Author Topic: Hello from Cypress, Texas  (Read 2680 times)

tri3forme

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Hello from Cypress, Texas
« on: March 25, 2014, 03:12:42 AM »
Hey everyone, just joined this forum today. Although I love cheese, I'm still a cheese making virgin. I was on vacation last week in NM and went to this wine/cheese shop and was so inspired by their cheese varieties that a light went off in my head that it was time to start making my own cheese. It's always been something that I've wanted to do and I guess you can say that this wine/cheese shop was the launching pad of my new hobby. We(the family) stopped at a home brew/cheese making shop in Austin during our drive back home and picked up a cheese making kit and will start my first batch this weekend. I'm no stranger to food as I've gone made it through culinary arts school, chef'd and sold food as well. I'm not in the food industry anymore but still love to spend time on the weekends preparing fun meals and inviting friends over. The cheese making process seems pretty simple yet all kinds of things can go wrong.....at least that's what I gather from the limited research that I've done. We'll see. I've enjoyed perusing the forum and there seem to be a lot of knowledgable folks on here so be prepared for a lot of questions from me

Digitalsmgital

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Re: Hello from Cypress, Texas
« Reply #1 on: March 25, 2014, 03:47:36 AM »
Welcome tri3forme, you are going to have fun!

A warning; Some kits are rumored to be better than others...what is in yours? And how do you plan to age out your cheese?

tri3forme

  • Guest
Re: Hello from Cypress, Texas
« Reply #2 on: March 25, 2014, 12:30:33 PM »
This kit makes 8 cheeses....cheddar, Gouda, cottage cheese, Parmesan, Monterrey jack and 3 others. I'm going to begin with the easiest of course. Do you think this kit will be satisfactory? I feel like I'm already over my head and haven't even begun! Man, that gets me excited:-)

Digitalsmgital

  • Guest
Re: Hello from Cypress, Texas
« Reply #3 on: March 25, 2014, 01:17:14 PM »
I've never used a kit but I have bought gear and supplies from NE Cheesemaking, plus they have a lot of valuable info on their site.

Good luck and keep us posted!

Spoons

  • Guest
Re: Hello from Cypress, Texas
« Reply #4 on: March 25, 2014, 02:05:22 PM »
Rickie Caroll is actually pretty good at introducing people to cheese making. So your kit is a good starter kit for sure.

Welcome to the boards and have fun making cheese!

Offline H-K-J

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Re: Hello from Cypress, Texas
« Reply #5 on: March 25, 2014, 03:52:37 PM »
There are a lot of beginner cheese makers who started with that kit 8)
If nothing else you will learn allot about cheese making or you will say to heck with it :o
Have fun, take pix, and post them OH and welcome to the forum ;D
Never hit a man with glasses, use a baseball bat!
http://cocker-spanial-hair-in-my-food.blogspot.com/

tri3forme

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Re: Hello from Cypress, Texas
« Reply #6 on: March 25, 2014, 09:30:16 PM »
Thanks y'all. Just curious......how many cheeses does it take to finally get a good handle on the processes?

Offline H-K-J

  • Old Cheese
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  • Location: South East Idaho
  • Posts: 1,776
  • Cheeses: 145
  • Act as if it were impossible to fail.
    • Cookin with uh dash dogs hair
Re: Hello from Cypress, Texas
« Reply #7 on: March 25, 2014, 10:03:25 PM »
 :-\ all of them? uuummmmm infinite?
Never hit a man with glasses, use a baseball bat!
http://cocker-spanial-hair-in-my-food.blogspot.com/

Spoons

  • Guest
Re: Hello from Cypress, Texas
« Reply #8 on: March 25, 2014, 11:17:21 PM »
Thanks y'all. Just curious......how many cheeses does it take to finally get a good handle on the processes?

I've done over 100 cheeses and I'm still learning  ??? Once you've mastered your technique along with your equipment, things get a lot more consistent.

Flound

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Re: Hello from Cypress, Texas
« Reply #9 on: March 25, 2014, 11:38:02 PM »
Thanks y'all. Just curious......how many cheeses does it take to finally get a good handle on the processes?

Its best expressed as a formula.

X = ((K/L)*M)

K = no. of cheese of any type
L = no. of cheese of this type

M = months since your last make of this type.

N.B. the number is not static as it constantly shifts. It's like that...

Seriously, I'm 10 cheeses into it. I'm know more than I did at the start and simultaneously, far less. Welcome to cheese...the great equalizer.

tri3forme

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Re: Hello from Cypress, Texas
« Reply #10 on: March 26, 2014, 01:55:38 PM »
Ha! Good answers! Not what I was hoping to hear but was kind of expecting. :)

John@PC

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Re: Hello from Cypress, Texas
« Reply #11 on: March 27, 2014, 10:52:43 PM »
Hi tri3forme.  A few years ago I bought that same kit because when I googled "cheese making".   Ricki's site came I thought I'd give it a go.  I'm not sure what she put in that kit but it was either some cheese narcotic or an aphrodisiac because I was hooked.  But it didn't take long for me to realize how nuanced cheesemaking is for the "little guy", but as you said it just made it that much more challenging.  There is a lot of good information on cheesemaking.com, but I would also highly recommend Mary Karlin's "Artisan Cheesemaking at Home", and sometime in the future "Mastering Artisan Cheesemaking" by Gianiclis Caldwell.  Not to mention perusing all the great info here on the forum.

tri3forme

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Re: Hello from Cypress, Texas
« Reply #12 on: March 28, 2014, 02:43:47 PM »
John, thanks for the kind words. I ordered "Mastering Artisan Cheesemaking" the other day so hopefully it'll be waiting for me by the front door when I make it home from work. I had read on Amazon that there were some recipe issues with Mary Karlin's book and that you had to go to her website to find the corrections which is unfortunate since there were also a lot of positive reviews on the book. If I'm following a recipe, I don't have the knowledge to realise whether or not something's been left out and with all the time invested to create cheese,  I decided to go with Caldwell's book instead but I'm glad to see that was on your recommended list too....makes me feel better about my choice of books.

John@PC

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Re: Hello from Cypress, Texas
« Reply #13 on: March 28, 2014, 03:38:49 PM »
The "corrections" issue is a problem with Karlin's book.  I can't remember what I was making but I saw an error and after much looking found the the corrections pdf on her website.   I printed the corrections out and keep them with the book so that problem was solved.  Other than that her book is great especially for the new-and-learning cheesemaker.  Caldwell's recipes are more for the intermediate in my opinion as she goes into much more depth than Karlin's book.  Also, most of her recipes are for a "generic" type like "A Basic Tomme-Style Cheese" and "A Simple Piquant Pressed Cheese".  I understand why she does this (probably under the influence of Pav  ;D) but it can be somewhat confusing to a new cheese maker.   

tri3forme

  • Guest
Re: Hello from Cypress, Texas
« Reply #14 on: March 28, 2014, 06:48:15 PM »
John,
thanks for that pdf.....I may have to get that book afterall.