Who wants to make some cheese? (ARE YOU GOODA WITH GOUDA?)

[Queen Mum]

I made my cheese last night, the old fashioned way. I made two batches. One batch came out great and the other, came out like cream cheese. SO I will make a cream cheese type of cheese (I have 5 pounds of it and the other will be regular cheese.

The reason, I think that the one batch cheese isn't right is I over heated the milk when pasteurizing. So It didn't form a good hard curd. (I should have been more patient and let it sit longer before cutting the curd.) Either way, it tastes great. I will salt it today and add some herbs to the cream cheese stuff and it will make a great spread after about a week of "aging".

I also made ricotta out of the whey and got two cups of very sweet creamy ricotta.

YUM.

 

[Queen Mum]

Cheddar Cheese anyone?

Cheddar Cheese is pretty simple. The cheddaring process is a matter of making the cheese curds and then layering them to and letting the weight of the curds press them down into a mass. Then they are cut into cubes and put into a press.

So here is the basic recipe. It's pretty much the same as most other cheese.

2 gallons of Milk
1/4 teaspoon of Mesophillic cheese culture of 1/4 cup of buttermilk
1 teaspoon of calcium chloride (if you have it.)
1/4 teaspoon liquid rennet or 1 tablet of junket vegetable rennet (dissolved in 1/4 cup cool water)
1 tablespoon NON-IODIZED salt.

1. Warm your milk to 88 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. Add calcium chloride and mesophillic culture or buttermilk.

3. Let the culture set for one hour.

4. Add rennet and quickly stir it into the milk. Let the milk sit undisturbed for about an hour or until the curd is set and you have a "clean break".

(Picture is from www.cheesemaking.com)

5. When the curd is set, cut it into one inch cubes. and then let it sit for about 10 or 15 minutes.

6. Now heat the curds and whey to 103 degrees Fahrenheit over a 30 minute period by increasing the temperature very slowly. Stir them frequently to keep the curds from clumping together into a mass.

7. The curds look like soft pudding at first and over about 40 minutes they will shrink and become like cottage cheese. You want them to all look like cottage cheese. Not rubbery and hard, but soft and squishy.

8. Remove the curds and whey from the heat and allow the curds to settle to the bottom of the pot.

9. Ladle off the whey into another pot to make ricotta cheese later.

10. Ladle the curds into a cheese cloth for draining, preferably into a square or rectangle baking dish. Periodically pour the whey that accumulates into the pot with the other whey. Try to keep the curds warm by putting them in a warm place. Wrap them up and put them in the pan to finish draining and keep them warm, turning them over every 5 or 10 minutes for about 20 minutes. They should form a solid block.

11. Cheddaring the cheese.

a. Cut the block into 3 strips.

b. Layer the strips on top of each other, re-wrap and let stand for 30 minutes, turning every 10 minutes.

c. Cut the block in half and layer again, re-wrap and let sit for 30 more minutes and turn every 10 minutes. Then you should have a really solid lump of cheddared cheese.

d. Each time you flip the cheese it should squish down some.

12. NOW, cut up the cheddar'd cheese into little bits about the size of a walnut half. Put it in a bowl and mix in salt. Let stand for 5 minutes and mix again to assure salt is well absorbed.

13. Line cheese mold with cheese cloth and put cheddared cheese into mold.

14. Press at 10 pounds for one hour, Carefully remove the cheese from the press, turn it over in the mold, and press at 10 pounds for one more hour.

15. Remove the cheese again and turn it over. Press at 35 pounds for 24 hours.

16. Remove the cheese from the press. Bandage it with clean cheese cloth, rub it down with lard or butter and put it in a cool environment. (55 degrees Fahrenheit, 85% humidity from 1 - 8 months) to cure. It will develop mold on the outside. THIS IS NORMAL. The mold should be green or white. BLACK MOLD IS BAD.

You can use a normal foam cooler with an ice block in it as a "cheese cave" or a small cube refrigerator on the lowest setting. It will NOT cure properly in a regular refrigerator as the temperature is too cold.

 

[peteyfoozer]

i never thought of putting it into a square container. That would make the cheddaring sooo much easier! Thanks for the tips. I got a 4 lb wheel in the wine fridge, but I have no idea if it turned out or not yet. I still have 2 months to wait.

 

[Queen Mum]

The hardest part about making cheese is waiting to see if it turns out.

Waiting for my Parmesan and Romano cheese JUST ABOUT KILLED ME. But it was worth the wait. I had wonderful Parmesan and Romano cheese. My swiss cheese didn't make big holes. Instead I got small holes, but it was still very good. All three had to age for a year. The good thing is you can make other cheese in the meantime.

 

[Queen Mum]

Did ANYONE make Cheddar last time? Anyone?

Sigh, Well, here is Gouda Cheese.

Gouda Cheese is a Washed Curd cheese. And it is a soaked brine cheese.

In other words, you wash the curds while "cooking" them. Then after pressing the cheese, you soak the round in salt brine for a short while, dry it and age the cheese.

GOUDA CHEESE

So here is the basic recipe. It's pretty much the same as most other cheese.

2 gallons of skim Milk
1 quart cream
1/4 teaspoon of Mesophillic cheese culture of 1/4 cup of buttermilk
1 teaspoon of calcium chloride (if you have it.)
1/4 teaspoon liquid rennet or 1 tablet of junket vegetable rennet (dissolved in 1/4 cup cool water)

Sound familiar - Yep, it's almost the same recipe as Cheddar Cheese except you don't add salt to the curds. You can substitute whole milk for skim, and leave out the cream, but the cheese is better with cream added.



