best cheeses for farm fresh milk

[wilcofan]

I finally secured a source for fresh milk, and bought into a herdshare program (thanks OH for making it a pain in the butt to get fresh milk).  I am super excited and get my first batch on Wednesday.  I will be getting 3 gallons every other week.  I have a couple of questions.  Being creamline milk, do I need to skim some of the cream off the top?  Also what are the cheeses where fresh milk makes the biggest difference?  I would think that it would be more noticeable in a washed curd cheese rather than a cheddared cheese.  Can anybody back me up on this or point me in the right direction.  Thanks

[MrsKK]

Congratulations on being able to buy raw milk!  Wisconsin is lagging behind, thanks to big dairy!

Raw milk is awesome for any cheese, but you will like it for all hard cheeses.  You will get higher yield, better curd set, better flavor, etc.  Cheddar from raw milk is awesome.

I skim cream for mozzarella and Parmesan, yogurt, and American Neufchatel.  Not necessary for any but the mozz, but I like my butter, so skim for that.

Have fun!

[anarch]

If you start reading different cheese recipes, you'll find out which ones require skimming, but definitely parms.

I don't skim at all for most cheesemaking, I love all the cream!  But I skim some off for drinking milk, then use the cream for butter, creme brulee, etc.

I love my raw milk too.

(btw, we named our first dog Wilco, we're fans too , oh and actually got to tell Jeff Tweedy about it in the airport security line in Cancun, years later!)

[DeejayDebi]

Raw milk is the best! So rich and creamy! I use it all exept parms and romanos and then I still have way more creamthan recipes call for. I just love the creaminess.

[smilingcalico]

I make raw milk gouda style.  I only skim off the thickest of the cream that doesn't settle in.  Since it's being spun right up until rennet, the cream is well incorporated. 

[zenith1]

I also love raw milk and it's cheese. I have almost entirely gone to raw milk in my cheese making. The only thing holding me back is the occasional time that my small farmer has limited availability. Since I get the milk for free(normally they sell for $8/gal) I guess I have no room for complaints. Two of my favorites form this source are Caerphilly and Blue.

[wilcofan]

i ended up making a havarti, I am amazed at the difference in the make.  i didn't know what I was missing.  The curd was much firmer and tasted great when i tried a little bit before pressing.  I will never use store bought milk again.  I went with havarti mainly because I wanted something I could try sooner rather than later.

I used the recipe from 200 easy cheeses, it was different from the last havarti I made, where I think I used DeeJay's recipe.  It called for salting the curd right after washing, instead of brining, before draining the whey, which is something I haven't done before.  It seems like it wouldn't allow the PH to drop enough, but since I don't have a tester, we'll see how it goes.  I attached a pic of the cheese out of the press.

Anarch,  I have loved them for a long time, my wife even walked down the aisle to Sandusky, by Uncle Tupelo. I had my own brush with Jeff Tweedy a couple of years ago, I saw him at my favorite restaurant before a concert in Asheville but didn't get to talk to him

[MrsKK]

It looks really good.  Yeah, once you go raw, it's tough to go back.  I really wish Wisconsin would get on board so I could use raw milk for my cheesemaking classes.

[DeejayDebi]

Very nicely done and now - your hooked!