Hi from alabama

[FarmerJd]

I just heard about this forum today. My name is Jay and I have been making cheese about 10 years as a hobby and a food source for the family. My wife and I have 10 children together the oldest of which is 16. We have 3 cows: jersey, geurnsey, and a holstein/jersey cross. We normally milk one cow at a time except during the winter when we milk all 3 for about 5 months and make a lot of cheese. I have gradually worked my way up to making about a 15 pound cheddar cheese from 20+ gallons of milk once every week or two. I would really like to get input from others on better pressing techniques, caving, and acidity control as I have always just had to "hope for the best" in my process. Our cheese making is a family affair and usually takes a whole day but is something everybody loves; especially when we get to open them 2 months later (when we can wait that long as all cheese makers know is the hardest part). I look forward to the interaction.

[Cheese Head]

JD, welcome to the forum!

Great to have another very experienced cheese maker on this board!

Wow, 10, great family hobby . . . food source, looking forward to your input and advice, are all your cheeses cheddar?

[FarmerJd]

I am very practical in my cheesemaking so not a lot of adventure. I have made one really good swiss, tons of mozzarella, several basic farmer's cheeses and i tried Gouda and Colby with absolutely no success. When I finally was able to make a decent cheddar cheese I just stuck with it. If I am overrun with too much milk though I still make the microwave mozzarella by the bucket. I really am a self taught novice who has just done the same thing over and over for years and probably don't know as much as most newbies. But I can make a 15 pound cheddar once a week and it is very functional

[DeejayDebi]

Welcome aboard FarmerJD. I too am an old time cheese maker self taught. I was very happy to find this great forum to get some ideas and share my experiances. If it works stick with it!

[justsocat]

Hi JD!
I used to live in big cities all life long. But I'm sick of it and want to move to the country.
Can you tell me, please, what the equipment do you use to proceed with 20 gallons and how much place it all occupies?

[FarmerJd]

I made a water tank by cutting a big metal tank in half and welding 3 rollers on the bottom. Then I took a water heater element and attached a 220 dryer cord to it so I could plug the element into my dryer outlet (probably dangerous). I found an old 24" stainless steel funnel extension from an old dairy/cheese making operation and welded a stainless steel bottom on it to make a 25-30 gallon pot to hold the milk. The pot sits on bricks in the bottom of the water tank and I heat the water to a few degrees above the target milk temperature. I use an ice cream freezer motor and a homemade set of paddles to stir the milk with continuously. it all takes up a lot of room: tank, pot, cooler/strainer, stirrer, press, hoops and hopefully next a real cave. A lot of room. I keep most of it in the barn during the summer but in the winter it stays out most of the time.

[pamaples]

WOW! I would love to see pictures of your set up. I would also like to know what recipe you follow. Predictable, functional, repeatable cheese is what I am after.

Pam

[justsocat]

I have respect for do-it-himselfers  like you. Wish you good luck with every single cheese 

[zenith1]

Hi Farmer JD and welcome to the forum! I am with Pam, I am a tinkerer also and would love to see some pictures of your setup. Also while your at it could you FedEx me 5 gal of fresh Guernsey milk. That must be wonderful to have at your fingertips so to speak. 

[FarmerJd]

My guernsey is a blessing. She is actually only half guernsey. Her mother was my pride and joy and best ever milk cow. I drove 6 hours to get her and paid a fortune. She died right after she had her second calf and I decided to keep the calf (dad was a hereford) and just see how much of her mom she had in her. I am so glad I did. I really can't tell the difference in her and her mom's milk. Very yellow milk and she is very gentle. Great milker.

My setup is so redneck I am embarrassed to even show it. Right now we are getting 7+ gallons a day so cheese production is really picking up. I am posting a few pics on here but don't laugh

[zenith1]

Hey Farmer- I love the curd rake that you made from an ice cream maker. I'm going to have to steal your idea! That is a great idea. And that press looks like the real deal. Are they tractor counter balance weights that you are using? What about 30lbs apiece? Forget about the redneck stuff- that's what they call American ingenuity. Pure and simple. Congratulations on a great setup!

[Sailor Con Queso]

Looks fabulous. Great job.

I notice that you have a short post section below your stirring paddles. Why didn't you go all the way to the bottom? Seems like you would get curd matting on the bottom.

My only other suggestion would be to go with stainless steel flat stock for the parts hanging in the milk. Not expensive, and a lot easier to clean.

[FarmerJd]

They are tractor weights. they weigh 75 lbs each. That's 300 lbs with a mechanical advantage of about 3-4 so that equates to 1000 lbs on the cheese with a 8 inch hoop.

The stirring paddles took a lot of trial and error. If you notice the handles on the side of the pot I use, you can see that the sides of the stirrer fit into those handles and the top board rests on the top edge of the pot. I actually have to put a very thin board in the bottom of the pot wedged very tight against the sides and bottom with a pilot hole for the end of the stirrer. The reason my paddles are not on the bottom is a trick my grandad taught me with a butter churn. I angled the blades up ( like a windmill) so that they pull the whey off the bottom and the whole mixture is constantly being circulated to the surface. I think you can see the angle in the pics. My first try was flat and I did have problems.  I would love to use stainless and I probably will eventually but I wanted to see if it would work first and since it does, now its hard to change. The would is cypress and I simply drop everything in boiling water when I start.

[Sailor Con Queso]

Yes, I see the angle on the blades. Clever.

Seems like a LOT of weight. I press Cheddar with just 70 pounds on a 7-1/2" mold.

Cheddar does have very specific pH targets that are well documented. A pH meter could make things much more consistent for you.

[pamaples]

TERRIFFIC. Love the tractor weights!

Pam