hey there!

[dime0000]

Well - I'm new to the forum, and cheese making in general.

I've been contemplating cheese making for a couple years now, and have finally gotten "Home Cheese Making" by Rikki Carroll. I plan to purchase some equipment soon.

For the past 5 or 6 years, I have been brewing beer, and forums like this helped me out when beginning that hobby. I guess beer and cheese go hand in hand.

I'm thinking of making that 'Lactic Cheese' recipe first, as that seems to use rennet, a starter, and a mold. However, if you can think of anything better to do as a "first cheese", i'm open to suggestion.

[Tea]

Good morning dime0000 and welcome to the forum.  Wha't with all these men making cheese, I thought I was supposed to me women in the kitchen??   

Anyway, any of the softer cheeses are great for a starter, and work up to the harder cheese.

Let us know how things went.

[Cheese Head]

Howdy dime0000 and welcome to the forum!

OK I'm going to start a sticky post for newbies to Cheese Making with input from some of the "guru's" around here.

[Cartierusm]

Welcome, Tea's correct soft cheese, Mozzarella is by far the most common, a 30 minutes mozz though not the all day one.

As for hard cheese don't start with cheddar, although it's one of the world's most popular it's quite hard (no pun intended), the cheddaring process anyway, for a newbie.

I prefer Parmesan aside from going up to 124 degree F it's quite easy. But you have to wait 10 months before you can eat it. I'll dig out a good beginner recipe for hard cheese.

Which version of the Ricki Carroll book did you get the 1982 version or the new 2002 version. This book is great for beginners but was severely neglected when it was edited, it is riddled with mistakes and vague references. For someone who's been making cheese for so long they left a lot of basic stuff out. But that's why were here to answer those questions.

[dime0000]

i received the 2002 version.

Can I assume that, as a beginner, i should just use a direct-set starter, rather than attempting to make a prepared starter?

[Cheese Head]

dime000, I've started a Newbie recommendations sticky post, and will update it as get feed back from the experts.

FYI, I used this Mesophilic Starter Culture for several months before ordering my first manufactured culture .

[dime0000]

buttermilk?! that's it?! wow - thanks!

[Cheese Head]

Yep, freshest possible buttermilk, but, I found that all my cheeses were tasting the same, so after a while you'll want to buy some cultures from a supply store.

[Cartierusm]

CH, is correct unless you have multiple areas to store various cultures and up keep them every week then it's best to use Direct Vat Cultures. They are by far more accurate than one can produce in the home and much much easier.