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ColdPie posted:I hope y'all like effortposts, because boy do I have a doozy for you. Great post. I'll be linking that to people in the future.
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Sep 27, 2015 19:45
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ColdPie posted:I hope y'all like effortposts, because boy do I have a doozy for you. Oh hell yeah. You've actually inspired me to try my hand at cheese creation.
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Oct 7, 2015 05:31
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I out of curiosity, I looked up how to make paneer and now that I know how straight up easy it is I really want to try my hand at it. Looks like it's shahi paneer for dinner tonight.
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Oct 7, 2015 21:25
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My wife made some farmer's cheese a couple days ago and last night she rolled it into little balls, breaded them in seasoned panko after dipping in egg, and baked on 400 for about 20 minutes. They were really good and went perfectly with the spaghetti squash and this pasta sauce from Trader Joe's which was surprisingly delicious.
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Oct 7, 2015 21:35
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Safety Engineer posted:Oh hell yeah. You've actually inspired me to try my hand at cheese creation. Do it! And let us know how it turns out.
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Oct 7, 2015 22:09
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I made paneer! ...And then I curried the poo poo out of it!  Pretty accomplished evening if I do say so myself. Paneer was just a half gallon of milk brought to a slow boil and 1/4th cup lemon juice. Once it sets up I strained it through cheesecloth, washed the whey/lemon out, twisted the cheesecloth up at the open end to squeeze. Give it 10 or 15 minutes for water to drain out and then put it between two plates and put a big can of something on it to weigh it down and flatten it out a bit. Edit: In hindsight, the paneer I made reminded me of really firm tofu both in consistency and how you use it while cooking. I'm not sure if tofu would make a good substitute for it, could be worth future experiments. DeathSandwich fucked around with this message at 13:11 on Oct 8, 2015 |
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Oct 8, 2015 00:53
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Yesterday I made yogurt, and today I used it to make Taleggio. I haven't had it before, but just look at the pictures on that page and tell me you don't want that cheese in all of your face holes. It's fermenting overnight now, and tomorrow it'll be moved to the cheese fridge. Should be ready in late December. This was also my first time using B linens, which is a super common bacteria in cheesemaking (munster, limburger, many others). It's also present on your skin right now and is the cause of foot odor. The direct set powder was red and smelly. I've been wanting to make this cheese for ages, because I like stinky cheeses and the guy who writes the recipes for cheesemaking.com claims it's one of his favorite cheeses. It came together super well, and I'm really excited to see how it turns out. ColdPie fucked around with this message at 02:03 on Nov 8, 2015 |
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Nov 8, 2015 01:55
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Sure you can make cheese at home. Here's a lactic set cheese I'm working on right now. Buttermilk culture incubated at 90F for 20 hrs. Scooped into Camembert molds. It's now drying so I can start the washing process. The goal is something epoisses like but I don't have Marc so I'm going to use some brandy.  Here's a bloomy rind triple creme Camembert that I have aging right now.  Rennet set. MM100 meso culture. Geo and p candidum added in the ripening stage. Edit: I didn't finish reading the thread yet, but you mentioned your veg gf having rennet reservations. Idk if someone mentioned it but there are a plethora of vegetarian and enzymatic rennets out there. That is totally an option. Also as I kinda mentioned in my post you can use lactic acid cultures to set milk. You're sort of limited to super soft cheeses though as you're not going to get a very hard curd set without rennet. Chevre, rocamadour, crottin, St marcellin, etc. Edit 2: protip: aside from rennet (though some nutritional stores carry it) you can buy everything you need to make cheese in a grocery store. Even fancy mold ripened ones. Cultured buttermilk is made with a combination of mesophilic bacteria and can be used as a mesophilic starter (cheddars, brie, Stilton). Yogurt is made with thermophilic bacteria (parmesan, basically all Italian cheeses). You can use the rind off of a brie to inoculate your milk with p candidum and geotrichum. And p roqueforti can be harvested from blues. As mentioned in a post before me b linens is pretty much everywhere and the act of washing your rind will introduce it to the environment unless you literally soak your hands in starsan or bleach before ever handling your cheese. There's even a book (mastering artisan cheese making iirc) where dude is all like "yo basically raw milk and/or kefir grains are all you need dude". GrAviTy84 fucked around with this message at 00:31 on Nov 9, 2015 |
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Nov 9, 2015 00:15
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Super nice, dude! I buy cultures online (they're not that expensive and inoculate a ton of milk), but I do try to keep in mind when reading recipes that people have been making cheese for thousands of years. Careful measurement and temperature control and sanitation is important, but at the end of the day, it's cheese. Unless you get a crazy infection, odds are it'll turn out good.
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Nov 9, 2015 02:01
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Thanks! Yeah I have a couple of purchased cultures. I was running low and that's what made me look into self replenishing methods. this epoisses attempt is my first using plain buttermilk as a starter.
