Author Topic: Hi, new from sydney  (Read 18448 times)

Crystal

  • Guest
Re: Hi, new from sydney
« Reply #30 on: January 31, 2012, 09:09:40 AM »
wow nellie, you really get into it huh?

My cheese cave has one cheese in it, as im busy and cheese isnt really economical when you buy milk i dont make all that much cheese really. I am experimenting with UHT milk though, and still waiting to hear how i can use fig leaves as rennet?

You can make your own baskets from plastic containers, just drill small holes from the inside out! cut the lid to size with a saw for the follower ;) or make a wooden one if the lid is flimsy plastic. Im going to make some baby cheeses and al looking at some containers i can put into action as moulds. Ive heard a few people use miffin tins for goats cheeses, drill holes and use cups filled with water as weights on the cheeses!

keezawitch

  • Guest
Re: Hi, new from sydney
« Reply #31 on: February 01, 2012, 03:38:35 AM »
oops, sorry forgot about the fig leaf thing, will look it up and let you know, muffin tins hey, does it matter if they are metal or do you think the new latex type would be good, I used a weight from and old exercise set, I wrap it in plastic and use in small ricotta basket,I do this for softer cheeses as i havent had a go at hard ones, still trying to get enough time to devote to them.

keezawitch

  • Guest
Re: Hi, new from sydney
« Reply #32 on: February 01, 2012, 08:36:22 AM »
ok here we go: USING FIG SAP TO CURDLE MILK FOR CHEESE OR JUNKET.
4-5 drops will set 1 gallon of milk.
1/ put on rubber gloves
2/ extract fig sap either by cutting a branch and collecting sap or pick large leaves and let the sap drip from cut spot into container
3/ transfer to prepared milk(warmed and cultured) by one of three methods.
 a/ sqeeze a few drops into milk and stir through
 b/rub sap onto sterile cloth and rinse in milk.
 c/ stir milk with branch or cut end of leaves.

I beleive if you use too much it can be bitter, but worth a go as you have heaps of leaves and branches

Nellie

  • Guest
Re: Hi, new from sydney
« Reply #33 on: February 01, 2012, 09:51:10 AM »
Crystal I know what you mean about the cost of milk. I'm getting some calcium chloride this weekend and will war some homogenised milk and see what sort of outcome I get. I've only used UHT for yoghurt. What are you thinking of using it for?

keezawitch

  • Guest
Re: Hi, new from sydney
« Reply #34 on: February 01, 2012, 10:02:32 AM »
wow nellie, you really get into it huh?

My cheese cave has one cheese in it, as im busy and cheese isnt really economical when you buy milk i dont make all that much cheese really. I am experimenting with UHT milk though, and still waiting to hear how i can use fig leaves as rennet?

You can make your own baskets from plastic containers, just drill small holes from the inside out! cut the lid to size with a saw for the follower ;) or make a wooden one if the lid is flimsy plastic. Im going to make some baby cheeses and al looking at some containers i can put into action as moulds. Ive heard a few people use miffin tins for goats cheeses, drill holes and use cups filled with water as weights on the cheeses!


crystal, do you drill the holes all over or just in the bottom? do you have any pictures so we can copy please?

boothrf

  • Guest
Re: Hi, new from sydney
« Reply #35 on: February 01, 2012, 10:25:47 PM »
Hi again,

I make my yoghurt in an electric yoghurt maker I purchased from Cheeslinks for $55. It is brilliant. I use 1 litre of cheap UHT milk, add about 100g full cream milk powder to thicken the yoghurt, add a couple of table spoons of sugar (to taste) and add Cheeslinks type C thick yoghurt culture. Leave in the maker overnight and in the morning, a fabulous, beautiful thick natural yoghurt!  :) :)  Total cost is about $1.50 a litre.

Bob

Crystal

  • Guest
Re: Hi, new from sydney
« Reply #36 on: February 02, 2012, 02:41:27 AM »
Thanks so much for the fig/rennet! Will certainly give that a go. Just want to double check that its possible to use it with pasturised and homoginised milk? or, should i just try?

Use a metal muffin tin, the silicone ones usually have ridged sides, and they collapse if you put too much weight. As goats cheese is quite moist it doesnt need much drainage, so holes in the bottom should be enough. I dont have pix as i havent done this. But i read it in a thread here a long while back.

Nellie, ive used UHT milk for neufchatel, cottage cheese and im doing a feta wih it tomorrow. I wouldnt try anything that requires a firm curd like a cheddar, as you wont get it. That said, the caerphilly i have in the cave now was made using 1/2 Organic un-homoginised milk and 1/2 Full cream UHT milk ;) We tasted the other night, and the texture is ok, the flavour is ok, i havent got all the scientific stuff to check moisture content and fat content or acidity, but i dont care! As long as it looks like cheese and tastes like cheese, its all good!!

