# Making cheese



## Haburn (Jul 24, 2014)

I've been making simple white cheeses lately. It's been pretty basic with the addition of horseradish or jalapenos and the likes. While I really enjoy fresh mozzarella, I've been reading a bit about making hard cheese and I'm intrigued. :hungry:
Anybody have experience making hard cheese? I'm curious about experiences anyone has had.


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## Clarence (Aug 19, 2014)

I've got one of those cheese making kits in the cupboard but I haven't dared to use it as I live in the tropics and it's 90% humidity here.


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## DeepCSweede (Aug 19, 2014)

My new gig is as a CFO for a Mechanical contractor that specializes in chillers for cheese making facilities. I was talking to my boss the other day and he wants me to get involved with the Cheese Makers Guild and take a cheese making class at some point in the next year so I can be more knowledgeable in discussions with clients. Gotta say, I am pretty excited to learn about it.


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## larrybard (Aug 19, 2014)

DeepCSweede said:


> My new gig is as a CFO for a Mechanical contractor that specializes in chillers for cheese making facilities. I was talking to my boss the other day and he wants me to get involved with the Cheese Makers Guild and take a cheese making class at some point in the next year so I can be more knowledgeable in discussions with clients. Gotta say, I am pretty excited to learn about it.



I thought being extremely knowledgeable about cheese was a prerequisite for residency in WI.


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## DeepCSweede (Aug 19, 2014)

larrybard said:


> I thought being extremely knowledgeable about cheese was a prerequisite for residency in WI.



Eating cheese - without question. 

Making cheese - another story altogether.


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## Haburn (Aug 19, 2014)

larrybard said:


> I thought being extremely knowledgeable about cheese was a prerequisite for residency in WI.



Hahaha...my thoughts exactly!


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## Robert (Aug 20, 2014)

somebody know how to start an easy and cheap way to just start a first time cheese making? not hard one but soft one starting from milk.


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## Ucmd (Aug 20, 2014)

I am interested as well. Someone post an easy recipe.


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## USC 2012 (Sep 11, 2014)

Warm up one gallon of milk and add a cap (no typo)full of vinegar. This will separate the whey and the curds. Separate the curds and add salt to them. Refrigerate and enjoy This is the simplest recipe I can think of.


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## kevpenbanc (Sep 22, 2014)

USC 2012 said:


> Warm up one gallon of milk and add a cap (no typo)full of vinegar. This will separate the whey and the curds. Separate the curds and add salt to them. Refrigerate and enjoy This is the simplest recipe I can think of.



How warm does it need to be ?

I assume you don't boil it.


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## Lizzardborn (Sep 22, 2014)

Robert said:


> somebody know how to start an easy and cheap way to just start a first time cheese making? not hard one but soft one starting from milk.



Come to Bulgaria. Buy White Cheese bacterial culture. Put it in milk. Keep warm for 3-4 days. Enjoy piece of heaven.


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## Haburn (Sep 22, 2014)

This what I do:

Ingredients:
1.5 teaspoon of citric acid
1 cup water

1 gallon of milk (make sure you don't get ultra pasteurized)
.5 rennet tablet (get it at Amazon or natural food stores)
1 teaspoon of salt

Directions:
Dissolve the citric acid in 1 cup of water
Mix the acid/water mixture to the milk
Warm the milk to 90 deg F 
Remove from heat and stir in renet
Don't touch it for 5 minutes
Cut the mixture into 1" cubes
Heat the mixture to 105 deg F while gently stiring
Remove from heat for 5 minutes
Separate the whey from the curds over a cheese cloth or something similar
Microwave the curds for 1 minute
Knead the curds and continue to drain the whey out
Microwave the curds as need while kneading and add salt
Eat it. Eat all of it.


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## DaninMD (Sep 22, 2014)

Haburn said:


> This what I do:
> 
> Ingredients:
> 1.5 teaspoon of citric acid
> ...



i do the same exact thing. easy to make

other easy soft cheeses are cream cheese, ricotta and cottage cheese. i have made a type of farmer's cheese as well. soft cheese is not comparable to hard/aged cheeses. i havent gotten into that yet.


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## USC 2012 (Sep 23, 2014)

kevpenbanc said:


> How warm does it need to be ?
> 
> I assume you don't boil it.



If you add the distiller vinegar before you begin to warm the milk, you won't need to take the temp. The curds will separate when it's time to take the pot off the stove. Sorry i don't have specifics, I haven't made this in a little over a year.


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## MAS4T0 (Sep 23, 2014)

Is it worthwhile to make hard cheeses at home? I was under the impressions that all good hard cheeses need years to mature.

This is off topic, but does the US have their own cheeses or are they mostly the same as we have in Europe (pretty much all cheeses I know are English, Swiss, French or Italian)? 
Are most cheeses in the US produced domestically or is there a lot of imported cheese?


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## Mucho Bocho (Sep 23, 2014)

Mas, Fortunately we do have a lot of imported cheeses. I don't think we invented it but seems to me that cheddar is a very american cheese. Then there's the whole family of American edible science experiments like Velveeta, cheese wiz and individually wrapped "American Cheese." I think most of these concoctions were created when the US made the healthy switch from Butter to Margarine. We all know how that turned out, lots of living proof, just look around.


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## CoqaVin (Sep 23, 2014)

Love some really good aged Cheddar extra sharp


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## Castalia (Sep 23, 2014)

Eating sharp cheddar at home = delicious
Making sharp cheddar at home = tedious, labor intensive and not as good as the pros can make

On the other hand simple soft cheeses like a paneer are fairly straight forward and satisfying to make at home. Warm some milk, add some acid, like vinegar, lemon juice or buttermilk, strain the curds.


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## kevpenbanc (Sep 25, 2014)

USC 2012 said:


> If you add the distiller vinegar before you begin to warm the milk, you won't need to take the temp. The curds will separate when it's time to take the pot off the stove. Sorry i don't have specifics, I haven't made this in a little over a year.



Thanks, 
I'll give it a go when I have some time.


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## PierreRodrigue (Sep 25, 2014)

Try here. I have used a sourdough from them.
http://www.culturesforhealth.com/cheese-making.html


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## Mucho Bocho (Sep 25, 2014)

I've been interested in making home made cheese for years and finally got my hands on some starter cultures and rennet. 

There are probably as many ways to make cheese as there are cheeses but for my first go, I'm going to make this Cultured Mozzarella recipe. 

I'll post pics of the finished product.

http://www.cheesemaking.com/Mozz-Culture.html


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