Yah! 1st pressed cheese!! (queso fresco)

[padams]

Wow...that was fun!  But, making a one gallon batch sucks! I can't wait for my new pot to get here!  it already has a nice flavor and isn't very rubbery.  Can't wait to see how it is in a few days!  i used the fias co farms recipe.  I really liked it.  I think next time, I will try the one here, but still add the lipase.  I am glad I got some DVI; I made some cottage cheese with buttermilk meso culture, and I don't think it cultured very well.  i will have to work with that some more.

John, i used your CaCl recommendations, (1/2 tsp per gal) on 2% from my local dairy ( the milk is still so rich my whey is yellow like djdebi's) and I had such good set that there was a swirl in the center where it had flocculated!  I wish I would have taken pictures, but i was so nervous I forgot!

I will have to post one of the finished product tonite....it is in it's final pressing right now.  Thanks for all the great info, everyone...I used a lot of it today!

[Cheese Head]

padams, good news!

FYI, swirl in middle is from movement of milk after coagulation has started, when you end storring in your rennet for 1 minute, use the stirrer to minimize the milk's movement.

[MrsKK]

Being successful with a batch of cheese is a great feeling, isn't it?

Hoo-rah!

[DeejayDebi]

Good job! Always a good feeling when a plan comes together.

One of the reasons I try to discourage buying tiny little molds and presses is the disappointment of working all night and getting 1 pound of cheese. It's a great feeling to succeed but then there's that tiny little wheel for your efforts. Some things 1 pound is fine for but to wait 6 months for a pound of cheddar is anticlimatic. It happens to all of us.

Go get em gal!

[padams]

Thanks!  i trimmed the edges last night before I set it to dry, and my kids loved it!  I will hopefully get my large pot on monday, and then I plan on a 3 gal batch!

[DeejayDebi]

Whoo Hoo! and then a new fridge, a dutch press, some kadova moulds ... hehehe

Yep it's like a drug!

[padams]

That's so funny, cause my DH asked me when i was going to make a cheddar, and I told him I would probably need a dutch press..which means somewhere to put it.....so he starts talking about building onto the shed for my workspace, and digging me a hole for a cheese cave.... it IS addictive!

[DeejayDebi]

It is even more addictive with all these wonderful people here to share with and encourage you.

[padams]

Here are some pictures of my beautiful cheese....which has been aging 4 days, and I think we will attack it tomorrow!

[DeejayDebi]

Lookin good P!