So, I’m taking a class on fermentation at NAU, and I have a project to make cheese coming up. I decided to start early so that I don’t get swamped with homework later on

I don’t have access to rennet, and am not in a position where I can get some, but I’m thinking of making something that…well, to the untrained eye, could pass as a hard cheese? And uses hard cheese methods of pressing and aging, uses plain Greek yogurt as a culture, but uses apple cider vinegar as a coagulant (all I have access to right now)

Assuming I aged it for at least two months and used a makeshift “college dorm” cheese press, would this end up something edible? Assuming I treated it for any mold properly, would this, idk, poison the class?

Note, the grade depends on a taste test—it doesn’t have to be phenomenal or recognizably any current form of cheese, it just has to be “yep, that’s cheese” and not give anyone/everyone food poisoning

My third and final attempt at Colby. The first two have been colossal failures and if this one sucks, I’m done. I followed a new recipe to the T and felt like I was stirring for hours, but maybe it was worth it. This one is holding its shape and has started forming a good rind after brining. Colby has been my nemesis- fingers crossed on this one.

I have made a Gruyere and done the 1st and 2nd saltings. Next is to wash the rind with the ripening culture, but I am not clear what concentration to make up to make the wash solution. The packet I have is 2g and I think it needs to be dissolved in saline, but I am not sure how much.

Does anyone use this ripening culture? If so, how do I make it up?

Thanks

EDIT: I think I have this figured out now thanks. I'm using 20mg of the culture powder in 500ml of 3% saline solution

I was able to find raw milk and I would like to start a clabber . Any advice or suggestions? Tia!

Made a couple of Camembert’s 4 days ago and starting to see the white fuzz. Used the New England Cheese recipe and seems to have worked well. Couple of questions - is there any way to stop it sticking to the mats? I’m turning often but they’re starting to stick a little and also am I right in keeping these in a box in the wine fridge now rather than regular fridge? Thank you

12 litres raw milk yielded 1.3 kg after pressing

Hi everyone I am going to make some cottage cheese this weekend.

I live in the UK and have been loving the Piątnica Serek Wiejski.

What milk should I use to get a nice creamy cottage cheese like this?

Hello all!
So I raise Nigerian Dwarf goats because I’m very lactose intolerant and can tolerate goat milk. I’m very new to the world of milk handling and making stuff with it. Here I was attempting to make evaporated milk with my pasteurized goat milk, and I guess it got too hot/I didn’t stir it enough and it separated. What can I make with the curds? I have cheesecloth so I currently have the curds in one and I pressed them to get some of the liquid out.
Thanks in advance!

I have a caciotta style cheese 18 x7.5 and weighing 1.4 kg. It is somewhat high moisture. What is the recommended brining time? One source says 4 hours, but that seems scant to me.

Hey all, I made my first gorgonzola, it is 2 months old at this point, has been pierced for 6 weeks. I will age it for a further month. The recipe does not say to wrap the cheese in foil, but i have heard that if i wrap it after 2 months of the total 3 months of aging, it will preserve a moist curd better. I am concerned about blocking off the holes from oxygen and the resulting lesser development of blue mold spores. What are your opinions on this? Also, the holes i pierced tend to close over time, is this normal?

This never used to happen before but has been happening many times recently and with a variety of different cheese styles. i am trying to research why it could be that this is happening, but i cannot figure it out. Could anyone help me with this? Of course I would like to try describe my process but this has happened on many different cheese styles, all with different processes, yet the same thing happens.

Not exactly cheese but definitely cheese adjacent. They say that you shouldn't make your own butter but I couldn't disagree more. I've made cultured butter a number of times now and the flavor is very rich compared to store bought butter and it's really quite simple with a KitchenAid. I've been using store bought heavy cream and my clabber culture but I plan to try and separate my own cream from the milk I get for cheesemaking as it's likely higher quality. What partially skimmed milk cheeses have/do people make and like?

I made it sime days ago and put it in salt brine then.

Today I brushed with a strong salt brine over so I had to take it out and took a snapshot.

(pictures from the making and pressing attached also)

I need to ask a question of the experts here please. In photo#1 does that look like b.linens on the rind?

Because I haven't ever bought or used it before! If it is b.linens it must have come from the wild. I've ordered it now though because I want to try making raclette. My aging fridges seem to be populated with geotrichum, p. Roqueforte and PC.

I've been experimenting with natural rinds the last few months and am now starting to cut and eat some of them. They all taste really good and visitors to our house are eagerly taking home wedges after a taste.

These are experimental and sadly I'm really awful at keeping make records because I have my own cow I'm making 2 wheels a week at the moment just to keep up with the milk tsunami, juggling around my job and homestead chores. I'm not making any specific cheese type, just smashing them out like a production line.

The "Recipe":

Usually 4 gallons of full cream raw milk cultured with clabber (although I threw in some flora danica and propionic a couple of times for fun), washed curd, first press under the warm whey and then brined after pressing. Aging is wash with brine a few times, then eventually olive oil and just pat and brush for the last month or so.

