Hello from Ontario, Canada

[KatKooks]

Hello everyone!  I'm new to the board and have done a lot of reading here already....this is a great resource.  I have just started making cheese in my home and have successfully made Halloumi, Cheddar, Parmesan, and something called Caerphilly.  ....and when I say successful, I mean that they look like cheese in my cave but I haven't tasted them yet and hope they are edible.  Thank you in advance for your insight!  Cheers! 

[jwalker]

Sounds like you're already off to a good start.

Always nice to have another "Cheese Head" here.

How old are your current cheeses ?

Welcome Kat.

[KatKooks]

Hi jwalker,  thanks for the welcome!  I am a complete newbie having cheeses that are only 2 & 3 weeks old means that I won't be tasting for a while.  The curds from my cheddar tasted pretty good but the Halloumi today was waaaay too salty....I need to step the brine back a bit.
Cheers

[John@PC]

Assuming that's your cave and the cheese in it are yours it looks like you're off to a great start.  Sounds like you weren't familiar with Caerphilly - I had never heard of it before either but it's now my favorite cheese to make!  Good luck.

[KatKooks]

Assuming that's your cave and the cheese in it are yours it looks like you're off to a great start.  Sounds like you weren't familiar with Caerphilly - I had never heard of it before either but it's now my favorite cheese to make!  Good luck.

Thanks John, that's actually hilarious because my first 2 batches went down the toilet!  Yes, the cave and cheese are mine but I have yet to taste any of my creations beyond the Halloumi and am excited to taste some success.

I bought this great book and the description of Caerphilly sounded awesome, so I jumped on that.  However, having no frame of reference as a comparison might make judging my success hard!

Cheers!

[John@PC]

Thanks John, that's actually hilarious because my first 2 batches went down the toilet!  Yes, the cave and cheese are mine but I have yet to taste any of my creations beyond the Halloumi and am excited to taste some success.

I've had to toss a bunch of makes too but most if not all I could trace back to a distinct mistake I made.   If you can't wait for your cheese to hit it's aging target you may want to purchase a cheese trier so you can sample a portion with minimum damage to the cheese.   As for Caerphilly, I personally like it fairly young (6 weeks or so) because it's SO good and being the impatient person I am I can't wait ^-^!

[JimSteel]

Welcome Kat.  Nice to see another fellow Canadian on the boards.

Caerphilly is a good starter cheese because it can be eaten young, so you can try a variety of techniques with relatively quick feedback.  The others types are quite adventurous for starter cheeses.  I tried a whole lot of different cheeses out when I started(been making for a year), but have narrowed it down to 3 or 4 types that I can make fairly well and am trying to perfect.

Have fun and let us know how things turn out.

[Spoons]

Welcome to the boards, Kat! Caerphilly is quite popular here. I particularly like it melted, it melts so well! almost like a gooey mozz.

Kat, I don't know if you have access to raw milk, but whenever I see an Ontarian join, I refer them to Harmony milk. It's a great source of non-homogenized milk here in Ontario. Their 35% cream is non-homogenized. What I do is I buy 0% Neilson milk and mix it with 35% Harmony cream. I've had nothing but great results.

[KatKooks]

Thanks for the warm welcome and words of advice, guys. 

John, even 6 weeks is agony at this point!  It seems like making any more cheese before I've tried what I've created so far is kinda backwards but I'm gonna go ahead anyways.  I will look for a cheese trier on my next order.  TIA!

I figure I might as well try many different types, Jim, because everything I like to eat are blended cheeses.  I'm trying different ones to see if I can find the sweetness and texture that I'm aiming for in my target cheese and then make my own blend.  May or may not work!  lol.

That's a fabulous idea Eric!  Any idea where I could look for Harmony cream?  I like the idea of mixing milks to get closer to whole milk and hopefully make a tasty base in the process.

I'm doing my best to study and learn as quickly as possible but there are some concepts that are escaping me.  I am cautiously optimistic and hopefully I will have a tasty cheese soon to spur me on soon!

