Hello from Chicago

[blucrsr]

Just wanted to post a quick introduction.  I bought a Mad Millie artisan cheese kit about a year ago and recently got around to finishing some feta cheese.  I have spent a few months reading over this website.  I am getting ready to dive head first into this great adventure.  My 6cuft Frigidaire upright freezer and Auber TH220 controller will both be delivered tomorrow (quickly followed by a Cave Cube humidifier bought from a member here).  I have the Caldwell book "Mastering Artisan Cheesemaking".  I think my next cheese will be the Colby from my kit, but I've been doing some reading about the quality of the items included in it and might just buy new stuff from NE Cheese.  Those kits always seem like a good idea until you realize it would be better to just buy things as you need them!  This is quite a bit to wrap my head around, but I'm always looking for a new challenge.

So, hello from Chicago.  You'll be seeing me around a bit more in the future as I figure things out.

Dave

[Duntov]

Welcome to the forum.  It sounds like you are going about thing right but I would use some store bought milk for the kit leftovers.  Just remember to keep your cultures in the freezer for longer life.  Let us know how it goes and remember to post pictures for us picture book fans.

[Jay-1]

 Welcome to the forum, cant wait to see your cheese efforts. ;

[Andrew Marshallsay]

Welcome on board, Dave and good luck.

[blucrsr]

Thanks for the welcome.  Here is a picture of the feta.  After keeping it in the storage brine for a few weeks, I decided to cut it up and marinate in oil and spices.

[Andrew Marshallsay]

Looks good.
A cheese to you for your first successful outcome.

[awakephd]

Welcome to the forum! NE Cheese is convenient, and has a wonderful resource of recipes, but as you gain experience you may want to explore additional suppliers - as I recall, NEC mostly sells packets of their own composition, which work just fine - but are not necessarily the most cost-effective way to go. I prefer to buy bulk packets of various cultures and make my own blends; this also allows room for experimenting and fine-tuning. As John (Duntov) said, keep the cultures dry and in the freezer, and they will last a long, long time.

[blucrsr]

Thanks again for the info.  I've had a small setback - the freezer has the coils in the shelves.  The pictures made it hard to see if that was the issue and the salesman told me they were just plastic shelves.  I'm going to return the unit and maybe just look for a small fridge.