Cheese making.

[PredFan]

Made 2 pounds of Romano Cheese this weekend. Here the cheese is fresh out of the press and ready for a 12 hour saline bath. Then it goes in the ager for at least 8 months. If only you could smell it!

 

[PredFan]

It hasn't been a year into cheesemaking yet for me. This Romano is my 17th cheese.

4 buttermilk cheeses
2 traditional cheddar
3 Farmhouse cheddar
2 Parmesan
3 Blue cheese
2 Stirred Curd Cheddar
1 Romano

I've had 2 failures, one traditional cheddar wasn't dried out enough when I waxed it and it got very moldy, and the Mozzarella I tried failed in the process of making it.

The two Parms, are still aging, they won't be ready until AT LEAST September, the Blues are still aging as well but I think I dried the first two out two much and they might turn out to be a flop, the 4 Buttermilk cheeses came out ok, the texture wasn't satifactory because I think I was using too much rennet, but they were my first attempts at cheesemaking, and the two Farmhouse cheddars also had texture problems.

The surviving Traditional cheddar turned out to be the best tasting cheddar I've ever had. the texture is right and the flavor is outstanding. Unfortunately, it was only 2 pounds and is almost gone.

The funny thing about cheesemaking is that it can take months and months to find out whether you had a success or failure. It's much fun though.

 

[gallantwarrior]

Made 2 pounds of Romano Cheese this weekend. Here the cheese is fresh out of the press and ready for a 12 hour saline bath. Then it goes in the ager for at least 8 months. If only you could smell it!

Keep really meticulous notes, Pred. My meads usually take 12-18 months to be ready to drink. That's a long time to try to remember what you did, just in case you get a really great cheese, or a lump of goo.
I'm using most of my milk right now for customers and to bottle feed some orphaned kids. As soon as I start weaning kids, I expect to have milk for cheese making. I think I'm going to concentrate on the Swiss cheese this year.
Good luck with the Romano!

 

[PredFan]

Made 2 pounds of Romano Cheese this weekend. Here the cheese is fresh out of the press and ready for a 12 hour saline bath. Then it goes in the ager for at least 8 months. If only you could smell it!

Keep really meticulous notes, Pred. My meads usually take 12-18 months to be ready to drink. That's a long time to try to remember what you did, just in case you get a really great cheese, or a lump of goo.
I'm using most of my milk right now for customers and to bottle feed some orphaned kids. As soon as I start weaning kids, I expect to have milk for cheese making. I think I'm going to concentrate on the Swiss cheese this year.
Good luck with the Romano!

I wish I had a supplier like you near me, I could use the fresh goat's milk. Can't get any that isn't Ultra Pasteurized anywhere in Orlando.

I am trying to make all the cheeses in my recipe book. The ones that turn out for me I will continue to make, the ones that don't will be left alone for a while. I'm hoping that the Stirred Curd Cheddar comes out OK, it's the easiest of the cheddars to make.

 

[gallantwarrior]

Made 2 pounds of Romano Cheese this weekend. Here the cheese is fresh out of the press and ready for a 12 hour saline bath. Then it goes in the ager for at least 8 months. If only you could smell it!

Keep really meticulous notes, Pred. My meads usually take 12-18 months to be ready to drink. That's a long time to try to remember what you did, just in case you get a really great cheese, or a lump of goo.
I'm using most of my milk right now for customers and to bottle feed some orphaned kids. As soon as I start weaning kids, I expect to have milk for cheese making. I think I'm going to concentrate on the Swiss cheese this year.
Good luck with the Romano!

I wish I had a supplier like you near me, I could use the fresh goat's milk. Can't get any that isn't Ultra Pasteurized anywhere in Orlando.

I am trying to make all the cheeses in my recipe book. The ones that turn out for me I will continue to make, the ones that don't will be left alone for a while. I'm hoping that the Stirred Curd Cheddar comes out OK, it's the easiest of the cheddars to make.

I admit, having a good source of fresh, untreated milk is great. I originally tried using store-bought, pasteurized milk and the results were disappointing. Fresh, raw milk responds better to the cheese-making process, IMO. I've been working on one or two types of cheese at a time until I get some standard results. My cheese menu is a bit limited, but most of what I make is predictable. So far, I've done pretty well with the mesophilic types. Swiss will be a new venture into a thermophilic type of cheese.
Keeping notes does help.

 

[PredFan]

Someone told me while I was talking about making cheeses that they make vinegar and are using a mother culture (a piece was taken from someone else's) that is several generations old. As a side amusement, I started some vinegar of my own using all natural unfiltered, inpastuerized vinegar and some alcohol. Not as complicated as cheese and therefor not as fun, it's mostly waiting.

 

[gallantwarrior]

I have an ACV (apple cider vinegar) started with a mother culture. It requires hard cider to make it work. Unless you make your own hard cider, I have found it is not worth the expense. I have it in a nice oak barrel and all...I use a LOT of ACV on my place. It's cheaper to buy ACV in the grocery store...right now.
Have you considered making your own sauerkraut?

