Hello All,
I'm a college student from Houston, Texas, and I just started cheesemaking in September. I first wanted to make cheese when I was given a Little House On The Prairie cookbook for my eighth birthday. It's taken me an embarrassingly long time to realize that I now have the means to do so. I've been a sucker for cheese pretty much my entire life, and it's very hard for me to pass by Whole Foods or Spec's without going inside to see what new and interesting offerings they have. (My last trip to Spec's netted this wonderful cheese with mustard seeds and ale in it.)
My soft cheeses have turned out pretty good. I've done Labneh and Neufchatel so far. (You may recognize the influence of Fankhauser's Cheese Page there!) I soon realized the impossibility of finding the Junkent Rennet called for on that website anywhere local and resigned myself to getting supplies from the internet. I decided that since I was there, I might as well get a real cheese cookbook and picked up Rikki Carroll's book, which of course led to spending way too much money at the NE Cheesemaking Supply Co. I've since picked up 200 Easy Homemade Cheeses and find I like it rather better.
My hard cheeses, though tasty, have not quite been all that I hoped for (a cheese stealing puppy notwithstanding) but I hope they will continue to improve. My main problem seems to be the texture is not quite right, too firm, I think, when compared to store-bought cheese. Anyway, I've thus far found cheesemaking to be very fun and rewarding, and I look forward to spending a lot of time on these forums!
