CheeseForum.org » Forum

GENERAL BOARDS => Introductions => Topic started by: Matt B on May 24, 2009, 04:19:44 PM

Title: Hello from Middle Tennessee
Post by: Matt B on May 24, 2009, 04:19:44 PM

Hello all, my name is Matt. I'm a beginner cheese maker. I've made a couple of batches, some turned out some did not. I have aspirations of making all kinds of cheeses at home but plan to start off with the basics and master them before moving on to more challenging ones later. So far I've done cottage cheese, mozzarella, cheddar and feta. The cottage and mozzarella turned out great, the cheddar went funky on me. The feta I'm not sure how it did. When it was in the brine it formed a layer of funk on top of the water and then the blocks started floating. I've heard that if your cheese floats then you have the presence of a gas producing bacteria and that is always a sign of a batch gone bad. I'd like y'all's opinion on that if you could as I LOVE feta and would love to give it another go this summer. I have a connection to get some really fresh goat milk to make the feta with.

Title: Re: Hello from Middle Tennessee
Post by: Cartierusm on May 24, 2009, 06:37:35 PM

Welcome. You've found the right place. Experimenting with instant cheeses like feta is a great learning experience. The more I make the cheese the more I realize that for hard cheeses or cheese that need to be aged for long periods, months, I say stick to ONE and perfect that before moving on. Or take very very good notes so when you do open that wheel you can see what went right or wrong.

Title: Re: Hello from Middle Tennessee
Post by: Cheese Head on May 24, 2009, 09:36:42 PM

Howdy Matt, good ideas and from Carter too, wish I'd stuck to one cheese instead of bouncing around.

On feta, there are a bunch of records in the brine preserved board. If they initially sunk and then floated that is a bad sign, but I think not critical. How did it taste?

FYI you can use cow's milk, recipe tricks and traps here (http://cheeseforum.org/Recipes/Recipe_Feta.htm).

Title: Re: Hello from Middle Tennessee
Post by: Cartierusm on May 25, 2009, 01:37:45 AM

John, "brine preserved board", is the board preserved or the cheese? I know it takes a lot of work on this forum so I thought maybe you had a new technique.

Title: Re: Hello from Middle Tennessee
Post by: Cheese Head on May 25, 2009, 03:17:54 AM

Carter, U R right, brine does preserve wood, actually there used to be a West Canadian show called The Beachcombers where part of the job was to find washed up on beaches, expensive cedar type logs that had gotten out of booms, and bring them to mills for $$$'s.

My brother who lives with his family here (http://maps.live.com/#JnE9eXAucXVlZW4rY2hhcmxvdHRlK2NpdHklMmMrYnJpdGlzaCtjb2x1bWJpYSU3ZXNzdC4wJTdlcGcuMSZiYj01Ni43NDA2NzQzNTQ3NTMlN2UtMTI2LjAxMzE4MzU5Mzc1JTdlNDkuMDY2NjY4Mzk1NTgxMSU3ZS0xMzguMTY0MDYyNQ==) still does that work now and then, but mostly he's an interior/exterior carpenter.

Title: Re: Hello from Middle Tennessee
Post by: DeejayDebi on May 25, 2009, 06:51:00 AM

Welcome to the forum Matt. You'll learn alot here!

Title: Re: Hello from Middle Tennessee
Post by: chilipepper on May 26, 2009, 03:51:22 PM

Welcome Matt and I look forward to hearing about your progress!

Ryan