 

[PredFan]

I have an ACV (apple cider vinegar) started with a mother culture. It requires hard cider to make it work. Unless you make your own hard cider, I have found it is not worth the expense. I have it in a nice oak barrel and all...I use a LOT of ACV on my place. It's cheaper to buy ACV in the grocery store...right now.
Have you considered making your own sauerkraut?

I've looked at it, talked about it, never took that final leap. I did however, make my own Kim Chee a couple of times.

 

[gallantwarrior]

I've made kimchee, too. It ate away the lids on the jars! A Korean friend of mine seals his kimchee in baggies and freezes it. Traditionally, it's kept in clay or ceramic pots.
Sauerkraut is just cabbage and salt.
We had a pot luck last week at school. Since I'm cleaning up for the upcoming cheese-making season, I decided to use up my feta supply. I made eight dishes featuring feta, and on smoked salmon dip without. I also provided one of my cheddars due to popular demand. I answered the common question, what can you do with all that cheese...

 

[PredFan]

Gallant, have you found differences in strength in your rennet?

 

[gallantwarrior]

Absolutely. I try to get my rennet from the same source and plan on experimenting with some local, plant-based sources (stinging nettles) this year. I've tried using animal rennet from the "old-fashioned" source by harvesting the stomach of a kid that died at birth (froze to death). Problem is, it's extremely variable. (You dry the stomach, then cut off a small piece, soak it in water, and add that to the milk.) Even with commercial sources, older rennet is less potent and you have to compensate. The rennet tablets you get at most health food places are not really suitable for hard-core cheese-making. I much prefer the liquid types.
I'm pretty excited, I just put my first cheese of the season into the cheese press. I'm getting a little more than three gallons of milk a day, so I can afford to experiment a bit. I also have a customer requesting one of my aged cheddars (that will be about $40), I charge $10/lb for my cheese. I have another guy who buys yogurt from me literally by the gallon.
How are your cheeses coming along?

 

[PredFan]

Absolutely. I try to get my rennet from the same source and plan on experimenting with some local, plant-based sources (stinging nettles) this year. I've tried using animal rennet from the "old-fashioned" source by harvesting the stomach of a kid that died at birth (froze to death). Problem is, it's extremely variable. (You dry the stomach, then cut off a small piece, soak it in water, and add that to the milk.) Even with commercial sources, older rennet is less potent and you have to compensate. The rennet tablets you get at most health food places are not really suitable for hard-core cheese-making. I much prefer the liquid types.
I'm pretty excited, I just put my first cheese of the season into the cheese press. I'm getting a little more than three gallons of milk a day, so I can afford to experiment a bit. I also have a customer requesting one of my aged cheddars (that will be about $40), I charge $10/lb for my cheese. I have another guy who buys yogurt from me literally by the gallon.
How are your cheeses coming along?

I'm struggling with the texture. The flavor is fine as far as I can tell. My cheeses end up crumbly like feta. The troubleshooting guide in my book says that if cheeses are too dry it is caused by several things, too little rennet, too much handling of the curds, or too high heat. I don't know which thing to try to correct first.

I kind of get the feeling that I may be "cooking" the curds too long. I'm doing everything by the book so I have to adjust something, and I'm going to first try shortening the time I heat the curds. This is a cheddar that I'm trying to correct so I'll keep the heat at 100 degrees but shorten the time. I don't think I'm using too much rennet and cheddar is a relatively hard cheese so the temp is correct.

I don't want to move on to the next cheese until I get this corrected.

 

[gallantwarrior]

Absolutely. I try to get my rennet from the same source and plan on experimenting with some local, plant-based sources (stinging nettles) this year. I've tried using animal rennet from the "old-fashioned" source by harvesting the stomach of a kid that died at birth (froze to death). Problem is, it's extremely variable. (You dry the stomach, then cut off a small piece, soak it in water, and add that to the milk.) Even with commercial sources, older rennet is less potent and you have to compensate. The rennet tablets you get at most health food places are not really suitable for hard-core cheese-making. I much prefer the liquid types.
I'm pretty excited, I just put my first cheese of the season into the cheese press. I'm getting a little more than three gallons of milk a day, so I can afford to experiment a bit. I also have a customer requesting one of my aged cheddars (that will be about $40), I charge $10/lb for my cheese. I have another guy who buys yogurt from me literally by the gallon.
How are your cheeses coming along?

I'm struggling with the texture. The flavor is fine as far as I can tell. My cheeses end up crumbly like feta. The troubleshooting guide in my book says that if cheeses are too dry it is caused by several things, too little rennet, too much handling of the curds, or too high heat. I don't know which thing to try to correct first.

I kind of get the feeling that I may be "cooking" the curds too long. I'm doing everything by the book so I have to adjust something, and I'm going to first try shortening the time I heat the curds. This is a cheddar that I'm trying to correct so I'll keep the heat at 100 degrees but shorten the time. I don't think I'm using too much rennet and cheddar is a relatively hard cheese so the temp is correct.

I don't want to move on to the next cheese until I get this corrected.

