Any cheese makers here?

[SecondAttempt]

I'm a cheese lover. One of my plans after retirement is to explore cheesemaking.

I've made a few already, mostly fresh cheeses like queso fresco and cottage cheese.

Anyone else into this? Any pointers on where to get started with things beyond the simple fresh cheeses?

 

[MdaPetralia]

How about ricotta cheese? Put on toast with a drizzle of honey.

 

[street]

Nothing to add in regard to making cheese but it is very intriguing subject to me. I will follow along and hope you find some answers here. The fun part of retirement is we have time to go down many paths of interest.

 

[braumeister]

I used to make a lot of cheese when I had access to raw milk from a local farm, and I really enjoyed it. My specialty was washed rind, semihard cheese, like the Belgian Trappist monasteries make (in addition to their wonderful beers). I also made a few kinds of Gouda, Stilton, cheddar, and of course ricotta from the leftover whey.

Best place to get started is cheesemaking.com which is a superb resource, and not only for beginners.

 

[bloom2708]

I'm not a big fan of hobbies around food and alkohol that shorten your life.

Cheese is concentrated cow milk. Filled with hormones and protiens not meant for humans. Meant to take a baby cow from 75 pounds to 400-500 pounds as fast as possible.

Humans are the only animals that drink milk past the child stage and the only animals that drink another animals milk. Patterns set for survival hundreds of years ago don't seem to be needed today. Other than for comfort and routine.

I know, I know. Life no fun. Sickness and death is much less fun. Much.

Pick a hobby that benefits your health. Eating more cheese will certainly do the opposite.

 

[MichaelB]

This is a hobby thread, not a health discussion. Let’s let the OP have his discussion and pursue his pastime.

 

[MarieIG]

I haven't - but I would be interested cheese made from (pasture raised) goat or sheep milk.

 

[ERD50]

I'm a cheese lover. One of my plans after retirement is to explore cheesemaking.

I've made a few already, mostly fresh cheeses like queso fresco and cottage cheese.

Anyone else into this? Any pointers on where to get started with things beyond the simple fresh cheeses?

I used to make a lot of cheese when I had access to raw milk from a local farm, and I really enjoyed it. My specialty was washed rind, semihard cheese, like the Belgian Trappist monasteries make (in addition to their wonderful beers). I also made a few kinds of Gouda, Stilton, cheddar, and of course ricotta from the leftover whey.

Best place to get started is cheesemaking.com which is a superb resource, and not only for beginners.

+1 to cheesemaking.com.

I got a kit as a gift, but I never got beyond the 'fresh' moz. That turned out, but IMO, no better than store-bought, more work, and more expensive. So fun to do once or twice was all.

The reason I never got to the hard cheeses was they required temperatures and humidity that I couldn't easily provide. IIRC, 'cave' temps of ~ 55F, which is much warmer than a fridge, and much cooler than room.

braumeister, I'm guessing you had a dedicated beer lagering fridge to use for your cheese?

So maybe I'll get back into this. The place we moved to has a basement storage room that's sort of an alcove, 3 outside cement walls, cement floor, and the one internal wall is insulated. I store my home-made wine and other 'keep cool' stuff there. If I insulate the ceiling and door and weather strip the door, it should stay ~ 55F year round. Which I think should work. And/or, I might build a smaller very well insulated cabinet in one corner for the cheese.

-ERD50

 

[braumeister]

braumeister, I'm guessing you had a dedicated beer lagering fridge to use for your cheese?

I used a small dorm fridge for maturing my cheese. Many varieties require not only precise temperature control but also precise humidity. With a couple of extra steps that's not hard to do with a little fridge.

 

[OldShooter]

I'm not a big fan of hobbies around food and alkohol that shorten your life.

Cheese is concentrated cow milk. Filled with hormones and protiens not meant for humans. Meant to take a baby cow from 75 pounds to 400-500 pounds as fast as possible.

