Hi there. I am a novice (2 years) cheesemaker in NZ (Waiheke Island), living in an eco-village where a group of us co-own 2 Jersey cows. We are in our second year of milking them, (2nd lactation for one of the cows, the other about to be dried off to go to the bull at the next door farm), so we get between 5 and 10 litres of milk daily. Each family’s turn to milk only comes round every 4 or 5 days so we are not overwhelmed with milk but we get a chance to make plenty of cheese.
After many attempts at a variety of cheeses (feta, stilton, cheddar, wensleydale, brie, gouda, edam, cambozola, halloumi, ricotta etc.) I feel I have got the techniques pretty much under my belt, but I am still mystified by the science/chemistry, so when something goes wrong, which it does quite often, and the cheese ends up feeding the chooks, I read back through my diary notes of how that cheese was made but I am in the dark as to what I might have done wrong at what stage.
I really need more information and I am hoping some of you experienced cheese makers can either tell me what I need to know or point me to the place on this web site where I will find it. This is a huge site for a newcomer to navigate and packed with information – very inspiring.
As everyone who gets involved in cheese making knows, the differences in details in the recipes is enormous, so much so that you wonder how such different recipes can produce cheeses of the same name. I generally read through several variations and then choose one based on what seems sensible, do-able in the time-frame available and not too complicated. But I would like to be making choices based on more knowledge of the chemical effects of each process. For example, I am making feta today, first time in several months, and the recipe I have chosen to follow does not press the cheese – you just put the wooden follower on the curds in the mould which gently flattens them and then turn the cheese every half hour x6. My neighbour follows a recipe that uses a weight to press out the moisture. Now I don’t know the reason why I might choose my recipe over the one she follows. What difference does heavier or lighter pressure make, apart from the obvious – heavier pressure pushes out more moisture more quickly? What effect will that have on the resulting cheese?
Looking forward to being part of this online community of enthusiasts.
P.S. everyone seems to have Young Cheese or Mature Cheese or whatever by their username. And the number of cheeses they have made – how do I add this to my profile?