I had the same problem with my cheddars. I actually reduced the rennet and the cheese started being a bit less crumbly and dry. How long do you let your cheeses dry before waxing them? Letting them dry too long also seems to contribute to their being too crumbly. The trick is to have them dry enough that the wax doesn't separate from the cheese surface because of moisture, but not letting them dry out so much that they start to dry out internally.

 

[PredFan]

Absolutely. I try to get my rennet from the same source and plan on experimenting with some local, plant-based sources (stinging nettles) this year. I've tried using animal rennet from the "old-fashioned" source by harvesting the stomach of a kid that died at birth (froze to death). Problem is, it's extremely variable. (You dry the stomach, then cut off a small piece, soak it in water, and add that to the milk.) Even with commercial sources, older rennet is less potent and you have to compensate. The rennet tablets you get at most health food places are not really suitable for hard-core cheese-making. I much prefer the liquid types.
I'm pretty excited, I just put my first cheese of the season into the cheese press. I'm getting a little more than three gallons of milk a day, so I can afford to experiment a bit. I also have a customer requesting one of my aged cheddars (that will be about $40), I charge $10/lb for my cheese. I have another guy who buys yogurt from me literally by the gallon.
How are your cheeses coming along?

I'm struggling with the texture. The flavor is fine as far as I can tell. My cheeses end up crumbly like feta. The troubleshooting guide in my book says that if cheeses are too dry it is caused by several things, too little rennet, too much handling of the curds, or too high heat. I don't know which thing to try to correct first.

I kind of get the feeling that I may be "cooking" the curds too long. I'm doing everything by the book so I have to adjust something, and I'm going to first try shortening the time I heat the curds. This is a cheddar that I'm trying to correct so I'll keep the heat at 100 degrees but shorten the time. I don't think I'm using too much rennet and cheddar is a relatively hard cheese so the temp is correct.

I don't want to move on to the next cheese until I get this corrected.

I had the same problem with my cheddars. I actually reduced the rennet and the cheese started being a bit less crumbly and dry. How long do you let your cheeses dry before waxing them? Letting them dry too long also seems to contribute to their being too crumbly. The trick is to have them dry enough that the wax doesn't separate from the cheese surface because of moisture, but not letting them dry out so much that they start to dry out internally.

I just made some cheddar that I reduced the total time that I kept the curds at 100 degrees. The volume of the wheel is visibly larger than previous ones. Prior to this one I made one that I used less rennet.

You might be right about the drying, one of my earlier cheddars wasn't dry enough and I ended up with a bad case of mold when I opened the wax. Since then I've been making sure it's dry.

The crazy thing is that I won't know what worked for at least 4 months.

 

[Shogun]

How the hell did I miss this thread???

I picked up cheese making last year and love it!

 

[PredFan]

How the hell did I miss this thread???

I picked up cheese making last year and love it!

Been almost a year now for me too. I'm on my 22nd cheese. (Yeah, I number them)

 

[Shogun]

I made my press so I can batch 4 gallons at a time into 2 bricks. My first batch was a feta and was good... but I didn't get the brine correct and it was just salty as hell unless rinsed off. I then switched to farmhouse cheddars. While I've been wanting to actually smoke a few bricks I've been using liquid smoke and they are very delicious. I've been harvesting the ricotta each time and feed the access whey to my dogs.

funny story time:

so, i'm aware now why it is true that cheddar is usually orange in the store. One day while making a batch I thought.. hey, i can just use food coloring to do the same thing! So, I added all of the yellow and a bit of red to the full 4 gallon batch. didn't work. so... I thought, what the hell and added all of the red. so, now it looked like an orange sherbert. Ok, fuck it, lets add some green and blue. so, I added all of the food colorings. In the pot it looked like a sickly gray. As I add rennet and the calcium and it starts to set I start wondering what the hell i'm gonna do with dead flesh colored cheese. I cut the curds and, long story short, get to the cheddaring process. Strangely, the greens and red and yellow all came out with the whey while i was left with huge blue curds! So, I pressed those bitches and served that blued cheddar cheese at one of the baby showers for my daughter. There was much skepticism but it was delicious. That is my funny tale of adding color to cheese that, probably, only a cheese maker would enjoy. I have since picked up the correct method to color my cheddars.

 

[PredFan]

I have the flavor right. I am a healthcare professional so I know about sterilization. It's just the texture right now that I'm struggling with. All my cheeses are crumbly like feta. Some are worse than others but none so far have had the correct texture.

I use the cheese coloring that I buy on line. I like the color better than the store bought color.

 

[gallantwarrior]

The buttery yellow color of some cheddar cheese is the result of carotene in the milk. Since I use goat milk to make my cheese and goats do not process carotene through to their milk as cows do, my cheddars are always white, unless I add annatto. Annatto is a common coloring used to achieve a yellow color in otherwise white cheese.
I've been making cheese since 2006 and really enjoy it. Welcome aboard, Shogun.

 

[PredFan]

If I don't use the coloring, my cheddar is snow white.