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Nov 9, 2015 07:17
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DeathSandwich posted:
I've done firm tofu in palak paneer. It works well. Works best as leftovers though, so the tofuness gets overwhelmed by the spices in the sauce when it gets absorbed when it cools.
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Nov 9, 2015 07:20
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What do you use for your aging area? I see some bins and sushi rolling mats?
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Nov 9, 2015 23:42
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ColdPie posted:What do you use for your aging area? I see some bins and sushi rolling mats? I have some plastic rubbermaid shoebox size containers with lids that don't seal airtight. First I got as a kit from Steve shapton at thecheesemaker.com, others I got as basically the same thing but thinner plastic from the dollar tree. I have fancy plastic and silicone draining mats that came with the kit but I use bamboo sushi mats for the others. Right now I have a large beverage cooler that I use. I just change out a gigantic ice pack every day when I check for unwanted mold and do the cheese flips. Put them into the fridge for longer aging.
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Nov 10, 2015 01:53
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I made a really basic goat's cheese for the first time the other day (heat milk, add vinegar/lemon juice), and the thing ended up forming well, but having way less creaminess than I was hoping for. I wasn't able to find any fresh goat's milk, was this likely where the problems started or is the taste because of the recipe itself?
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Nov 11, 2015 16:37
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VileLL posted:I made a really basic goat's cheese for the first time the other day (heat milk, add vinegar/lemon juice), and the thing ended up forming well, but having way less creaminess than I was hoping for. I wasn't able to find any fresh goat's milk, was this likely where the problems started or is the taste because of the recipe itself? Was the milk "ultra homogenized" or "ultra pasteurized"? It's notoriously hard to find regular homogenized goat milk in the US (fun fact: Goat's milk is naturally homogenized  ). Anyway, UH milk destroys the protein structure by obliterating it, and UP milk destroys it by cooking the poo poo out of it, the result is the inability to get a good curd to form. You can add Calcium Chloride which helps to firm these proteins up but UHUP milk is still really really difficult. See if you can find some normal goat's milk, freshness isn't as important as the heat and homogenization treatment when it comes to things like texture. idk where you live but around me (Inland LA) you can go on craigslist and there are people selling raw goat milk with huge disclaimers that IT'S FOR SOAP MAKING/FEEDING YOUNG ANIMALS so maybe check there?
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Nov 11, 2015 17:47
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The Midniter posted:Do you find that it affects the flavor in a noticeable whey? I've got about a liter and a half of it that I need to use. Sorry, haven't checked in for a while! I did not notice a big difference in taste but I suspect it's more nutritious and I like the idea of by-products being used and not wasted.
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Nov 12, 2015 18:54
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GrAviTy84 posted:Was the milk "ultra homogenized" or "ultra pasteurized"? It's notoriously hard to find regular homogenized goat milk in the US (fun fact: Goat's milk is naturally homogenized Maybe I'm a big wuss, but I have no interest in bothering with raw milk. Those dairy regulations exist for a reason, I don't know/trust any farmers personally, and I'm not confident in my own abilities to risk those diseases. I've tried making chevre a few times, and sometimes it works, but I've just never had great luck with it.
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Nov 12, 2015 22:07
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ColdPie posted:Maybe I'm a big wuss, but I have no interest in bothering with raw milk. Those dairy regulations exist for a reason, I don't know/trust any farmers personally, and I'm not confident in my own abilities to risk those diseases.
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Nov 12, 2015 22:08
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I buy non-homogenized, pasteurized (not ultra-high) milk from a local farm. I'd try it if I had access to it, but it's illegal to sell in Minnesota and I don't feel like going that far out of my way when I can get safe, high quality stuff from the grocery store.
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Nov 12, 2015 22:26
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I got the hookup at work. Aw yeah, fresh eggs and all the raw, uncut milk I can squeeze (when the girls are lactating)
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Nov 13, 2015 01:57
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What are the beginners cheese making kits like? I was thinking about getting one for my brother for christmas, but prices and contents seem to vary wildly, some will say things like "everything you need to make 7kg of cheese!" and then have a little thing below it saying " to get the full cheese making experience you will need to buy these other things separately" or stuff to that effect. Secondly, from the small research I've done, websites seem to suggest that making a blue cheese or camembert or something along those lines is a bit more difficult than a feta or haloumi, which often seem to be referred to in beginner packs. For someone who has pretty extensive home brewing knowledge would it be all that difficult to jump straight in to the blue/camembert etc.? Lastly, a lot of sites seem to have products from Mad Millie with decent prices compared to some of the other kits that I've seen, what are they like?
