Register a SA Forums Account here!
JOINING THE SA FORUMS WILL REMOVE THIS BIG AD, THE ANNOYING UNDERLINED ADS, AND STUPID INTERSTITIAL ADS!!!

You can: log in, read the tech support FAQ, or request your lost password. This dumb message (and those ads) will appear on every screen until you register! Get rid of this crap by registering your own SA Forums Account and joining roughly 150,000 Goons, for the one-time price of $9.95! We charge money because it costs us money per month for bills, and since we don't believe in showing ads to our users, we try to make the money back through forum registrations.
 
  • Locked thread
The Creature
Nov 23, 2014

ColdPie posted:

Yeah, that's way too small. You can make your own full size cheese press with a couple parts from the hardware store and two springs. Should come in under $50 if you skip all the fanciness in that tutorial. Just use some stud lumber and a cutting board.

I'm going to head to a few places this weekend to look for stuff for my own press. What springs did you use? I live in Oklahoma so finding them at a coop or somewhere similar shouldn't be a problem, I'm just curious. Also, lack of a wine fridge means I have my brie in my old dorm fridge now so it's taking a bit for the white mold to grow.

Adbot
ADBOT LOVES YOU

Jose
Jul 24, 2007

Adrian Chiles is a broadcaster and writer

The Creature posted:

Just rennet. 1 gallon of milk and rennet. Personally I have better luck by adding 1/4 teaspoon of calcium chloride if I'm using lovely store milk (not ultra pasteurized). Heat milk to 80 degrees F, dilute calcium chloride in a little non chlorinated water, stir, dilute 1/4 teaspoon in a little water and stir it in. Let it set, cut your curds, and let them drain, and don't dump your whey. Bring the whey to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and dunk your curds in. They are done when they float.

i thought making such a good salty cheese wouldn't be too hard and now i'm going to have a heart attack as i eat it all the time

ColdPie
Jun 9, 2006

The Creature posted:

I'm going to head to a few places this weekend to look for stuff for my own press. What springs did you use? I live in Oklahoma so finding them at a coop or somewhere similar shouldn't be a problem, I'm just curious. Also, lack of a wine fridge means I have my brie in my old dorm fridge now so it's taking a bit for the white mold to grow.

I just grabbed some from a wacky local store that sells overstock hardware and other crap. I never bothered to measure or calibrate them. Worst case you can buy some online.

The Creature
Nov 23, 2014

ColdPie posted:

I just grabbed some from a wacky local store that sells overstock hardware and other crap. I never bothered to measure or calibrate them. Worst case you can buy some online.

Awesome no shortage of those around here. Looks like I have a project this weekend. Thanks!

The Creature
Nov 23, 2014
I found some springs at Ace Hardware for pretty cheap. I didn't bother to calibrate the press either, just assembled and let it do its thing. I used an old sushi rolling mat as a draining mat, and have my 3 gallon batch of cheddar that is under light pressure. I'm going to flip it after 30 minutes, rewrap, press again, and repeat. It will be under as much as I can put on it overnight then brined for a day before drying and waxing. My brie finally started growing penicillium on it and should be ready to wrap up in paper in a few more days. Havarti is looking good, just hanging out and aging. In another week or two I am going to try a Colby. After those are going, I am going to start a harder cheese like Emmental or Gruyere. Coldpie, have you ever made a blue cheese?

ColdPie
Jun 9, 2006

Nope, I can't stand the stuff.

Captain Video
Apr 4, 2016
Every couple of weeks we'll make homemade Paneer, a kind of semi-hard cheese used in Indian cooking. The process is pretty simple and other than pressing out the liquids and putting it in the fridge to stabilize there's no waiting involved, and we typically use it on the same day we made it.

The Creature
Nov 23, 2014

Captain Video posted:

Every couple of weeks we'll make homemade Paneer, a kind of semi-hard cheese used in Indian cooking. The process is pretty simple and other than pressing out the liquids and putting it in the fridge to stabilize there's no waiting involved, and we typically use it on the same day we made it.

This is how I started out. Mozzarella, paneer, ricotta, queso blanco, and halloumi. I've only recently started getting cultures and doing cheeses that need to ripen and age.

Azuth0667
Sep 20, 2011

By the word of Zoroaster, no business decision is poor when it involves Ahura Mazda.
Is there any way to treat ultrapasturized and homogenized milk to make it usable for cheese making?

