[egglady]

keen to get started, and of course, zero on the patience barometer!!

Do i just bring the milk to room temperature, add a couple of drops of the rennet and wait for something amazing to happen?

and i can i start it tonight (it's 8.30apm)?

ta all

[Hermit]

All I do for a quick cheese thats like a Phillidelphia is as follows. I dont know if its right but it works for me.
Bring the milk up to slightly warm to touch,
Add a couple of drops of rennet for three pints of milk,
stir a little to get the rennet mixed through and then leave off heat till it turns,not long.
Strain through a muslin then add salt to taste, chives or whatever,
tie back in the muslin to form a ball and hang up to drain properly and shape. You can eat it like this on crackers etc some folk take it a stage further by crumbling back up the cheese and pressing overnight to make a bit harder cheese.
If the rennet does not turn the cheese as has happened to me, you can add more and repeat the process. It does not keep long
Good luck

[egglady]

thanks hermit, just added the rennet now - how long does yours take to turn and how will i know when it has (turned that is)?

[katie]

You need a good cheeswe-making book. I have Katie Thears' 'Cheesemaking and dairying and Dairying' which is good. Have fun!

[egglady]

i have it Katie!!  but i didnt think we'd get our goats for ages, so I've put it away somewhere safe!!!!!

so wish i could remember where that 'somewhere safe' place is.....aarrgghh

[SallyintNorth]

I have found the Self-Sufficiency Series' Rita Ash book to be really easy to follow, and very much geared to the home kitchen.  It's a first cheesemaking book, I am sure I will want more (and more and more) as I become a bit more proficient.

My simplisitic understanding is:

milk + rennet = junket.  I didn't know I could make 'Philly' by straining junket - I shall make 'Hillie Philly' tomorrow! 

milk + culture (no rennet) = curd cheese / acid cheese.  Ladle and strain, use as soft cheese.  Fantastic for cheesecake.

milk + culture + rennet = start point for most cheeses.  Temperature, amount of culture, time before adding rennet, and a whole host of variations once the curd has formed, are the variables that determine the type of cheese you will make, from Camembert to Cheddar.  Different cultures have an effect too, but I haven't started on that round of experimentation yet.

Have fun!   

[egglady]

i dont think i'm cut out to be a cheesemaker!!!

[SallyintNorth]

i dont think i'm cut out to be a cheesemaker!!!

Oh, why?  What happened?

[egglady]

cos it was rubbish

[katie]

Oh, come on! Everyone makes rubbish cheeses sometime. Have another go when you've got over this one!

[SallyintNorth]

Oh, come on! Everyone makes rubbish cheeses sometime. Have another go when you've got over this one!

Yup, I make rubbish ones too - and some really lovely ones!  Piggy gets the failures (she says there's no such thing as a failure  ) and we enjoy the good ones.

I have yet to make a good hard cheese but can tell it'll be good when I get it right.  I'm pretty good at curd cheese, which I strain and sweeten to make cheesecake by spreading it on crushed digestives (mixed with melted butter) and decorating with raspberry jam & fresh fruit.  BH has stopped buying cheesecake. 

Cottage cheese is delicious but quite a lot of work.  A simple soft cheese works very well in greek salad (as you would use feta) and in creamy-cheese sandwiches, or melted in a tart.  My second batch of Camembert is maturing - I can see that one of the three has over-matured (it's been too warm) but am hoping the two larger rounds are ok.  The first batch was great but got contaminated by a cheese fly - so now I have a flyscreen to keep them off my draining cheeses.

But - I really do enjoy it (making it as much if not more than eating it), so it's easy for me to pick myself up, understand the problem and work out how to avoid it, and have another go.  If you don't enjoy it, I guess it's best to make something else!

[Skirza]

I have found this a foolproof 'hard' cheese. Comes out like Caerphilly and can have apricots/cranberries/chillies added before pressing.

http://www.alvecotedexters.net/pressed_cheese.htm

[Anke]

I have now developed a "production line" of goats milk cheddar, following the recipe from Ricki Carroll's book, with half the quantities. It tastes really nice with added cumin seed...

I am however trying to work out why one would need a special mould to make Gouda cheese, is anyone making it and is there a specific reason for using a Gouda mould? (I was planning to just make it in my normal hard cheese mould.)

[Skirza]

I have now developed a "production line" of goats milk cheddar, following the recipe from Ricki Carroll's book, with half the quantities. It tastes really nice with added cumin seed...

I am however trying to work out why one would need a special mould to make Gouda cheese, is anyone making it and is there a specific reason for using a Gouda mould? (I was planning to just make it in my normal hard cheese mould.)

I have never made successful 'chedder', always comes out with the texture of something Dunlop would be proud of 

[Anke]

I have now developed a "production line" of goats milk cheddar, following the recipe from Ricki Carroll's book, with half the quantities. It tastes really nice with added cumin seed...

I am however trying to work out why one would need a special mould to make Gouda cheese, is anyone making it and is there a specific reason for using a Gouda mould? (I was planning to just make it in my normal hard cheese mould.)

I have never made successful 'chedder', always comes out with the texture of something Dunlop would be proud of 

You mean rubbery? Mine is possibly more on the little-bit-too-dry side, but we eat the first few atm, only 3 weeks matured in bottom of the fridge. Have just ordered cheesewax, so hopefully will be able to leave them a bit longer...

I have looked at cheesemaking courses, but come to the conclusion that I might as well spend the money on actually playing around with my excess milk at home...