mander - Posted - 03/09/2011:  13:53:35

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Okay, I've got the book on how to do it, but where do you get the cultures?

Anyone know how to make their own cheese? (other than cutting it?)

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Edited by - mander on 03/09/2011 14:06:59

Dagnabbit - Posted - 03/09/2011:  15:25:39

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quote:

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Originally posted by mander


Okay, I've got the book on how to do it, but where do you get the cultures?

Anyone know how to make their own cheese? (other than cutting it?)

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It's the dog. It's always the dog....

thecheesemaker.com/cultures.htm

Brian T - Posted - 03/09/2011:  16:45:13

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Bigger grocery stores & "Health?" food store carry Rennet (Rennit?), a popular form of the enzyme rennilase.
I made cheese as a lab demonstration of enzyme (rennilase) action for nearly 30 years.
Approx 1.5 quarts (2 liters) of 2% milk would make a ball of fresh cheese about the size of a small orange.
Student pairs warmed some milk, added 5 drops rennilase, 15 minutes later, it was time for the cheesecloth!
Part of the lab session clean-up was to eat it on crackers.

OOOOOHHHHH! Might be germs! Might be bad milk, blah, blah, blah. Might be rocket fuel spilled on the lab benches.
Might be cooties in the sterilized beakers.

Get the picture?

Go for it. Do it. The hard part seems to be the tricks to hold it, to let it age and ripen in the direction that you want it to go.
Local family has a few dairy cows, they sell their cheese out of a cardboard box very, very quietly.
BIG FOOD does not want any smart artisans trying to cut into their "cheese product" or "cheese food" profits.

xomcat - Posted - 03/09/2011:  17:10:31

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Brian, is this is what's refered to as, "Farmers Cheese"?

bubbalouie - Posted - 03/09/2011:  17:13:15

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That sounds like a good idea to make your own.
I just checked in the fridge and a block of cheese I just bought cost 12.42 and was 1.2 lbs.!!!.
No folks that is not a typo. Plain medium cheddar.

Brian T - Posted - 03/09/2011:  19:29:37

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xomcat: I don't know, could be. I'm not organic, more of a NOPIE.
Non Organic Person Into Everything
Cheese is stupidly simple to make and tastes really good to me.
I'm on a bean-sprout-growing-quest at the moment, just for the hell of it.

What might put you off is the huge volume of milk you need for the cheese you get.
Remember, what you get is mostly the milk proteins. 2l/2,000ml milk makes maybe 150g cheese.
Obviously, you have to get "cheap milk" to make a 'go' of it.

If for no other reason on earth, you ought to make some simple cheese just to say that you did it.

pandjlocke - Posted - 03/10/2011:  01:21:56

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quote:

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Originally posted by xomcat

Brian, is this is what's refered to as, "Farmers Cheese"?

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Mozzarella is what that is. Good, fresh mozzarella.

Ev - Posted - 03/10/2011:  03:37:09

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The milk is the most important factor. Avoid the ultra pasteurized stuff. Fresh raw milk is best if you can get it.

Dagnabbit - Posted - 03/10/2011:  05:19:24

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quote:

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Originally posted by xomcat

Brian, is this is what's refered to as, "Farmers Cheese"?

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It seems to me this is pretty much a recipe for Queso Blanco although as I've seen it made in Mexico several times, vinegar or even lemon or lime juice is used as a coagulant instead of rennet. When pressed to remove much of the liquid, Queso Blanco becomes Queso Seco which is pretty much akin to what I think of as Farmers Cheese.

Prof - Posted - 03/10/2011:  05:50:09

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Brian -- I did that exact same lab in biology class when I was an undergrad. I ate mine!

rinemb - Posted - 03/10/2011:  07:20:52

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Me too, Brian. I decided to make cottage cheese for my own kolaches (sp???) anyway took a gallon of milk to make a bowl full of cottage cheese. The math didn't quite work out. I think making a good aged cheese would be fun. What is the odor factor on ripening cheese? Then again, I make kraut in the basement, so who cares, eh. Brad