homemade cheese?

Smoking Duck · January 18, 2009, 07:49:11 AM

Quote from: deb415611 on January 18, 2009, 04:44:35 AM
SD, Definitely not Q-tip. I have faith that you can come up with something better.

See, there's a rookie mistake ;D I just gotta come up with something......I'm not feeling Q-tip either but it was all I had at the moment.

pensrock · January 18, 2009, 09:32:42 AM

QuoteI'm not feeling Q-tip either but it was all I had at the moment.

SD...... that Q-tip nick name is not from your A game. We all know you can/will do better. However beware the tea bags. ;D

deb415611 · January 18, 2009, 09:37:34 AM

Quote from: Caribou on January 18, 2009, 05:41:48 AM
Deb,
At our local store, they have rennet tablets where the canning stuff is located. I haven't made cheese but I have noticed the rennet when I pick up my pectin.
ps. did you get your KitchenAid tray extended for your grinder?
I canned my own V8 yesterday and ran 22 lbs of cooked tomatoes through mine and wished I had the tray extender!
Carolyn

No I haven't bought the tray extender yet. I haven't looked around too much, I'll probably get it from amazon.

My local stores don't have much of a canning section. I couldn't even find pickling salt :( . I miss living in the country.....

The homemade v-8 sounds good!

seemore · January 18, 2009, 03:30:58 PM

OK, you got our curiosity on this one. We have made ricotta and found it to be good. Marc gave us the inspiration for the mozzarella, because he is considering making it. Then he sent those links today.
So..........we went up to the store and picked up milk, rennett and citric acid:

We followed the instructions on one of the links that Marc sent - I believe it was the first one.
Here is the mixture after setting:

We then strained it through cheesecloth, and stretched it with a spoon:

We formed it into a ball and wrapped it in plastic wrap:

It is chilling right now. We can't wait to try it!!!
Thanks for giving us the momentum to try this!
June & Scott

Smoking Duck · January 18, 2009, 03:36:09 PM

Well, done, June and Scott! Let us know how it tastes........make sure to save some to smoke.......adds a great twist to pizza and lasagna!

SD

deb415611 · January 18, 2009, 03:55:07 PM

Quote from: HCT on January 18, 2009, 05:44:46 AM

Deb, there are a few dairy farmers up here selling raw milk and it goes fast. A bit pricey but worth it for making cheese.

Thanks HCT -- Rogers Orchard in Southington usually has it.

Seemores -- aaaaargh, now I'm going to have to try it. It's looking good. Let us know how it is.

seemore · January 18, 2009, 03:57:57 PM

We just tried it, and we have to say it is BLAND. What should we do the next time? Increase the salt to 1 teaspoon instead of 1/2 as in the recipe?

HCT · January 18, 2009, 03:58:04 PM

Thanks for taking the plunge Mr. & Mrs. Seemore :) I'm definately going to give it a go.

Habanero Smoker · January 19, 2009, 03:13:07 AM

I might have to try this. I have an organic milk farm that is about a mile from me, but I still have to go to the store to purchase his milk. He will only bottle his milk products in glass containers.

carnie1 · January 19, 2009, 06:26:54 AM

I have done a little dabbling in cheese, here are some of the best links I've found, also most say not to use grocery store rennet.
http://www.cheesemaking.com/ Good site , I've gotten stuff there good service, You will find anything you need here
http://www.dairyconnection.com/hobbyiest.html Same here
http://biology.clc.uc.edu/Fankhauser/Cheese/Cheese.html good info
http://www.gourmetsleuth.com/cheeserecipes.htm

Hope this helps

smokeitall · January 19, 2009, 08:28:17 AM

I bought my wife the $25 kit for Christmas (it was the moz and ricotta kit). We have bought the milk twice for it and when we go to make it the kids have already opened the whole milk and drank half of it. I guess when they are use to skim they think its a treat. Hopefully we will get to do it this weekend. I would however like to find a farm to get the milk from. The biggest thing to watch out for if buying milk from the grocery store is if it is ultra pasteurized, since it will not work. If we make some this weekend I will post the results. Going to definitely smoke some before the end of winter.

HCT · January 19, 2009, 10:40:37 AM

Thanks for the links Carnie. What is the difference with the grocery store rennet?

carnie1 · January 19, 2009, 12:17:28 PM

Quote from: HCT on January 19, 2009, 10:40:37 AM
Thanks for the links Carnie. What is the difference with the grocery store rennet?

Beats me , I read it in quite a few places

Oyènkwara · January 19, 2009, 03:56:01 PM

From what I have read in "Home Cheese Making" (See above cheesemaking.com website) the Junket is about 1/4 the strength of Rennet made specifically for cheese. That said, I also got some Junket and will be giving this a try, if I like it I might invest in the cheese rennet next time.

Tom

carnie1 · January 19, 2009, 04:24:03 PM

Sorry to hear that, No need to apologize, ya got me wantin' to go make cheese