Howdy from Dallas, Texas

[OpheliaBlue]

Hey y'all, Lisa from Dallas, Texas here.

Ever since I was a child, I fantasized about making cheese and bread. I don't really know why.. the rusticness of it. Or because I'm just such a foodie (currently a pastry chef at Whole Foods).

Anyway right now I just enjoy making cheese at home for friends and family. I got a kit for Christmas from my dad and I've been going nuts with it. So far soft goat cheese, fresh ricotta and ricotta salata are my babies. My boyfriend Danny is the microwave mozzarella whiz. As far as rennet cheese goes, we've both made gouda and farmhouse cheddar, but we don't have a proper cheese press with enough weight yet. But he's working on one.

My ultimate goal is to make a gouda, because aged gouda (like UnieKaas Reserve) is my favorite all time cheese.

Don't need help at the moment, but I'll be posting progresses and/or problems as they arise. Glad I found this forum, looks pretty fun and informative!

[FarmerJd]

Welcome to the forum. Glad to have you aboard.

[Tea]

Good morning OpheliaBlue and welcome to the forum.

[DeejayDebi]

Hello OpheliaBlue and welcome! Interesting name sounds like something with a story behind it.

[Cheese Head]

Hi Lisa, welcome to the forum! Have fun!

[Gürkan Yeniçeri]

Welcome to the cheeseforum Lisa. DeejayDebi has a pdf with drawings of cheese press diagrams in it. Your boyfriend might want to see them.

[OpheliaBlue]

Thanks Gürkan et al.

We got a press going finally, and I've made about 10 goudas since January, 9 of which came out pretty good (some are still aging). One of them went totally crazy and poofed out with a TON of holes like a baby swiss. It tasted awesome though.

Here's some pictures. Thanks for the advice!

Our press:


The crazy 'gouda'