Making Cheese tips for 1st timer

[chicken stalker]

I'm going to try to learn how to start making cheese. Any tips or advise? What's the best milk to use? I'm looking for something to win my family over, so a mild not so grassy milk would be best. Any other tips would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

 

[patandchickens]

The best milk is whatever you can get freshest (which usually means, from the most nearby dairy farm(s)) and is not pasteurized at too high a temperature (you may need to telephone and.or experiment).

You might start with whole-milk 'ricotta' (it's not real ricotta but it's reasonably good, and if you proceed to make ricotta salata with it, it kicks some serious butt after a month or so ) and/or the buttermilk-cultured basic hard cheese here http://biology.clc.uc.edu/Fankhauser/Cheese/Cheese98.htm (let it age at least six weeks unless you really like buttermilk type flavors)

Best advice I can give you, as a sort of advanced-beginner cheesemaker, is to regard it as a learning curve and not expect every batch to work out predictably (or, in some cases, at all <g> -- it helps to have chickens to feed the 'learning experiences' to)

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[freemotion]

Yes, avoid store-bought milk. Raw milk is best if you can get it. The over-pasteurized milk from the store needs to have calcium added to it because pasteurizing destroys the calcium, so it will not make cheese for you....nor will you get calcium from these dairy products.

If you can get some good raw goat's milk, chevre is very, very easy to make. I find it boring myself, but there are many ways to flavor it and it is very popular.

 

[The Vail Benton's]

I have made mozzerella out of whole milk bought at the grocery store. I was in a hurry to try my new cheese making supplies and I couldn't wait to track down goats milk... It didn't turn out half bad but then I have nothing else to compare it to yet.

 

[Iceblink]

I like mozzerella and chevre best out of my homemade cheeses so far.

The mozzerella forms a curd REALLY FAST, which is cool to watch if your family is there with you. Mine also 'strings' in a spiral, which is also way cool. I add powdered garlic and herbs as I am kneading it and get a sort of 'pizza' cheese. Yummy.

The chevre is super easy, and versatile, so I like it.

All my raw milk cheeses have turned out at least decent, my one attempt at using 'non-ultra-pasturized' milk turned into a gloppy mess. I would have been discouraged if it had been one of my first tries.

Good luck with your cheesemaking!

 

[patandchickens]

FWIW I've only ever used pasteurized storeboughten milk (as I do not have access to anything else). Certainly milk fresh out of the <whatever> would be *better*, but if you have a local dairy or co-op thereof, you may very well be may able to make many cheeses out of their milk.

The key is for it to not be pasteurized too hot, and for it to be FRESH. Thus national or regional brands are not so likely to work.

Pat

 

[old fashioned]

If you can find the book "Back to Basics" by Reader's Digest (is also published under a private name, with a few differences)-this book has info on TONS of how-to's including processing dairy products into different cheeses. Check your local library.

 

[ABHanna4d]

The best milk is whatever you can get freshest (which usually means, from the most nearby dairy farm(s)) and is not pasteurized at too high a temperature (you may need to telephone and.or experiment).

You might start with whole-milk 'ricotta' (it's not real ricotta but it's reasonably good, and if you proceed to make ricotta salata with it, it kicks some serious butt after a month or so ) and/or the buttermilk-cultured basic hard cheese here http://biology.clc.uc.edu/Fankhauser/Cheese/Cheese98.htm (let it age at least six weeks unless you really like buttermilk type flavors)

Best advice I can give you, as a sort of advanced-beginner cheesemaker, is to regard it as a learning curve and not expect every batch to work out predictably (or, in some cases, at all <g> -- it helps to have chickens to feed the 'learning experiences' to)

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

VERY Helpful. Thank you so much!
I have been obsessed with wanting to learn to make cheese but havent found anyone who can help me with any of the details. So I just kept searching. I joined this forum a while back and then found this topic on here and this link is the best help so far.
I decided to GO FOR IT and disregard the fact that I might fail and just give it a try. IT WORKED! I have cheese. Mozzerella. So excitted and so thankful for you all!!

I think Im going to be obsessed with making this for a while! SOOO good!

 

[ABHanna4d]

Can I put in any spices or ingredients into my cheese? Please dont laugh this may sound like a dumb question but Im SO new at this (just made my first cheese today!!).
I want to make another ball of cheese (since the family devoured the first one instantly!). Can I put in some sundried tomatoes and basil?? do I just kneed it in at the final kneeding stage? Will it mess up the ball and make it fall apart, or will this actually work the way it seems like it should work?
Anyother ingredients I should add to mozzerella?? this was so much fun!!

 

[big brown horse]

Can I put in any spices or ingredients into my cheese? Please dont laugh this may sound like a dumb question but Im SO new at this (just made my first cheese today!!).

Then you are one step ahead of me!