Cheese making supplies for a beginner
Apr 19, 2021 20:12:38 GMT -5
throwback, susaq, and 2 more like this
Post by josiegirl on Apr 19, 2021 20:12:38 GMT -5
just wanted to throw in my two cents too since this is my first year owning a cow and making cheese! i second kelsey's essentials list. that list of cultures will have you making most cheeses except bloomy rinds and specific fancy cheeses.
i also agree with treatlisa that the washed curd cheeses are super great. i looooove the havarti recipe (hotwater washed)it is insanely melty, unlike any other cheese i've had before. ive made it 4 times now and let me tell you... best mac and cheese ever! and grilled cheese. it falls apart in your mouth its that melty and gooey.
i think the greatest thing about cheesemaking that i've learned so far. you really can make it as complicated, or as simple as you want. i will make my way up to the more complex cheeses but for now im happy with having a product that is a satisfactory replacement for store bought cheese. so definitely read the books and the science behind it because it will make you a better cheesemaker in the long run, but dont let it intimidate you out of just putting up some cheese. i think that happened to me lol.
for example: i use a screw type cider press for pressing mmy cheese. i have no way to know how much pressure i am putting on the cheese and its probably totally inconsistant. but lemme tell ya it works just fine. i vac seal and age my cheeses in a regular fridge(my milk ridge) and again, they turn out great in about 6 weeks. it is also a little bit safer i believe which is nice for me since im feeding this cheese to a toddler. plus theres a lot to buy to get started cheesemaking so it allowed me to space out the purchasing of cheesecave equipment. if i had known you could make such delicious cheese in the fridge i wouldve been cranking out cheese about 6 months sooner and not had to have taste all the sour cheese that was aged in our root cellar which was too warm lol.
you can mess up a recipe so bad but dont despair! it might not be the specific cheese you were planning on making but chances are it will be perfectly edible and quite possibly delicious. your temperatures might be all over the place, the curd size super irregular, the pressing weight all wrong but as long as its aged ok and the milk was initially clean itll be some sort of tasty cheese(probably). that is why i prefer aging in bags in the fridge as a beginner. and if the cheese is too crumby to do anything with ou can make your own velveeta using sodium citrate.
oh and might i suggest one of the first things you make is a parmesan. its easy to get the curd size right because you basically just try to get them super tiny(use a whisk) then vac seal it whack it in the back of the fridge and forgetr about it for a year haha just kidding you should check on it sometimes but i soooo wish i had done that, id be eating parmesan by now! or at least in a few months. really wish i hadnt put that one off.
sorry if that was too much haha
i also agree with treatlisa that the washed curd cheeses are super great. i looooove the havarti recipe (hotwater washed)it is insanely melty, unlike any other cheese i've had before. ive made it 4 times now and let me tell you... best mac and cheese ever! and grilled cheese. it falls apart in your mouth its that melty and gooey.
i think the greatest thing about cheesemaking that i've learned so far. you really can make it as complicated, or as simple as you want. i will make my way up to the more complex cheeses but for now im happy with having a product that is a satisfactory replacement for store bought cheese. so definitely read the books and the science behind it because it will make you a better cheesemaker in the long run, but dont let it intimidate you out of just putting up some cheese. i think that happened to me lol.
for example: i use a screw type cider press for pressing mmy cheese. i have no way to know how much pressure i am putting on the cheese and its probably totally inconsistant. but lemme tell ya it works just fine. i vac seal and age my cheeses in a regular fridge(my milk ridge) and again, they turn out great in about 6 weeks. it is also a little bit safer i believe which is nice for me since im feeding this cheese to a toddler. plus theres a lot to buy to get started cheesemaking so it allowed me to space out the purchasing of cheesecave equipment. if i had known you could make such delicious cheese in the fridge i wouldve been cranking out cheese about 6 months sooner and not had to have taste all the sour cheese that was aged in our root cellar which was too warm lol.
you can mess up a recipe so bad but dont despair! it might not be the specific cheese you were planning on making but chances are it will be perfectly edible and quite possibly delicious. your temperatures might be all over the place, the curd size super irregular, the pressing weight all wrong but as long as its aged ok and the milk was initially clean itll be some sort of tasty cheese(probably). that is why i prefer aging in bags in the fridge as a beginner. and if the cheese is too crumby to do anything with ou can make your own velveeta using sodium citrate.
oh and might i suggest one of the first things you make is a parmesan. its easy to get the curd size right because you basically just try to get them super tiny(use a whisk) then vac seal it whack it in the back of the fridge and forgetr about it for a year haha just kidding you should check on it sometimes but i soooo wish i had done that, id be eating parmesan by now! or at least in a few months. really wish i hadnt put that one off.
sorry if that was too much haha