Author Topic: Mastering Artisan Cheesemaking by Gianaclis Caldwell  (Read 9149 times)

anutcanfly

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Mastering Artisan Cheesemaking by Gianaclis Caldwell
« on: October 03, 2012, 11:29:07 PM »
Gianaclis Caldwell's book has got to be the most down to earth, useful collection of knowledge I have yet read.  Everyone should have this book!  So many things I had learned the hard way or have yet to learn... addressed so simply in this book!  The organizational approach she’s used really hangs it all together in a way that leads to understanding what you're doing, far better than the more conventional cheese book.  I’ve tried to view this book with a critical eye and I just can’t find anything to complain about, except where was this book when I was first learning?!  Her way of speaking is clear and easy to understand.  Only on rare occasions did I find myself having to reread a verse--no fault to her!  This book sets a new standard by which other books will be compared!  It is the most intensive, helpful book I have read. 

Did I mention how much I love this book?

Offline dbudge55

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Re: Mastering Artisan Cheesemaking by Gianaclis Caldwell
« Reply #1 on: October 04, 2012, 12:05:18 AM »
Sing it from the rooftops! I got my copy two days ago and what a great piece of work. She answers so many questions in such a remarkable way that even a rube like me can understand it.

Props to Yoav (iratherfly) for recommending it to me. It's money well spent for both the beginner and intermediate cheese maker alike.
Laissez le rouleau grand fromage - Dave Budge

bbracken677

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Re: Mastering Artisan Cheesemaking by Gianaclis Caldwell
« Reply #2 on: October 04, 2012, 12:05:50 AM »
Awesome! I will have to check that out.
Currently I am reading "American Farmstead Cheese" by Paul Kindstedt. No recipes but holy cow...he goes into great detail on the hows, whys and wherefores of the process...I am in the middle of the section related to acid development. I love it! With just what I have read so far, I not only understand the process, why we do certain things, as well as the details (such as casein chains etc etc).
Being something of a gourmet cook I am starting to put together the cause and effect aspects of cheesemaking.

Offline Boofer

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Re: Mastering Artisan Cheesemaking by Gianaclis Caldwell
« Reply #3 on: October 04, 2012, 05:02:37 AM »
Props to Yoav (iratherfly) for recommending it to me.
OMG!  Blue gloves!!  Yoav, what can this mean;)

-Boofer-
Let's ferment something!
Bread, beer, wine, cheese...it's all good.

jerryg

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Re: Mastering Artisan Cheesemaking by Gianaclis Caldwell
« Reply #4 on: October 04, 2012, 01:01:58 PM »
Had the pleasure of meeting Gianaclis recently at the Heirloom Seed Exposition in Santa Rosa CA. Her book is great.

Her blog site:
http://gianacliscaldwell.wordpress.com/

Tomer1

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Re: Mastering Artisan Cheesemaking by Gianaclis Caldwell
« Reply #5 on: October 04, 2012, 03:21:06 PM »
Whats that brown stuff spread over the rind?

jerryg

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Re: Mastering Artisan Cheesemaking by Gianaclis Caldwell
« Reply #6 on: October 04, 2012, 05:27:35 PM »
Cocoa paste for dry Jack?

gianaclis

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Re: Mastering Artisan Cheesemaking by Gianaclis Caldwell
« Reply #7 on: October 06, 2012, 12:07:07 AM »
Cocoa powder and oil on a Romano style. Also I have used cocoa powder and bentonite clay, both work well. Thank you to Anut and others for buying my new book! I am not on the forum often, but sure am inspired by all of you when I do read posts.
gianaclis

Offline Tiarella

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Re: Mastering Artisan Cheesemaking by Gianaclis Caldwell
« Reply #8 on: October 06, 2012, 01:56:12 AM »
Gianaclis,  Your book just arrived in today's mail and I am VERY excited to have it!!!  Wow, very cool.  I haven't read much yet but what I have read is just what I was looking for.  I love how much info is on this forum but given that I farm and run my own flower essence business it's hard to find the time to sort through the forum to find the info I need when I need it.  I had been longing for a form that was easier and your book seems to be that!