1. Warm your milk to 90 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. Add calcium chloride and mesophillic culture or buttermilk.

3. Let the culture set for one hour.

4. Add rennet and quickly stir it into the milk. Let the milk sit undisturbed for about an hour or until the curd is set and you have a "clean break".

http://www.backyardherds.com/forum/uploads/1156_cheese_curd_cut.jpg (Picture is from www.cheesemaking.com)

5. When the curd is set, cut it into one inch cubes. and then let it sit (rest) for about 10 or 15 minutes.

6. Now heat the curds and whey to 100 degrees Fahrenheit over a 30 minute period by increasing the temperature very slowly. Stir them frequently to keep the curds from clumping together into a mass.

7. The curds look like soft pudding at first and over about 40 minutes they will shrink and become like cottage cheese.

HERE IS WHERE GOUDA IS DIFFERENT FROM CHEDDAR CHEESE.

8. Remove the 1/3 of the whey from pot and replace it with an equal amount of water that has been heated to 175 degrees Fahrenheit. Stir the curds for 15 minutes to prevent them from settling to the bottom of the pot. (Set aside the whey that you removed to make Ricotta later.)

9. Ladle off the 1/3 of the whey again, and replace it with an equal amount of water that has been heated to 175 degrees Fahrenheit. Stir the curds for 15 minutes to prevent them from settling to the bottom of the pot. (Set aside the whey that you removed to make Ricotta later.)

10. ONE MORE TIME - Ladle off the 1/3 of the whey again, and replace it with an equal amount of water that has been heated to 175 degrees Fahrenheit. Stir the curds for 15 minutes to prevent them from settling to the bottom of the pot. (Set aside the whey that you removed to make Ricotta later.)

11. Set the pot in some cold water with ice added and cool the cheese to 95 degrees Fahrenheit, while stirring to prevent clumping. When it reaches 95 degrees, remove it from the cold water and let it sit for 35 minutes.

12. Drain the remaining whey into the Ricotta pot and pour the curds into a cheese cloth lined colander.

13. Place a cheese cloth in a cheese mold, and ladle the drained curds into the mold. Fold the cheesecloth over the curds, add the follower and press with about 3 pounds weight for one hour.

14. Put a fresh cheese cloth on a plate. ,open the top of the pressed cheese cloth and turn the opened cheese mold over on top of the fresh cloth so that the cheese is resting nicely on the new cloth. Carefully remove the cheese mold, and then peel the wet cloth off the cheese very carefully so as not to disturb the shape of the freshly pressed cheese.

15. Re-wrap the cheese with the new cloth and slide the mold over the top of the cheese or carefully lift it into the mold. Add the follower and then press the cheese with 4 to 8 pounds of weight for 12 hours.

(Basically what you just did was turn the cheese over in the mold with a fresh piece of cheese cloth.)

16. After 12 hours, remove the cheese from the mold, unwrap it and put it back in the mold to dry for 12 hours (overnight).

17. After drying in the mold, Float the cheese in a Saturated brine solution for one hour, turning once during that time.

Saturated Brine is made by boiling 1 quart of water, 1/2 pound of salt, 1/4 tsp calcium chloride, 1/4 tsp white vinegar

Chill the brine. Use it over and over again. It will get better with age. Remember, this is not the same brine that you use with Feta Cheese.

18. Remove from the brine and set the cheese on a mat of some sort to dry for two days. (If it is humid, a fan nearby is helpful to help with the drying process.)

19. Coat the cheese with wax after drying and place in a "cheese cave" (50 - 55 degrees with 85% humidity) for 3 to 6 months.

 

[animalfarm]

Queen Mum

Just to let you know, I am following your thread with interest and future good intentions. I have the milk and the equipment; working on developing a cheese cave, but simply don't have the time at this moment. I am running a farm on my own and there is simpy to many "high priorities" to deal with before I can get to cheese making. I am finding your instructions to to be better then most I have read and hope you continue; hopefully when the time comes that I can reap the benefits of your efforts you haven't given up.

 

[OurWildHeart]

Going to have to save this topic. It's super useful! I'm a cheese-maker that jumped straight into making mozzarella like so many before me. Now to try with our own goats someday soon.

 

[MrsKK]

Hello! I am new to the forum and found this thread - it's great! I teach cheesemaking classes where we spend a full day and make mozzarella, fresh cheese curds, and queso blanco. I'm finding that your instructions are very easy to follow - I hope that you are able to continue with this project, as there are so few GOOD quality sources of learning these traditional methods.

I love the pictures of your cheesepress. I have made one of my own using two boards with holes cut in each corner, then dowels run through the holes. I do find that it can get a bit unbalanced, but will take a page from your book and try to find PVC t's that will fit over the dowels to make a frame that will help keep everything aligned properly. I just rest barbell weights on the top board for pressing. I also use a dish drain board underneath the mold to run the whey off and into the boot tray underneath

I've never heard of Robiola - what does it taste like? I have mold allergies, so can't eat blues, etc, even though I love blue cheese. <Sigh>

 

[peteyfoozer]

I did make cheddar, but I have yet to taste it. It should be ready this month. My cow is dry until July so I am hoping the goats freshen soon so I can try gouda! My cheese press has been remade and I am ready to rock n roll as soon as I have milk again!

 

[WhiteMountainsRanch]

I'm in I'm in I'm in!!!



I need to start with the simpler ones though. That cheddar looks hard... I need to know how to make buttermilk first!