My previous experiences with making cheese from "kits" had ended in dismal failure, a year ago I found recipes with pH markers and as my confidence grew I acquired a kit from Steve at the cheesemaker. The press arrived in December, since then I've turned out over #150 of cheese from the surplus milk produced by my cow Spot. Back in January my wife asked when she was going to get to eat some of this cheese I had been making? I asked her where the four gallon batch of pasta filata I had turned into string cheese went, she responded that she had ate it as lunches while driving to work.
I grew up when the Wisconsin countryside had local cheese factories and remember how the cheese used to taste, the milk came from small farms and cheesemakers wrestled milk cans. When the first batch of cheddar I made was cut the odor took me back to the North Marcellon Cheese Factory as Walt Balsiger would begin to stir the curd.
Now I can travel the world through the cheeses I make and never leave the farm.
I request any advice or insight out there regarding the construction of a cheese cave, I have a 9X9' space with 9' ceiling in my root cellar to convert. There is concrete walls on three sides. The refrigerator I use now is overwhelmed and I see a need for more room next winter for cheese storage.
Thanks;
Paul M. Griepentrog