Humans are the only animals that drink milk past the child stage and the only animals that drink another animals milk. Patterns set for survival hundreds of years ago don't seem to be needed today. Other than for comfort and routine.

I know, I know. Life no fun. Sickness and death is much less fun. Much.

Pick a hobby that benefits your health. Eating more cheese will certainly do the opposite.

Wow! Dunning–Kruger maybe?

Now back to our regularly scheduled program ...

I've been playing around with cheesmaking, starting with the soft cheeses that do not require aging. Home-made cream cheese was especially nice. Mozzarella interesting but kind of a hassle. Milk has not been an issue. Rural county, big grocery store has organic hormone free cow milk plus goat milk normally in the display cases. Everything homogenized though and lots of ultra-pasteurized to avoid. A 45 minute drive takes me to a farm where I can get raw milk. Not sure it's worth the effort though.

I am a couple of months into aging some gouda. "Wine cooler" fridge was $100 on facebook marketplace, supplemented with a small Amazon humidifier set inside the fridge. Humidifier died a couple of weeks ago, only two or three months of service. Not sure what I'll do going forward. Does anyone have experience with small humidifiers in small fridges? Recommendation?

My goal is to make good brie and camembert. Probably will try some cheddar too and another run at Gouda. This batch is too dry; my fault for pressing too long. Lots of subtlety to this project.

 

[SecondAttempt]

I'm not a big fan of hobbies around food and alkohol that shorten your life.

Cheese is concentrated cow milk. Filled with hormones and protiens not meant for humans. Meant to take a baby cow from 75 pounds to 400-500 pounds as fast as possible.

Humans are the only animals that drink milk past the child stage and the only animals that drink another animals milk. Patterns set for survival hundreds of years ago don't seem to be needed today. Other than for comfort and routine.

I know, I know. Life no fun. Sickness and death is much less fun. Much.

Pick a hobby that benefits your health. Eating more cheese will certainly do the opposite.

Why do you think I like wine and cheese? If I followed your advice my life would be boring and I would risk outliving my money! I plan to enjoy life and hang out with the cool people even it it costs me a few years at the end.

 

[caninelover]

Why do you think I like wine and cheese? If I followed your advice my life would be boring and I would risk outliving my money! I plan to enjoy life and hang out with the cool people even it it costs me a few years at the end.

Amen to this.

I have made ricotta a couple of times and liked it. I should look at cheesemaking.com and try other soft cheeses now that I have the time.

 

[Amethyst]

Blessed are the cheesemakers

 

[KB]

I got this book recently and plan on starting to make cheese. I'll also check out cheesemaking.com.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/161212867X/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[Chuckanut]

How about ricotta cheese? Put on toast with a drizzle of honey.

Ricotta with a drizzle of honey and then topped with chopped nuts is a great dessert.

 

[OldShooter]

Another resource: https://www.reddit.com/r/cheesemaking/

 

[audreyh1]

I enjoy cheese tasting as yet another reason to travel in Europe. Next stop: Normandy.

Probably the only cheese I’d consider making at home would be paneer, a simple Indian fresh cheese. I think I tried to make it once long ago, and it came out OK. These days my grocery store carries paneer so I’m no longer motivated to try to make it.

I remember traveling in Southern France visiting an underground cheese cave and that was amazing. We bought some awesome cheese there. If I had a facility like that I might consider cheese making.

 

[Original Wally]

Cheese?

Oh dear. I just HAVE to....


Have not MADE any, but I have cut a lot.


My apologies. (some) men never grow up. we just grow old.

 

[Koogie]

Probably the only cheese I’d consider making at home would be paneer, a simple Indian fresh cheese. I think I tried to make it once long ago, and it came out OK. These days my grocery store carries paneer so I’m no longer motivated to try to make it.

DW makes paneer at home since we love Indian food. It tastes better than store bought but it is time consuming and more expensive so is a rare treat.