new cheese maker from Michigan

[Dana]

Hello wonderful cheese people!

I just wanted to say "hi" from southern Michigan!   I have been raising dairy goats for a few years and I am expecting 2-3 gallons of milk a day-- soon! 

I have made 30 minute mozzarella, basic vinegar soft cheese and lemon juice soft cheese.  I hoping to make cheddar cheese this spring along with buttermilk and yogurt. 

With all the great information on this forum I may be tempted to try a bunch of new cheeses!

Dana

[Zinger]

Welcome Dana, it's great to have another Michigander on the forum. I know that you will benefit and enjoy this group of helpful people. WHat part of Michigan are you from, I am in the Grand Rapids area.

Z

[Dana]

Hi Zinger, thanks for the warm welcome!  I live about 1/2 an hour from Ann Arbor in a little town called Tecumseh.

I love the beautiful picture of your house!  I heard Grand Rapids is a great place.  Kinda like a bible belt area, but I've never been there.

How long have you been making cheeses?

Dana

[DeejayDebi]

Welcome aboard Dana!
Congrats on the access to all that wonderful raw milk. Stick around awhile you'll be making all sort of cheeses!

[Zinger]

Ah, you are within striking diustance of Zingerman's - lucky you. I have only been doing this addicitive activity for about a year. The house is actually in the Northport area. We go there on weeekends and are slowly, very slowly, rehabbing it. It has never had indoor plumbbing - kind of a throw back to a simpler (yeah right) time. Any way, welcome and we all hope to hear from you on a regular basis.

[FarmerJd]

Welcome to the forum! Great group of people here. I hope you enjoy it.

[Cheese Head]

Welcome Dana!

[zenith1]

Welcome to the forum Dana- I love goat's milk. Don't have my own but am fortunate enough to be able to obtain fresh locally. Good luck with your cheeses making.

[Gürkan Yeniçeri]

Welcome to the forum Dana, Lucky you you have fresh milk whenever you want...

[Dana]

Thanks for all the welcomes!  My big first project is to make a cheese press following Fias Co Farm's instructions.  It's hard to find maple cutting boards at a good price.  Amazon is kinda high at $30 a piece and I need 2.  For $60 I could buy one on Ebay, tho I question how good they will work.  Ah, cheese presses...they are a complicated item to me.

I'm very excited to have all that free, fresh milk again, but as I gaze out my window to the 1/2 foot of snow I wonder if I'm crazy to get up every morning and milk in an unheated barn!!

Dana

[FarmerJd]

The cold makes the bag that much warmer on my hands. I know it is tough but it beats milking in the heat with the flies and and the swatting tail.

[Sailor Con Queso]

Dana,

Wal-Mart has bamboo cutting boards back in the pots & pans section for just $18.

[Tea]

Welcome to the forum Dana.

[Dana]

Thanks for the welcome Tea.   I read that you home school, I do also but only 3 kids.  I love teaching them, I learn so much!  I think the kids do too.   

Everybody- does it matter what kind of wood I use for the cheese press?  I was afraid bamboo might break easily.  I even thought about using the plastic type cutting boards because then I could bleach/clean the surfaces better.

What do you think?

[linuxboy]

Bamboo is pretty tough stuff; it should work. For the press, hardwoods are preferred over soft woods. So maple, oak, cherry, etc work better than pine and fir. The tight grain makes them easier to sanitize, too. Although, you could get good results with some old growth fir if that's available.