Hello from Vancouver, BC

[leedsfan]

Hi.
My name is Allen Ingram. I started making cheese (from home) 9 months ago. Since that point I have grown the hobby into something more formal, with 2 local restaurants, and one luxury hotel locked in and buying my cheese. I incorporated my new company, Ingram's Artisan Cheeses (still home based in the short term) and have begun the process of looking for commercial space, as a trade rather than a retail rental location which I cannot afford.

I have done a deal with a local cow herd share program. They give me milk and I give them half my net product in return. The deal has grown to 32 liters of milk being delivered 3 times a week (M, W, F). I am into my 30th batch of cheese making from their milk.

Mostly I have been making Camembert, with Brie being added about 5-6 weeks ago. In addition I have made Ricotta (from the whey), Organic Fresh Chevre (using the small packets readily available form some of the cheese supply stores online) using store bought organic goat milk. Also I have made Goat Camembert, have just started making Feta (the Jersey and Guernsey milk I get from the herd share is a beautiful golden color). Have made Mozzarella, St. Maure, Creme Fraiche & finally Cambozola (which was not at all successfully, tasting too bitter, and not forming enough blue mold in the center).

I just received a cheese press with 2lb and 5lb hoops, yesterday. Next step is cheddar (doing today), and some other hard cheeses, plus I am desperate to try a Jersey version of Reblochon.

Everything I have done thus far has been self-taught (using recipes I have found online or that came with the deluxe cheese making kit I bought from thecheesemaker.com, and therefore I have made tons of mistakes along the whey (sic). I have bought quite a few extra molds, and experimented with just a few so far.

I have a large outdoor patio (I'm on the 8th floor of a building) and have 5 under counter size fridges, plus one inside and my main fridge is also being used for some storage (I know this is far from ideal).

I come from a background based in the food and wine business. I used to run restaurants and taught people about wine (I am a certified Sommelier). I am classically trained (french cuisine) chef, but mostly ran the front of house.

I live in Vancouver, although I am English. My fascination with cheese stems from exposure at an early age. I traveled frequently to France with my parents (summer camping trips), and learned much of my formative foreign language skills ordering cheeses, cakes, hot chocolate, and 3 course table d'Hote menus in local restaurants in small villages across the country.

I have very fond memories of buying a baguette or two, some great brie or Camembert, or Port Salut and throwing it into the sandwich with some ripe tomatoes and thinking life couldn't get any better. Turns out I was right!

Anyway I really want to talk about experiences making cheese. Pitfalls, common issues, problem solving ideas..anything that can improve my knowledge base (I am a total newbie so I have a steep learning curve ahead, I know!), and my cheeses. So if you want to share your experiences or just chat about cheese in general feel free to email me (allen (at) bcfoodies.com), PM me or start a thread & invite me to participate in it!

Thank you for your forum, it took me a while to find, but I'm very glad I'm here.

[Tom Turophile]

Congrats!  I'm quite envious of your professional exploits so far!

[leedsfan]

Congrats!  I'm quite envious of your professional exploits so far!

no need to be. I worked too hard and had no family life for years!

Now at least I can enjoy evenings and weekends with my wife and son...

[DeejayDebi]

Welcome leedsfan.

I can understand your enthusiasm with finding others of this humble hobby. I to am self taught and started making cheese back in the late 70's with one tiny little 5x7 book of about 80 pages as my initial guide. There are good points to being self taught - there is no instilled fears of what others feel is right or wrong, easy or hard just what tastes or looks good. I think that is a BIG plus. Then you can just worry about perfecting what you have created.

This is a great place to learn and to share with wonderful and creative people from all over the world.

Think of this as just another of the wonderful creations you've made during your many culinary adventures. There is more than one way to make an exquisit meal and more than one way to make a great cheese.

Pitfalls - the most common pitfalls I have seen over the years trying to help people make cheese are caused from having a faulty thermometers, old milk, damp rennet or expired cultures.

common issues can be lack of sufficent curd drainage, poor mixing techniques and poor sanitation.

Problem solving ideas - always use a double boiler setup. If you temps start to go high it's easy to add cold water to quickly correct this. I am currently using a 6 and 8" electric chaffing dish warmer suggested by Gregore (sp) - really easy to control temperatures. The 8 inch will hold 7 gallons of milk.