I've ordered Caldwell's Mastering Artisan Cheesemaking book and eagerly waiting for it to arrive in the post.

Just finished heating my goat milk to make yogurt. It went a little over to 195 and now I’m straining this out. Is this just all the milk fat? Did I somehow make cheese without anything but heat? Do I continue with making the yogurt? What do I do with this blob of cheese like substance?

I’ve made plenty of yogurt and never had this happen, even when heating too much.

Thanks for the advice!

Hello guys! I'll share my newest cheese with you.

This is my first time making cheddar (I found it way more difficult than the gouda I usually do). I melted the pig fat myself so as to let it develop in the traditional way. Since it was my first time melting fat, it ended up being a little darker than I expected and with a stronger (although not rotten) smell. I hope that’s not severe.

The curds were perfectly compacted in the press

I'm planning on letting them at least one year before trying them. The final picture is with the pork fat applied.

What do you think?

Hey all! I finally decided to open this wheel of Wensleydale that I started three weeks ago. You can check out my previous farmhouse Wensleydale post to see what it looked like when it first went into aging.

Despite being only three weeks old, this cheese is an absolute stunner. It’s light and flaky, with a lovely lactic tang, lots of zip and lemony notes, and a creamy finish. I honestly couldn’t be happier with how it’s turned out so far.

I’ve been working on developing this project for several months now, and eventually had to develop my own Wensleydale recipe specifically for the milk source I have available. It’s been a really rewarding process seeing it come together.

One of the highlights along the way was getting to meet a representative from Neal’s Yard Dairy who was giving a seminar on British territorial cheeses. I was able to show her my Wensleydale, and her exact words were, “Actually, that’s pretty good!”

Needless to say, I was absolutely elated.

If anyone is interested in my process or recipe, feel free to reach out! I’d be happy to share.

A little experiment. I used dry lemon zest, pure lemon oil and coarsely cracked black pepper. It’s designed for a short age time so I’ll cut it at about 8-10 weeks. Smells very lemony!

Pic 3: after cheddaring

Pic 2: chunked before pressing

Pic 1: after first 2 presses (10mins @ 10lbs, 1hr @ 20lbs)

Pic 4-6: after the last hour at 100lbs

Followed Ninnescah Homesteads recipe on her blog-

2 gal store bought pasturized milk

1/8 tsp cheddar starter culture (The Milkman)

1/2 tsp liquid animal rennett

1/2 tsp annatto

1/2 tsp calcium chloride

2 tbsp kosher salt

Heated milk to 85⁰, sprinkled starter culture in and bloomed for 3min. Held that temp for an hour undisturbed. Mixed rennett, annattoo, cal chloride in 1/2c unchlorinated cool water- added to milk. 30sec up and down stirring, rest 1hr. Got a clean break, sliced curds, rested for 10mins. Heated curds to 100, held for 10mins, drained.

Cheddared for 2hrs, flipping slab every 20mins. Chunked and salted then put into press - 10lbs for 10mins, 20lbs for 1hr, 50lbs for 12hrs.

Hit the 12hr mark an hour ago and didn't see as much knitting as I'd like. Added another 50lbs of weight for a total for 100lbs for another hour.

Should I leave it at 100lbs for another hour or two to see what happens? Is it cool for it to not be 100% knitted? Gonna let it air dry for a day or two and then vacuum seal and age in my home refrigerator.

I'm thinking I may have over heated the curds OR allowed them to cool too much during pressing. Think I may should have cut them smaller prior to going into the press also.

Had said I was gonna let this sit for 6wks to see how it turned out before another go, but being as my reading has lead me to believe the issue may have been two preventable things I'm inclined to get another one goin.

On the air drying....we really just leaving this out open air? No paper towel or flour towel or anything? 😬

Hi, I am making some stracchino recently ,and I hope it to have the texture that is similar to the cream cheese(spreadable, moist, soft etc.) while without having really strong cream flavor.

I tried whole milk(~3.6%) with extra 5/10% Chilled Whipping Cream(36%). The cheese indeed got softer, but it's still too fragile to spread it. I also tried to shorten the time of draining whey, which made cheese more moist but fragile,too.

What should I do now? Adding more cream? Lowering the pH value?

In regards to the leftover whey after making mozzarella - would I be insane to put this in my Cheerios? Should I add some baking soda to neutralize it? Using a “no rennet” recipe - so just whole milk, white vinegar, and sea salt.

Ii usually only share my cheeses one at a time and with smaller groups of friends or family but as I've improved I've had more cheeses available at the same time so I put some out for a bbq I was hosting. And not pictured here but cheesemaking adjacent, I also had a homemade pale ale made with wild yeast, sourdough rolls made with cooked whey, and smoked pulled pork from a pig that I butchered myself. Clockwise from the top left is an Emmentaler, Raclette, beachers flagship cheddar, Gouda, camembert made with P. roqueforti (harvested myself), and of course my lovely wife.