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Nov 17, 2015 10:51
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screaden posted:What are the beginners cheese making kits like? I was thinking about getting one for my brother for christmas, but prices and contents seem to vary wildly, some will say things like "everything you need to make 7kg of cheese!" and then have a little thing below it saying " to get the full cheese making experience you will need to buy these other things separately" or stuff to that effect. I'm also a homebrewer and my first cheese was a Camembert and I had no problem with it. Cheese people are super liberal with the word "sterile" compared to homebrewers. Make a spray bottle full of star San solution and use that to sanitize your stuff. What they mean by "better to buy separately" is that the price per cheese is significantly cheaper if you purchase cultures in bulk. The kits mark up quite a bit. But they do take a lot of the guess work out if you're not sure you're going to continue the hobby. If you want to just go balls deep from the top get a mesophilic starter, some geotrichum candidum, Camembert molds, rennet, butter muslin, and some draining/aging mats. You can use generic shoe box sized rubbermaid/sterilites for aging. Dollar tree actually has some that work great and are 1bux. You'll need pennecillium roqueforti for blues and pennecillium candidum for bries/cams (though some argue the "true to style" way is 100% geo, no pen). If you want to do stinky washed rinds you'll need brevibacterium linens and proprionic shermanii for holey swiss cheeses. Or you can go "natural" and use the rind off a store bought brie, the blue veins off a store bought blue, and just not wash your hands very well when you smear the rinds on a washed rind (or also take from the rind of a store bought cheese). I'm not sure if proprionic bacteria survive in sufficient quantities to be harvested this way though. GrAviTy84 fucked around with this message at 20:33 on Nov 17, 2015 |
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Nov 17, 2015 20:30
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Soft cheeses like Camembert need more careful aging. You have to flip them regularly and maintain high humidity so the skin doesn't dry out. Harder cheeses are mostly just wax-and-forget. Actually making the cheese is about the same for each, I think. If you haven't, read the blog post I linked in this thread. I talk a lot about my equipment. I didn't bother with kits, since I had every intention of getting into cheesemaking. A kit might make a better gift, if only for presentation. Your call. Quality ingredients are important, make sure you're buying from a place that stores and/or ships their product well.
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Nov 18, 2015 01:08
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My taleggio is coming along, I think. It's my first time doing a washed rind cheese, and my first time using B Linens. Ugh. I pulled it out of the fridge to wash today and it was half way coated in blue molds. They washed off easily, but yuck. It's currently drying out from the wash. I've heard that B Linens likes air flow, so letting it dry out a bit before putting it back into the aging area encourages B Linens growth at the surface and helps combat unwanted molds. I haven't been letting them air-dry after washing, so I'm starting to do that now. I was worried about the blue and black mold growth, but I think it's normal for a washed rind. I was able to find another guy whose cheese looks even funkier than mine, and no one in that thread commented. On the other hand, I found a different guy whose cheese appears to have zero mold even after weeks. Maybe they just took photos after washing. The aging time for this cheese is only 4-6 weeks, and I'm almost at the 3 week mark. I don't have an experienced eye, but it still looks really young to me. I'd like the rind to dry out more. The rind is also not very orange/red, still creamy white, so I hope that develops. I'll probably shoot for 5 weeks. I really have no idea how it's going to turn out. ColdPie fucked around with this message at 21:16 on Nov 26, 2015 |
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Nov 26, 2015 21:09
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ColdPie posted:My taleggio is coming along, I think. It's my first time doing a washed rind cheese, and my first time using B Linens. Ugh. I pulled it out of the fridge to wash today and it was half way coated in blue molds. They washed off easily, but yuck. It's currently drying out from the wash. I've heard that B Linens likes air flow, so letting it dry out a bit before putting it back into the aging area encourages B Linens growth at the surface and helps combat unwanted molds. I haven't been letting them air-dry after washing, so I'm starting to do that now. how often are you washing? this dude at cheeseforum is kind of a washed rind overlord and this post is super helpful. http://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,10633.0.html The whole point of washing the rind is to discourage other mold growth (though geotrichum can be helpful for rind stability). Art.Cheesemaking guy likes to let geo go for the first week, then starts the wash every other day. The point is to basically smear around any b linens culture that may be taking root to uniformly coat the outer surface and thereby prevent other molds from taking hold.
