuces right now, along with cucumbers so we're having feta every day on salads. It's wonderful, but I would like to do something else with it like pizza.

 

[MeadWitch]

I use raw goat's milk. You can used store milk, but not any that is ultra (or high heat) pasteurized, because it'll never form a curd.

I got some of my cultures from cheesemaking.com, and some from austinhomebrew.com.

I almost bought a cheese starter kit for mascarpone cheese when I was in Austin Homebrew a couple weeks back. I passed on it though becasue I didn't have anything to really keep it cold for 5-6 hours. What kind of cheeses do you make? Homemade feta sounds awesome but I would be the only one eating it. Now if it was Gouda, my boy would clean that up!

 

[Yooper]

I almost bought a cheese starter kit for mascarpone cheese when I was in Austin Homebrew a couple weeks back. I passed on it though becasue I didn't have anything to really keep it cold for 5-6 hours. What kind of cheeses do you make? Homemade feta sounds awesome but I would be the only one eating it. Now if it was Gouda, my boy would clean that up!

I've made cheddar, havarti, gouda, feta, mozzarella, colby, cabre al vino, manchego, chevre, fromgina (that's a new one- just chevre with a different name, slightly sweeter), edam, and alpine cheese. I've never made a cheese like stilton or brie that gets bacteria added during aging.

After all this, I still don't like cheese. I like feta crumbled on salads, but that's about it. Bob loves it, though. I'm making far less cheese now, only two batches a month. I thought I'd like cheese (like beer and wine) if I made it myself. I was wrong. I still don't like dairy, fermented or not!

 

[MeadWitch]

I like almost any kind of cheese except for goat cheese. We have several places around Austin that make goat cheese, not sure what kind or style but I don't like it. It taste kinda skanky to me and this coming from a girl who loves bleu cheeses, especially German.

I guess for you it is the cheese making process that trips your trigger. Happy cheese making!

 

[Beeropolis]

Yoop,

What Lipase did you use? I have calf lipase (which is recommended for feta) or kid lipase which is recommended by the person who wrote up that recipe. I don't know which one to choose.