The Creature
Nov 23, 2014
Eh you can try ricotta. Heat to 195 and add 1/4 cup lemon juice per gallon and see if it curdles

Suspect Bucket
Jan 15, 2012

SHRIMPDOR WAS A MAN
I mean, HE WAS A SHRIMP MAN
er, maybe also A DRAGON
or possibly
A MINOR LEAGUE BASEBALL TEAM
BUT HE WAS STILL
SHRIMPDOR

Azuth0667 posted:

Is there any way to treat ultrapasturized and homogenized milk to make it usable for cheese making?

UHT is pretty much uncurdleable. It's part of how it stays drinkable FOREVER. Case in point, I was making potato soup, but thought I had no heavy cream. Found half a pint of UHT heavy whipping cream shoved in the back of the fridge, past it's sell-by date by six months. It was still fine. Made fantastic soup.

Homogenization is a mechanical process, and the milk can be curdled fine.

Suspect Bucket fucked around with this message at 03:11 on Jun 11, 2016

Suspect Bucket
Jan 15, 2012

SHRIMPDOR WAS A MAN
I mean, HE WAS A SHRIMP MAN
er, maybe also A DRAGON
or possibly
A MINOR LEAGUE BASEBALL TEAM
BUT HE WAS STILL
SHRIMPDOR
God loving drat it. We have new heavy milking goats at the farm, so I had two gallons of milk to cheese. We also got in some free citric acid. So I follow the directions on the tin, and it refuses to curdle. Now I'm staring at this milk willing it to chunk. I'm scared to add more acid in case I've over acidifyed it, but can citric acid get old and loose it's power?

The Creature
Nov 23, 2014
Goat's milk I haven't worked with, but you may try to get your hands on some rennet and calcium chloride. I found out today that a coworker has goats on her farm, and we have come to an agreement that she will supply me with lots and lots of fresh milk, and I will share some of my cheeses with her. I do know from my forums and book that goat's milk takes longer to curdle as opposed to cows milk. Also it forms a much softer curd. When I get some of the stuff I will be playing with it, and report back here.

On another note, I opened up my Havarti that was aged for 5 weeks over Father's Day Weekend. It turned out really well. Creamy, slightly tangy, mildly salty. Much better than the store bought stuff. I am probably going to open up my brie this weekend, since I got some mangoes that are really good. Brie stuffed croissants with a homemade mango jam. I have a wheel of Asiago that is still in the pot, letting the cultures do their final acidifying thing now. Next week I am going to try my hand at Bleu d'Auvergne. Depending on how that goes, I may start doing more blue cheeses. I also want to do a Camembert soon, since I go through soft bloomy rind cheese pretty quickly.

Suspect Bucket
Jan 15, 2012

SHRIMPDOR WAS A MAN
I mean, HE WAS A SHRIMP MAN
er, maybe also A DRAGON
or possibly
A MINOR LEAGUE BASEBALL TEAM
BUT HE WAS STILL
SHRIMPDOR

The Creature posted:

Goat's milk I haven't worked with, but you may try to get your hands on some rennet and calcium chloride. I found out today that a coworker has goats on her farm, and we have come to an agreement that she will supply me with lots and lots of fresh milk, and I will share some of my cheeses with her. I do know from my forums and book that goat's milk takes longer to curdle as opposed to cows milk. Also it forms a much softer curd. When I get some of the stuff I will be playing with it, and report back here.


Nah, I think I found the problem. I was going with a rather suspect recipe, and it told me to add the salt to the milk, which I now know is stupid! Bought and read the fantastic cheesemaking book 'Mastering Artisanal Cheesemaking ', and my newfound understanding of the science of cheese has improved my acid set cheeses tremendously!

The Creature
Nov 23, 2014
Worked from home for half of the day today, so I had some time to make cheese. I have always made mozzarella using citric acid so I could easily control the acidity of the milk and ensuring it would stretch properly. Today I used TA61 and calf's lipase powder to alter the flavor and acidity. Everywhere I looked said to look for a 5 to 5.2 PH level. I got it right at 5, and it stretched really well when I pulled it.

Also, I have a wheel of brie and camembert that are growing in the fridge now. I made a wheel of Raclette as well, so in a few months that should be ready to melt. I am up to 6 wheels of hard cheeses or semi hard cheeses aging in the fridge, around 4 pounds each. The cheddar has been there since May 28th, so it may be opened soon. Emmental is looking good, should be ready in a month. My Asiago is the one I am really excited about. It will age until November, at which time I will hand it over as a birthday present, as it's someones absolute favorite cheese.

Adbot
ADBOT LOVES YOU

champagne posting
Apr 5, 2006

YOU ARE A BRAIN
IN A BUNKER

Triangulum posted:

Can you make cheese with frozen milk?

Yes! It's done a lot in industry which produces specialty cheeses but only runs one batch per week (or less).

  • Locked thread