Greetings from Texas!

[the.303bookworm]

Hello All,
I'm a college student from Houston, Texas, and I just started cheesemaking in September. I first wanted to make cheese when I was given a Little House On The Prairie cookbook for my eighth birthday. It's taken me an embarrassingly long time to realize that I now have the means to do so. I've been a sucker for cheese pretty much my entire life, and it's very hard for me to pass by Whole Foods or Spec's without going inside to see what new and interesting offerings they have. (My last trip to Spec's netted this wonderful cheese with mustard seeds and ale in it.)

My soft cheeses have turned out pretty good. I've done Labneh and Neufchatel so far. (You may recognize the influence of Fankhauser's Cheese Page there!) I soon realized the impossibility of finding the Junkent Rennet called for on that website anywhere local and resigned myself to getting supplies from the internet. I decided that since I was there, I might as well get a real cheese cookbook and picked up Rikki Carroll's book, which of course led to spending way too much money at the NE Cheesemaking Supply Co. I've since picked up 200 Easy Homemade Cheeses and find I like it rather better.

My hard cheeses, though tasty, have not quite been all that I hoped for (a cheese stealing puppy notwithstanding) but I hope they will continue to improve. My main problem seems to be the texture is not quite right, too firm, I think, when compared to store-bought cheese. Anyway, I've thus far found cheesemaking to be very fun and rewarding, and I look forward to spending a lot of time on these forums!

[Cheese Head]

Howdy 303bookworm, welcome!

Nice intro/story on your road to cheesemaking, I'm sort of Canadian but lived in Katy on West side of Houston for last 5.5 years. Lot's of webstores listed here, texture is either about acidity or moisture content.

For the non-Texan's, Spec's is a big liquor store chain here that also has a nice big deli section, I have a frequent user plastic tag on my keychain .

Have fun exploring the website and forum!

[FarmerJd]

Welcome to the forum. Little House On The Prairie got my family started too. I had lots of texture problems before I got a ph tester. Great forum here. Good luck.

[Tea]

Good morning Bookworm and welcome to the forum.

[Gürkan Yeniçeri]

Welcome to the forum Bookworm.

[sominus]

Welcome to the board....

I'm in Seabrook (Clear Lake area) and am getting started myself...

-Michael

[DeejayDebi]

Hello Bookworm and welcome. Was that cheese you found with mustard seeds and ale called Y-Fenni or perhaps Red Dragon? I have been thinking about trying this as one of my next batches of cheeses. It looks interesing but I keep forgetting to get the mustrad seeds.

[CaseinBelli]

Greetings from a fellow 'noob'!

I've only ever prepared such cheeses as lebaneh and paneer; I never gave a second thought to serious cheesemaking until I began having a bit more month at the end of my money, considering that I, too, am a college student - with a penchant for most blue cheeses.

Do you have any Kroger or Brookshire's stores nearby?  They're usually stocked with rennet tablets in the jell-o/pudding aisle; I live in rural northern Arkansas - most grocery stores here stock rennet in either liquid or tablet form.