Cheers!

[Spoons]

Any idea where I could look for Harmony cream?  I like the idea of mixing milks to get closer to whole milk and hopefully make a tasty base in the process.

Just use their Store Location function here: http://www.harmonyorganic.on.ca/store-locations/

I really like like mixing cream and milk. It's an easy way to standardize milk to the appropriate P:F ratio (protein-to-fat ratio) depending on the cheese you want to make.

I'm doing my best to study and learn as quickly as possible but there are some concepts that are escaping me.  I am cautiously optimistic and hopefully I will have a tasty cheese soon to spur me on soon!

Sounds like you're having fun with this hobby. You can always ask around if you have questions. I learned more here than any other book resources. Hope to hear from more of your cheese adventures soon!

[shotski]

Welcome to the  board KatKooks

Welcome to the boards, Kat! Caerphilly is quite popular here. I particularly like it melted, it melts so well! almost like a gooey mozz.

Kat, I don't know if you have access to raw milk, but whenever I see an Ontarian join, I refer them to Harmony milk. It's a great source of non-homogenized milk here in Ontario. Their 35% cream is non-homogenized. What I do is I buy 0% Neilson milk and mix it with 35% Harmony cream. I've had nothing but great results.

is the 0% powder or liquid milk and how much 0% to 35% cream do you use?

Thanks.

[Spoons]

Hi Shotski,

You're from Ontario too so I'll share my exact milk concoctions:

16L of 0% Neilson skim Milk (the regular kind, not the "Trutaste" one)

Then I add Harmony's 35% unhomogenized whipping cream (it's also low pasteurized). The quantity I add depends on the cheese I'm making. keeping track of Protein:Fat ratio. So here it is:

Gouda/Havarti : 1.7L for a P:F of about 1.08
Jack cheese/Caerphilly : 1.8L for a P:F of about 1.02
Cheddar : 2L for a P:F of about 0.92

1.7L of cream for 16L of skim is a good place to start if you don't want to pay attention to P:F ratios. This is for the "Neilson-Harmony" mix only. Other brands may not have the same fat or protein content.

Hope this helps.

[KatKooks]

That's fantastic information Eric, thanks!  I looked up harmony and we do have it locally so I'm going to give it a shot.

[shotski]

Hi Shotski,

You're from Ontario too so I'll share my exact milk concoctions:

16L of 0% Neilson skim Milk (the regular kind, not the "Trutaste" one)

Then I add Harmony's 35% unhomogenized whipping cream (it's also low pasteurized). The quantity I add depends on the cheese I'm making. keeping track of Protein:Fat ratio. So here it is:

Gouda/Havarti : 1.7L for a P:F of about 1.08
Jack cheese/Caerphilly : 1.8L for a P:F of about 1.02
Cheddar : 2L for a P:F of about 0.92

1.7L of cream for 16L of skim is a good place to start if you don't want to pay attention to P:F ratios. This is for the "Neilson-Harmony" mix only. Other brands may not have the same fat or protein content.

Hope this helps.

Thanks Eric, I have not followed the p:f ratio I have only watched the % of milk fat ie the whole unhomogenized milk I get is 3.8% mf. Is this the same thing or do I need to do some reading on protein fat.
Thanks  John

[Spoons]

Thanks Eric, I have not followed the p:f ratio I have only watched the % of milk fat ie the whole unhomogenized milk I get is 3.8% mf. Is this the same thing or do I need to do some reading on protein fat.
Thanks  John

Making cheese with whole milk, whether it's 3.25% or 3.8%, is perfectly fine. Using unhomogenized milk is already a big upgrade from regular store-bought milk. Paying attention to P:F ratios is just fine tuning (for a hobbyist anyway).

So, paying attention to P:F ratios is really not a necessity for a hobbyist, as long as you have a good source of fresh milk. It's just one of those things you decide to tackle if you want to step it up a notch.