Introduction and shopping list

[mylo]

First, thanks for all the information you guys have collected here.  I've spent the past couple weeks paging through it, and I think I know just enough now to get myself into trouble =P

I am a yogurt maker.  Between my boyfriend and I, we go through about 5 quarts of yogurt each week.  I'm quite satisfied with my method now - as long as the starter I'm using is less than a week or so old, I get amazingly thick, delicious fat free yogurt in about 12 hours.  I've taken to using the yogurt in place of sour cream, and have been experimenting with straining it to use instead of cream cheese in dips and spreads and dressings. 

I came to this site seeking information on whether I can freeZe the Stonyfield and use cubes as my starters - always trying to make the process even cheaper.  I should have known better than to click a link for a site called cheeseforum.org!  I have made my own fresh cheeses before, but it was more as a novelty.  Now that I've got a little more homesteader in me, I'm suddenly obsessed with being able to replace all the dairy products in the house with things I've made from raw milk near my home. 

I can't exactly afford to experiment with the good stuff, unfortunately.  Still, in the meantime, I'd like to practice with storebought milk.  I am about to order the following:

Calcium Chloride
Citric Acid
Liquid Veal Rennet
Lipase Powder (kid/calf mix)
MA4001 culture (farmstead culture w/ meso, thermo, and gas producer)

I've been trying to lurk and try not to ask too many of the beginner questions, but I was hoping you guys might check out the list and see if there's anything else you'd recommend for a newbie cheesemaker.   Gotta introduce myself sometime, I suppose!

On that topic, the cheeses I am most interested in making are mozzarella, ricotta, cream cheese, brie, and some hard cheese that I can put lots and lots of habaneros in.  According to the beginning cheesemakers sticky (yes, people read it!) this isn't an unreasonable set of cheeses to aspire to. 

Anyways, thanks again for all the help - this place is heaven for an analytical chef like myself!

[ellenspn]

You can also use yogurt for a thermo culture and buttermilk for your meso culture.

Check out MrsKK's recipe for mozzarella in the pasta fileta board.

[Cheese Head]

yep you can freeze your yogurt as starters. To your order I'd add some Annatto and maybe another starter culture, what about hardware? Basket molds and hoops for Camembert and mats for ends?

Also for cream cheese making I have this purpose built bag, expensive and no drawstring, but it's amazing how much better drainage I get with it vs other cloths that I've tried.

[mylo]

I'll definitely throw in some Annatto - though I'm not sure just when I think i'll get to my first hard cheeses - but I'm undecided about the extra culture.  I actually kind of dig the idea of learning to make cheese with what would be available in case zombies attack, and I understand these farmstead cultures most nearly approximate bacterial levels in farm milk. 

I had figured if I needed something more strongly thermo, I'd have yogurt, and I think I could learn to culture buttermilk reasonably quickly.

Why in particular would I want another culture - and what culture in particular would you recommend?  Does it make for a more consistent end result?

As for supplies, I bought myself a few small 'ricotta' style molds - those flimsy plastic jobs - and plan on cannibalizing other things as time passes.  I have a large sprouter that has plastic pieces with perfect slats to serve as a pair of mats.  I've got a seemingly unlimited number of old yogurt containers from when I got lazy and was buying yogurt by the case, as well.  I initially was going to pick up some short sections of PVC, but decided I really don't want pvc above my counters in my kitchen.  I have been using (don't laugh! and they are brand new!) panty hose to drain my yogurt.  I was actually hoping I could continue doing that for awhile =P

Sorry to throw all of this at you guys - thanks for bearing with us beginners =)

[mylo]

Just realized that earlier I said I wanted make Brie, but that's not technically true.  I love Brie (actually, I love all cheeses) but I want to make some other kind of cheese, Bijou.  It's rather similar to Brie (or that's how I remember it) but I preferred the mold to the normal Brie kind and I love small cheeses in particular.  I've only had it the once, but it melted into my subconscious and that is my ultimate goal in cheesemaking =)