Guys, if you are using both UHT and adding milk powder wouldnt it be more economical using normal milk for the yoghurt? As UHT is no cheaper than normal milk usually? And you might not have to add the powder?

keezawitch

  • Guest
Re: Hi, new from sydney
« Reply #37 on: February 02, 2012, 03:50:07 AM »
thanks crystal i will keep my eyes peeled for cheap muffin pans as they sound just the thing for the maltese cheese i do, As for the powder milk it doesnt matter what type of milk you use you will always need to add it or the yoghurt is very runny like a drinking yoghurt, I dont understand why, I have also added a bit of gelatine to help thicken it as i like mine to stick to the spoon. Cows milk definately thickness better than goat milk, it has something to do with the fat molecules being larger in cow milk. I found also that by using uht milk the yoghurt keeps better. today i am experimenting with ghejb cheese i have added, wild fennel flowers and garlic chive flowers to it, hope it works  and has a mild flavour

Crystal

  • Guest
Re: Hi, new from sydney
« Reply #38 on: February 03, 2012, 12:05:10 AM »
Way to go with the experiments!!

Right, well i'll use powder when i ever try this yoghurt making thing ;)

keezawitch

  • Guest
Re: Hi, new from sydney
« Reply #39 on: February 03, 2012, 07:29:47 AM »
experiment failure :(, what a disaster, the fennel flower and chive flower was a flop, first it didnt curd properly, think rennet i brought was old have ordered from new supplier, anyway put the soft curds into cheesecloth to drain, drained well, still too soft so put weight on it and drained some more, that was ok BUT when i tasted it, it way too bitter and the fennel dominated the whole thing, the chickens will eat well tomorrow used 8 litres of milk in it, oh well first real failure, the first experiment that i couldnt eat, live and learn and try something else next time. :)

Crystal

  • Guest
Re: Hi, new from sydney
« Reply #40 on: February 03, 2012, 11:09:44 PM »
Oh well Keeza, better luck next time! It was wonderful to meet you today and THANK YOU for the milk. You wouldnt even be home yet and we have already polished off the first bottle! Kids loved it! So i guess i better work out what to do with the other 10L hey!! Hope your fig goes well, no problem if it doesnt, i'll just bring you a new one ;)

boothrf

  • Guest
Re: Hi, new from sydney
« Reply #41 on: February 04, 2012, 03:12:11 AM »
Hi ladies, the reason you add milk powder to the milk for yoghurt is to add extra milk solids which make the yoghurt thicker. Milk powder is milk without the water, so it is concentrated solids, mostly proteins and fat. So adding extra soilds creates much thicker yoghurt. I use full cream mik because I like he creamy consistency and flavour, but you can use skim milk powder as well if you prefer.

UHT is perfect for yoghurt because you are not looking for a solid curd (as you would for cheesemaking). UHT milk is nearly sterile because of the high temperature processing so there are virtually no spoilage bacteria in the milk, so your yoghurt will last longer.  UHT is usually the cheapest milk to buy, often only $1 a litre, although the supermarket milk wars have fresh milk nearly as cheap now.

Have fun, Bob

Crystal

  • Guest
Re: Hi, new from sydney
« Reply #42 on: February 04, 2012, 04:53:54 AM »
Okie dokie bob! you have fun too hey!! Ive made got my first chevre going, using culture and rennet, dont want to risk something going wrong with the vinegar/lemon juice version. I might split it into 2 and flavour some with sundried tomato pesto and basil from the garden, and leave half plain!

boothrf

  • Guest
Re: Hi, new from sydney
« Reply #43 on: February 04, 2012, 08:36:30 AM »
Thanks Crystal! Hope your chevre goes well. I'm personally not a fan of goats cheese....tried too many that taste like billy goats ha ha. But sounds like your flavours will make a lovely subtle creamy cheese so good luck!

keezawitch

  • Guest
Re: Hi, new from sydney
« Reply #44 on: February 04, 2012, 09:01:12 AM »
Oh well Keeza, better luck next time! It was wonderful to meet you today and THANK YOU for the milk. You wouldnt even be home yet and we have already polished off the first bottle! Kids loved it! So i guess i better work out what to do with the other 10L hey!! Hope your fig goes well, no problem if it doesnt, i'll just bring you a new one ;)

It was a joy to meet you, so glad the kids liked the milk, makes great frozen yoghurt pops too, i make some with cherries and strawberries and the grandkids polished them off real fast. The fig is in so fingers crossed. Look forward to seeing you again. p.s. we have a new addition to family, we have a 4day old black dorper lamb, thank god i have goat milk to feed it, the other stuff is way too expensive