Also saw your blog thanks to whomever posted the link to it.  Good information there too. 

I've barely had time to flip through your book except for finding answers needed immediately for my current batch of cheese but it seems like I can find the info I need easily  and I laughed out loud when I read about the fig leaf wrapped cheese that you named "Adam's Package". And it was probably good that my partner wasn't eating when I shared it with him. Snarf material for sure!  Thank you for the good laugh and the wonderful book!  I'm almost glad that we'll be having yet more rain so that I can rationalize staying inside to read it.  Also nice to see that you Nigerian Dwarf goats as I do.  I've also been thinking of crossing them to create a midsize goat.

Thank you again!!

gianaclis

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Re: Mastering Artisan Cheesemaking by Gianaclis Caldwell
« Reply #9 on: October 06, 2012, 04:26:34 PM »
Thank you Tiarella! I am lucky to have such a great publisher that lets me write as I speak, which is often kind of goofy! Glad you got a laugh. :-)
g

iratherfly

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Re: Mastering Artisan Cheesemaking by Gianaclis Caldwell
« Reply #10 on: October 07, 2012, 08:13:44 AM »
Props to Yoav (iratherfly) for recommending it to me.
OMG!  Blue gloves!!  Yoav, what can this mean;)

-Boofer-
If it's not you ...I think it's to protect the hand from the chocolate. Such strange cheese!

I am happy to report that my dear friend and forum member Oude Kaas (Jos Vulto) appears on this book.

Gianaclis - what a great body of work (again!). Finally, a truly fantastic book that provides inspiration for those who want to take this craft to the next level.  I have been very critical of some of these books lately because of the vague and disingenuous formulas and techniques.  This book is on a totally different level. Highly recommended. Congrats!

Offline Boofer

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Re: Mastering Artisan Cheesemaking by Gianaclis Caldwell
« Reply #11 on: October 07, 2012, 01:53:58 PM »
Let me add to the accolades, Gianaclis.

My copy arrived on Friday, stuck under the welcome mat so I didn't even find it until Saturday. What a thrill! I owe a bit of gratitude to anut for making this book known to me.

A big Thank You for all the diligence and detail that you have put into this book. It far surpasses any of the other books that I have in my cheesemaking library. My only wish is that it had been available earlier in my cheesemaking endeavors and, maybe, I would have made fewer mistakes. A lot of the finer details that we discuss nonstop in the forum are included in your book, including flocculation and pH points for a particular cheese.

My recommendation, IMHO, is that anyone wishing to learn about making cheese or fine-tuning their techniques, should get this book ASAP! It's a treasure.

-Boofer-
Let's ferment something!
Bread, beer, wine, cheese...it's all good.

gianaclis

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Re: Mastering Artisan Cheesemaking by Gianaclis Caldwell
« Reply #12 on: October 07, 2012, 02:26:45 PM »
Thank you all of you! Coming from the "old cheeses" here on the forum, that means a lot to me. :-)
If you see anything that isn't answered or isn't clear enough please let me know for the next edition. I tried very hard to make it complete and luckily Chelsea Green let me exceed my contracted word count and go "all the way".

Here is a request, if any of you feel motivated to write an Amazon review (only if its good of course, ha ha) that really helps with profile and sales potential...

Thanks again!!

gianaclis

Offline Tiarella

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Re: Mastering Artisan Cheesemaking by Gianaclis Caldwell
« Reply #13 on: October 07, 2012, 03:41:47 PM »
I'll be sure to write one.  And if you ever have the chance to sell books direct and get a better cut of the proceeds I hope you'll let us know here on the forum. 

margaretsmall

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Re: Mastering Artisan Cheesemaking by Gianaclis Caldwell
« Reply #14 on: October 07, 2012, 09:00:33 PM »
Looks like my wish (in another thread lately) has come true. I've just ordered a copy.
Margaret