Author Topic: Hello from CT  (Read 2039 times)

deb415611

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Hello from CT
« on: October 28, 2009, 11:40:20 AM »
Hi everyone,

I have been reading for a few weeks and want to thank everyone for the incredible amount of great information here.   I am just starting my cheese making journey and in the reading phase right now.  I am going to start with some soft cheeses but eventually want to do some hard cheeses. 

I recently started buying food from a company that deals with many of the local farmers and delivers everything from meat, veggies, fruit, other misc stuff & dairy one day a week.  From there I have access to fresh milk ,  cow (raw, pasteurized only & pasteurized & homogenized) and goat (raw only I think).  I'll probably start the soft cheeses with supermarket milk and when I'm comfortable move on.  My short term goal is to make cream cheese & neufchatel for a Thanksgiving pumpkin cheesecake.

If you were just starting out again what book would you buy? 

Thanks for a great forum,
Deb


justsocat

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Re: Hello from CT
« Reply #1 on: October 28, 2009, 02:00:02 PM »
Hi,
and welcome! I'm newbie in cheese making and I just can't express what a joy it was for me to find this forum. I started with "Home Cheese Making Made Easy".
Try a mozz - very exciting ;D
« Last Edit: October 28, 2009, 02:22:20 PM by Pavel »

Tea

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Re: Hello from CT
« Reply #2 on: October 28, 2009, 07:53:03 PM »
Hi Deb and welcome to the forum .

Cheese Head

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Re: Hello from CT
« Reply #3 on: October 28, 2009, 10:16:50 PM »
Hello Deb in Connecticut, welcome to the forum.

I like this book, but most people seem to prefere this book available from the authors webstore Glengarry Cheesemaking.

zenith1

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Re: Hello from CT
« Reply #4 on: October 28, 2009, 11:32:47 PM »
Hi Deb,welcome to our  little forum  :) .I live across the border from you near the college town of New Paltz. Where in CT do you hail from? It sounds like a good plan that you have for you beginning cheese making. It is easier to start with the soft cheese. It is nice that you have access to raw milk which I think that you will want to graduate to at some point. You will want to stick with the pasteurized milks for your soft cheese making and early on in your hard cheese making for safety concerns. If I where you(it's probably a good thing I am not because I have trouble being myself) I would opt for the pasteurized only milk initially in you hard cheese making. The homogenization process raises the dickins with good curd formation. Then after you have a good understanding of the cheese making process, try raw milk which makes the best flavored cheese(IMHO ;D) In any case....have fun and impress your family and friends!

deb415611

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Re: Hello from CT
« Reply #5 on: October 28, 2009, 11:56:15 PM »
Thanks for the welcomes & book recommendations.

Zenith - I'm from Wolcott,  about 1/2 way between Hartford & Danbury.  I have been driving into NY every once in awhile - my son goes to school in Dobbs Ferry.  Also,  thanks for the milk advice! 

Offline DeejayDebi

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Re: Hello from CT
« Reply #6 on: October 29, 2009, 01:49:55 AM »
Well welcome Deb from CT from Debi from CT. I am on the oposite end near the casinos, 3.9 miles from the Mohegan Sun in Norwich. Nice to have another member from CT. I rarely see that anywhere.

As far as books I agree completely wit John. Fr my first book I'd go with Margaret Moriss' book though. It is least expensive from her website I think here:
http://glengarrycheesemaking.on.ca/kitvideo.htm

zenith1

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Re: Hello from CT
« Reply #7 on: October 29, 2009, 02:28:47 AM »
Deb, I know the area. When I did my primary flight training on of the airports that we used in our cross country flights was Oxford-Waterbury. I think that is not too far from you. I also agree with Debi the Morris book has enough information without beating you over the head with too deep information for beginners.

deb415611

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Re: Hello from CT
« Reply #8 on: October 29, 2009, 11:04:51 AM »
Debi - thanks for the link to glengarry ,  I looked on amazon and they have it for $92, glengarry will be much cheaper.  Like your site too,  I also bake, smoke & make sausage (only fresh & smoked so far, dry cure is on the list of future projects).  I haven't come across any but are there places local to buy supplies?  There is a place in Waterbury that I have seen that advertises wine making & baking supplies & I keep meaning to go there and see what they really do have.  It's not in the nicest area of Waterbury so I'm not hopeful, maybe I'll be surprised. 

Zenith - Wolcott is next to Waterbury so the airport is fairly close. 

I bought Home Cheese Making Made Easy awhile ago but have read some comments (not sure if here or other places or both) that there is bad info & recipes in the book,  I want to have a 2nd reference to work with so I will order Margaret Morris's book. 

zenith1

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Re: Hello from CT
« Reply #9 on: October 29, 2009, 01:20:46 PM »
The "made easy" book is OK as an overview of the various recipes and concepts. But, alas, there are many contradictions throughout the book that will lead to some frustration on the beginners part.