[Quirkygirl]

Hi, has anyone got any tips on making cheese. I have this mad idea to give it a good..

[Bionic]

Don't look at me for tips, mine was a disaster.
On the other hand my sister tried making a sort of hard cheese and it was very good so it can be done.

[SallyintNorth]

I like the Rita Ash book, very simple recipes to get you started.  Acid cheese makes great cheesecake and couldn't be easier, then it's only a few more steps to be making proper soft cheese.  And a few more to get hard cheese 

[nutterly_uts]

I have Katie Thear's book and although I haven't tried yet it all seems lovely and easy to follow

[Clarebelle]

It is very easy to make a ricotta style cheese and you can move on from there. There will be load of recipes/methods online. You can use buckets to press hard cheese by putting them one inside the other but that would only work on a larger scale or with small buckets I guess! You can order different types of culture for different style cheeses online but they are probably expensive for small scale.

I have always wondered if it would be possible to harvest rennet when home slaughtering lambs?

If you can get hold of some rennet and un-homogenized local milk you can make a farmhouse cheese which will have a regional flavour.

I am a cheesemaker at this dairy on the island of Westray, take a look if your interested! http://www.wilsonsofwestray.co.uk/

[Quirkygirl]

I have a book on cheeses and if I looked harder I more than likely have another in the 200 plus cook books I have (no joke I really do have that many). The book I have said for the beginner the ways around using normal household kitchen things to use instead of buying the equipment. So fingers crossed and I'll let you all know if it works...  Got a week off work from the 9th jan, so thats my testing week. Hubby to be is distilling at the moment and piped up with oh it's not a bad batch 60% proof    God help me lol.

[waterbuffalofarmer]

I also have the katie thear book, but sadly have never used it. http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1603583327/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_dp_ss_2?pf_rd_p=569136327&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=1580174647&pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_r=0NAEB1Z2YN6V6X4M483S
I recently bought this book and am looking forward to trying the recipes out. It is a very interesting book it talks not only of the process but the fats and acids in milk and cream and cheese, the best processes and a whole lot more. A good book to mull over. I would recommend buying it off ebay, its 3 pounds cheaper.

[farmers wife]

I made a cheddar which I opened just after Christmas it was covered in mould but it was very dry and lacked taste.


I think to make cheese and after reading endless forums you need a cave or cheese fridge.  I am looking into buying a secondhand wine fridge as you need to humidity and the higher temp 7-10 degrees.


I have plenty of raw milk and want to make savings as a family consume a lot of hard cheese.


I'm also from Cwmbran - I'd be interested on how yr cheese came out.

[Quirkygirl]

Hi Farmers Wife,
Well I would love to say it was a success BUT the week I had off work didn't go to plan as I was full of a cold and I put my back out. So I spent the week sulking and spaced out on painkillers.   I really really want to try but don't know which to start with..  My family is the same and eat loads of cheese.. I was thinking about maybe starting with a feta. What do you think???

Nice to hear of someone else in Cwmbran. Are you still in Cwmbran??

I made a cheddar which I opened just after Christmas it was covered in mould but it was very dry and lacked taste.


I think to make cheese and after reading endless forums you need a cave or cheese fridge.  I am looking into buying a secondhand wine fridge as you need to humidity and the higher temp 7-10 degrees.


I have plenty of raw milk and want to make savings as a family consume a lot of hard cheese.


I'm also from Cwmbran - I'd be interested on how yr cheese came out.

[farmers wife]

Back to the problems with cheese making is the temp and humidity.  A domestic fridge is too cold and dry.  I havent looked at feta.  I have looked at the different bacterias though.


I am just doing yogurt from our house cow.


Yes I'm at Cwrt Henllys Farm in Henllys.

[Quirkygirl]

I'll post when I have a bash. Hopefully soon..

and your not to far, I'm just down from the community farm..

[SallyintNorth]

A domestic fridge is too cold and dry.

Yes, you won't be able to mature cheese in a fridge.

In Gloucestershire, many old houses had an extra row of windows under the eaves.  This was the cheese room.

At Tinkers' Bubble, the cheeses were ripened on a high shelf around the kitchen area.  Rubbed and turned every day.  The kitchen was in an unheated building but had warmth generated by the activities within.

[waterbuffalofarmer]

When I made cheddar I used a special refrigeration unit, that I could alter the temp on. I think it matured for the first few months at 12-13 degrees, then as the months went by I lowered the temperature to slow the maturation process, as cheddar has a habit of becoming really strong, well buffalo cheddar does anyway Of course the best cheddar's are the cave matured ones, which have a special atmosphere, but it worked very well for me in a refrigeration unit, I did wax the cheeses though. If you want a rind developed then cave maturing would be better.
Hope this helps and all the best

[farmers wife]

yes agree Waterbuffalo - I went in a bit blind and realised that I needed to wax but saying that I dont think the process went well from the start - curd stage wasnt great.


Need to relook at buying a fridge been told to remove the thermostat and put new higher temp one in.  Needs to be a fan fridge unsure how I control the humidity.


Over christmas we had a cheese through Riverford Organics called Godminster smoked - it was phenomenal.  Not sure my husband is slightly over excited to think I could produce such a beaut but if we could produce enough cheddar to satisfy our families needs.

[waterbuffalofarmer]

I think these are the people? http://www.godminster.com/ I have never tried their cheese before, I might give it a go Another thing to do would be to get in contact with artisan cheese producers and ask them questions about cheese making, as they may be able to help you. Maybe when you start to make cheddar you could alter the recipe slightly to make your own cheddar recipe. I use special starters for mine (my own secret recipe) as buffalo milk has a higher fat content, so we needed a special starter to enhance all the flavors of the milk into the cheese, all natural no artificial anything. Maybe you could buy some when I am making it again, to see what you think of it, we hope to get the units signed off before too long, so we should be making mozzarella and hopefully buffalo cheddar again too  I myself am going to be experimenting with making sheep's milk brie cheese, hopefully from my own two ewes I bought especially. Keep up the good work and I am sure all will turn out well. Another thing you could do is once you have mastered making cheddar you could smoke some, cold oak smoked cheddar is gorgeous. I have a friend who does it and it is phenomenal. Do keep us updated on how you get on