Author Topic: Hello from the newbie cheese maker  (Read 3359 times)

Chuck E.Cheese

  • Guest
Hello from the newbie cheese maker
« on: July 11, 2008, 10:20:55 PM »
How's it going guys! 

I've been a lurker for a while and finally decided it would be nice to join and participate, this site has really grown in the past few months!   8)  Why did I start this hobby? My older brother brews his own beer, so I had to discover a craft of my own!

I have successfully made only 3 types of cheeses, the queso blanco, mascarpone, and Neufchatel (this turned out the best of the 3).  I mostly reference this site and  Fankhauser's website for recipes and tips. 

I just graduated from college w/ an accounting degree and have my first "real job" so I can actually afford to get into this not-so-cheap hobby.  I found a local farm that sells RAW MILK, but to bypass state law you need to purchase a "cow share" for $50 (saleable anytime) and pay $20/month, which entitles you to 4 gallons/month of raw cow milk.  I also know a friend that owns some goats so I'm hoping to get my hands on these products so I can stop using store-bought ultra pasteurized milk.   ;D

Let's get cookin'!  :) :) :)

Cheese Head

  • Guest
Hello from the newbie cheese maker
« Reply #1 on: July 11, 2008, 10:39:33 PM »
Howdy Chuck

Welcome to website / forum . . . officially ;D. I also started with Queso Blanco, easy to make, but just tasted like curdled milk, bleh :P.

Congrats on graduating and getting job, I guess being a poor student for the last few years it may seem like an expensive hobby but it actually is pretty cheap, especially if your eat your own product or trade for beer!

Congrats on getting a source of Raw Milk, very envious, hope 4 gallons/month is enough ;D.


Chuck E.Cheese

  • Guest
Re: Hello from the newbie cheese maker
« Reply #2 on: July 11, 2008, 11:34:10 PM »
Howdy Chuck

Welcome to website / forum . . . officially ;D. I also started with Queso Blanco, easy to make, but just tasted like curdled milk, bleh :P.

Congrats on graduating and getting job, I guess being a poor student for the last few years it may seem like an expensive hobby but it actually is pretty cheap, especially if your eat your own product or trade for beer!

Congrats on getting a source of Raw Milk, very envious, hope 4 gallons/month is enough ;D.



Thanks for the warm welcome Cheese Head!! Congrats on this site taking off and being successful, I've been coming here for some time now and it's really grown!

And I agree that this is a relatively inexpensive hobby (my other hobbys are cars/racing, definetly NOT cheap!), although my friends are always like..."So, how much did it cost to make this Neufchatel instead of just buying it from the store?"  They don't understand  :-[

However, I plan on buying a wine fridge (maybe ~$100 or so?) for my "cave" to control temp/humidity, this is my biggest obstacle so far.  I'm going to the hardware store this weekend to fabricate my own cheese press, so I look forward to that.

Little known fact about myself, I'm from Cincinnati and graduated from Univ. of Cincinnati, and the man Fankhauser himself is a professor at one of the branch campuses of U.C, so I plan on e-mailing him to see if I can buy him lunch and talk about cheese for a while.  8)

And for the record my name is Scott, I just made this "cheesy" handle because I suppose I have a twisted sense of humor.  But you can call me Chuck for now  ;D

Cheese Head

  • Guest
Re: Hello from the newbie cheese maker
« Reply #3 on: July 12, 2008, 03:53:14 AM »
Thanks Chuck

Agree, making cheese is nothing about the money, cheaper to just buy cheese in the store. I also looked at Wine Coolers in Home Depot, Lowes and Amazon here in US but many were small and the only one I found with flat shelves was $500. So far also my biggest obstacle, I think I'm going to end up leaving my cheese cave freezer open a crack and paying the extra power bill. Just got June's bill $370 as AC now working hard.

Right I forgot he was there, didn't know he was still working there. I'm happy but surprised the Univ lets him post that stuff . . . that's where I got my blue cheese recipe from, sadly hasn't worked twice.

reg

  • Guest
Re: Hello from the newbie cheese maker
« Reply #4 on: July 12, 2008, 11:03:38 AM »
morning and welcome Chuck, its great to see more people joining this cheese site.

reg

Tea

  • Guest
Re: Hello from the newbie cheese maker
« Reply #5 on: July 12, 2008, 10:20:59 PM »
Hi Chuck, glad to see that you have officially "unlurked".  Hope to hear more of your experiences cheese making.

DaggerDoggie

  • Guest
Re: Hello from the newbie cheese maker
« Reply #6 on: July 13, 2008, 08:28:21 PM »
Hi Chuck, welcome to the forum.  Nice to have you posting here.