Making Cheese in Wisconsin

[mcbethenstein]

Hi all,
I will formally introduce myself. I'm Paula and new to cheese making. I have many peculiar hobbies, and making cheese is my newest. Among them is baking (I have quite a mean award winning scone recipe.), Making truffles for my boyfriends son, Dancing Ballet (Advanced and Pointe), Photography, Reading, Plucking out some pretty bad guitar (I'm not so good at that one), and involvement in a local young adult cancer survivors group. I try to eat good wholesome foods and detox my body, which led me to Barbra Kingsolver's book "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" and that introduced me to the idea of cheese making at home. I was intrigued by the complexity of cheese making and the rewarding part of eating it at the end...It's not nearly as rewarding to make soap, and this I know from experience!

So far I've made about 20+ lbs of 30 minute mozzarella in 1 or 2 gallon batches, and as soon as Ricki Carrol's book arrived I planned my attack on the hard cheeses. So far to date I've made 15 hard cheese wheels in 3, 4 or 7 gallon batches. Stirred curd cheddar, white cheddar cranberry, Colby jack (my first disaster, which taught me to press cheese on the floor as I broke my parents granite sink when the weights shifted at night and 50 lbs of weigh fell into the sink...oops $300+ to the cost of that cheese), Gouda, pepper jack, Parmesan, Romano, Farmhouse cheddar, Cedarburg Spice farmhouse cheddar (curds soaked in spiced red wine before pressing), 2 wheels of muenster (still waiting for the b linens to get colorful), Havarti, dill Havarti, Swiss (Carrol's recipe), and Gruyere (this is my new favorite), along with a batch of mascarpone (I can't wait to be off my diet so I can make tiramisu) and whey ricotta.

I think I might have a little side business going selling fresh mozzarella to my coworkers. My basil mozzarella, and jalapeno mozzarella are good sellers. Last week I sent out an email and within 10 minutes all my cheese was sold.
p.s. I've learned the secret to making good sting cheese, that actually pulls apart correctly. (2% milk and extra heating and pulling.)

So I think that's about it for me. I of course made all the longer aging cheeses first, so nothing will be ready until about the middle of November or later...then my mom got curious and wondered if there was something I could make that would be ready faster..thus the farmhouse cheddar. which we are going to crack into for my birthday at the end of October.

[FarmerJd]

Sounds like you have been busy!  Breaking the sink is a priceless cheese story! Spilled wax is my most famous disaster so far. Welcome a board.

[Cheese Head]

Hello Paula and welcome to this forum, congrats on so many cheeses, you are well into your new "hobby". Hope the hard ones work out well when you crack them open!

No nearly as bad as yours but I've also used weights for pressing in sink and donked the edge of the sink knocking a small piece of granite out, I'm still mad at myself for that. I now [urlhttp://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,1874.0.html]use a step ladder[/url] on floor for my medium pressed cheeses as very stable. Have not made cheddar as need much higher weights. The best high weight/pressure press is the free standing levered antique styles, but the simplest high weight press for cheddar's is the wall levered, Lot so discussion in this board.

I don't think anyone here has made string cheese . . . again welcome!

[mcbethenstein]

Sting cheese is pretty easy. Use the 30 minute mozzarella recipe, but go with 2% milk. During the microwave heating time instead of zapping it 2 more times at 30 seconds i go with either 3 or 4 times. Mix the salt in, Then knead and pull like taffy. When its been pulled into a long rope several times lay it out on a clean (sanitized) counter, and roll with your hands until the rope is a uniform thickness. then cut into 3-4 inch long pieces. Last time I made a 2 gallon batch I got 46 pieces. The rope curled around my counter. Let it cool slowly. this helps form the thicker skin. (Do not dunk in ice water). With 2% store bought milk I usually yield about 1lb 12-14oz for a 2 gallon batch.

[mcbethenstein]

My name.... To anyone that is wondering. My real name is Paula Beth. My dad liked to make up weird nicknames for us as kids. So beth, became bethany, then mcbeth, then somehow got combined with frankenstein to become mcbethenstein. It was so strange that it stuck...and NO ONE has it as a user name anywhere, so I always get it.... Anyone on here is welcome to refer to me as Paula or mcbethenstein, or even mcbeth. Your choice. 

[Tea]

Good morning Paula and welcome to the forum.

[MrsKK]

Hi, Paula, and welcome to CF.

I also live in Wisconsin - west-central about 40 minutes from the Minnesota border.

I have made string cheese from the mozz recipe, too.  I don't microwave, though, I heat the whey and dip my curd to heat it up for stretching.

Ouch - that was one expensive Colby!

[DeejayDebi]

Welcome Paula! I just got back from Wisconsin last night. Spent a week there with family in Nekoosa/Wisconsin Rapids. Didn't miss the snow fall and it followed me home.

[nilo_669]

Hi paula , what kind of milk do you use for your mozzarella? I make mozzarella here in the philippines , since we have lots of water buffalo ive decided to make mozzarella as a hobby and its been exciting for me . I buy my Cheese ingredients in Wisconsin from Steve Shapson thecheesemaker. Regards.

[lauriecross]

Hi Paula!  I'm a newbie, and made my first 30 minute mozz last night - and to my surprise, it WORKED and was great - so surprisingly sweet!  I was wondering if you might share how you make your flavored mozz?  They sound WONDERFUL!  BTW, I live in northeastern Illinois - whereabouts in WI are YOU? 
Take care,
Laurie

[mcbethenstein]

Hi Laurie,
I live just West of Milwaukee in the Waukesha area. Great Job on your mozzarella. For adding flavors I chop up fresh herbs and add them at the salting/pulling stage. When I make the jalapeno mozzarella I boil the finely chopped peppers in 1/2 cup of water, then drain that water into the milk before starting to heat it. I then knead in the cooked peppers with the salt during the pulling stage. I cool the cheese and vacuum pack it for about a day before using. that way the flavors have more time to play before tasting it. That version is not very spicy at all. If you like real heat, try it with habeneros, or serranos instead of the jalapenos.
Nilo- I use store bought whole cows milk. It is already pasteurized and homogenized...I don't have a raw milk source yet.

So tonight I finally cut into a few of my cheeses. I've been apprehensive since my pepper jack was way too dry over a month ago. I cut into the gruyere that Buddy ate...my first cheddars (the yellow and the white chreddar cranberry), my colby jack...yes the one that broke the sink, and the dill havarti. I took many photos of them in a still life. I will post my favorites on this thread. All of them had good flavor, but I am disappointed that the colby jack and the cheddars are kinda dry and crumbly.

[MrsKK]

I am still struggling with dry cheeses, as well.  I believe that Sailer, for one, will tell us that we need to be checking pH, that the cheese is getting too acidic before we add the salt (which stops or slows down acidification). 

Ricki Carroll's books are notorious for the errors and inconsistencies in her recipes.  I've just recently bought "200 Easy Homemade Cheese Recipes", but DJDebi says that there are some inconsistencies there, too.

I do think it is like any kind of cooking, though, where experience will tell us the right way to go.

Thanks for sharing the pictures - what a lovely presentation!

[justsocat]

Hi and welcome Paula!
Very nice pics. It's a real pleasure for me to watch them

[Boofer]

Very nice still life, Paula.

I think I have some company with regard to making dry, crumbly cheeses. 

-Boofer-

[mcbethenstein]

Oops... I didn't even see the no Questions rule for this board... I'll re post my questions in another spot.