IMHO -Pressing can be done based on actual weight OR time in the press. For example you might have a recipe that calls for 50 pounds of weight for 1 hour, but you could also press with say10 pounds of weight for 1 hour then 20 pounds for 3 hours and get a smoother texture to your cheese. Generally it better to start with a lighter weight and allow the whey to slowly drain from the curds then to squeeze the heck out of it a crush the curds forcing whey pockets between the curds.

[leedsfan]

Welcome leedsfan.

I can understand your enthusiasm with finding others of this humble hobby. I to am self taught and started making cheese back in the late 70's with one tiny little 5x7 book of about 80 pages as my initial guide. There are good points to being self taught - there is no instilled fears of what others feel is right or wrong, easy or hard just what tastes or looks good. I think that is a BIG plus. Then you can just worry about perfecting what you have created.

This is a great place to learn and to share with wonderful and creative people from all over the world.

Think of this as just another of the wonderful creations you've made during your many culinary adventures. There is more than one way to make an exquisit meal and more than one way to make a great cheese.

Pitfalls - the most common pitfalls I have seen over the years trying to help people make cheese are caused from having a faulty thermometers, old milk, damp rennet or expired cultures.

common issues can be lack of sufficent curd drainage, poor mixing techniques and poor sanitation.

Problem solving ideas - always use a double boiler setup. If you temps start to go high it's easy to add cold water to quickly correct this. I am currently using a 6 and 8" electric chaffing dish warmer suggested by Gregore (sp) - really easy to control temperatures. The 8 inch will hold 7 gallons of milk.

IMHO -Pressing can be done based on actual weight OR time in the press. For example you might have a recipe that calls for 50 pounds of weight for 1 hour, but you could also press with say10 pounds of weight for 1 hour then 20 pounds for 3 hours and get a smoother texture to your cheese. Generally it better to start with a lighter weight and allow the whey to slowly drain from the curds then to squeeze the heck out of it a crush the curds forcing whey pockets between the curds.

Thank you very much for your detailed welcome. I can see comments and feedback such as your own is going to be invaluable.

Actually I am right in the middle of a batch of Camembert and cheddar. It is my first time using my press, purchased from thecheesemaker.com (stephen shapson).

My Cheddar is currently going through its second hour of 102 F post-curd drainage taken from a recipe on this site. I'm not sure if I should use my 2lb or 5lb hoop. I started with 2 gallons...any suggestions?

Also once the cheese curds are in the press how do I know when to start turning, and given their is no indicator on the press to show how much pressure is applied how much is 10lbs, how much is 30lb and how much is 50lbs of pressure. I am assuming it is 5 turns for 50lbs so each turn equals 10 lbs of weight.

given this assumption i just want to make sure I start at the right place and don't apply too much pressure in the beginning.

[leedsfan]

So I ended up using a 5lb hoop, and it took a while to figure out the right number of turns to have required 50lbs of pressure. Anyway with a bit of practice I think this will get easier. After 12 hours of pressure I found the surface is not quite smooth, so I cranked up the pressure a bit further for the last 12 hours.

[Cheese Head]

Hello Allen, welcome to this forum, great detailed first post, very envious on your success with selling into local restaurants!

Also, special welcome as I grew up in N Van, although these days my family and I are in Houston, TX.

Looking forward to your input and some info/pictures of your methods and cheeses!

[leedsfan]

Hello Allen, welcome to this forum, great detailed first post, very envious on your success with selling into local restaurants!

Also, special welcome as I grew up in N Van, although these days my family and I are in Houston, TX.

Looking forward to your input and some info/pictures of your methods and cheeses!

Nice to meet you John. I spend a lot of time in North Van as I have family (mothers side) living there, plus a smattering of friends. Sufficed to say i understand you're in a much drier place now.

With that being said we've had a heat wave of record breaking proportions so far this summer, with an all time record set yesterday.

As for my success selling into local restaurants it is purely based on my milk source. The Jersey and Guernsey yellow color is incredible and it translates to tasty cheese. I have modified by Camembert starter mix to include MM100, plus MM89 (dash) plus Flora Danica (sprinkle), and this has produced a creamier, richer and more fulfilling net product. Mostly down to the milk now.