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Nov 26, 2015 21:28
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Oh wow, that was a great read, thanks for the link! I've been washing about every 3-4 days. At that point, there's usually some long, white fuzz in patches and a lot of blue patches. I've been scrubbing fairly aggressively to remove all of the fuzz and blue molds. I think my washing has been too aggressive. I never noticed much slime until around the 2 week mark, when it really started to come on. Today it was almost too slippery to pick up out of its storage bin. I think I'm still mostly on the right track, but I'll definitely be adjusting my technique after reading that thread. I think I'll start washing more frequently, and try to encourage the slime growth instead of eliminating it. It's interesting that the advice in that thread to keep the surface of the cheese wet directly contradicts what I've read elsewhere[1][2]. Perhaps they're referring to the sliminess as wetness, as opposed to water from the brine. [1] http://www.cheesemaking.com/Taleggio.html "The objective is to maintain a damp, but not wet, surface while the desired molds do their work." [2] https://handyface.wordpress.com/2012/10/07/washed-rind-cheese/ "Washing consisted of a couple of drops of 10% salt water solution and a bit of gentle smearing." Edit: Oh Christ, I didn't know there was a whole active forum about cheesemaking. There goes my weekend. ColdPie fucked around with this message at 21:53 on Nov 26, 2015 |
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Nov 26, 2015 21:50
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ColdPie posted:Edit: Oh Christ, I didn't know there was a whole active forum about cheesemaking. There goes my weekend. It's not THAT active. Like couple of posts a week. But I think there's a Rule 34 analog or subcorollary about sperglords and forums on the internet. If you can think of it, there's a niche group of people who have obsessed over every mundane detail of it on the internet. Edit: here's a cool vid of epoisses making: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFMQ8660kOE I can't believe how rough they can treat their curd masses. Mine would just be a blob if I tried to do that with them. re: wet vs damp, I think there's an appropriate level of moist that is hard to know unless you've done it and can feel it, like knowing what "stiff peaks" looks like, or when gluten is properly formed in dough, etc. I think the idea is wet, but not soaking, damp, but not tacky-dry. GrAviTy84 fucked around with this message at 22:34 on Nov 26, 2015 |
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Nov 26, 2015 22:30
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Taleggio has developed a pale yellow color, which might be from drying out a bit as I let it go too long between the most recent washings. But more importantly, some parts of it are definitely turning pale pink! The B. Linens is developing. It developed later than it should have, but now that I'm washing more frequently and less vigorously, and letting it air out after washing, the rind has really started to appear. Two weeks until the 5 week mark, which is when I plan to cut into it.
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Dec 6, 2015 18:50
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Taleggio went in the trash tonight  My first cheese failure; it had to happen sometime. It had some hints of the right flavor in there, but it mostly tasted like dirt backed with way-too-sharp cheddar. It wasn't inedible, but it didn't taste good, either. I think I don't have the proper sanitation and equipment to do washed rind cheeses. Many times when I washed it, I was washing away blues and blacks. I think their flavor ended up penetrating. I also think I may have aged it too long and at too high temperature (6.5 weeks at about 50 F), which led to the too-sharp flavor. Oh well, it was a good learning experience.My other cheese, a cheshire wheel, is at about 6 weeks. I'll probably open it at two months, due to my travel schedule. This is my third cheshire, it's my favorite hard cheese that I've made.
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Dec 27, 2015 01:40
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I've got some shredded mexican cheese that is pavilions brand that I found in the back of my fridge the other day and it's kinda moldy now. Does this count as blue cheese now? It's more green and black does that count as blue cheese, is this good to eat?
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Dec 27, 2015 07:53
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No, blue cheese has blue veins throughout so that the whole thing tastes like moldy carpet glue instead of just the outside.
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Dec 27, 2015 15:14
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Can you make cheese with frozen milk?
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Jan 20, 2016 03:00
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 Camembert, aged 6 weeks. Tastes great. Turned out quite strong and a little bitter, I think 4-5 weeks would've been ideal, but I was experimenting. Really nice paste and healthy skin. Success!
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Mar 26, 2016 14:50
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I've done mozzarella, ricotta, mascarpone, and queso blanco before. Actually the first three I made for one dinner. I decided to step up my game, and have some brie setting right now. Tomorrow, if I have the time, I am going to get some more milk and try my hand at Havarti as well.
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May 14, 2016 18:10
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I have a question in re: to pressing...would a tofu press work? I mean, it would require a mold and some modification, but would something like this be adaptable? http://www.amazon.com/Super-Tofu-Pr...words=tofu+mold
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May 18, 2016 16:09
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I have a question in re: to pressing...would a tofu press work? I mean, it would require a mold and some modification, but would something like this be adaptable? http://www.amazon.com/Super-Tofu-Pr...words=tofu+mold
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May 18, 2016 16:09
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do you need anything special to make halloumi?
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May 18, 2016 18:04
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Jose posted:do you need anything special to make halloumi? 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.
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May 18, 2016 20:13
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Catfish Noodlin posted:I have a question in re: to pressing...would a tofu press work? I mean, it would require a mold and some modification, but would something like this be adaptable? Sorry for the double post, but I think this would be too short. The molds I have been using are about as tall, or just a touch shorter than that press. By the time the curds drain, there wouldn't be enough room for it to continue pressing before it was stopped by the top of the mold.
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May 18, 2016 20:18
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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.
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May 18, 2016 22:39
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