Top of the morning

[tebmsu97]

Just found the site last night and looking forward to digging through all the info here. Just got up the nerve to try my hand at cheese making and wanted to do some research before I dove in. Interest got peaked due to a) my wife and I love cheese and b) pizza. I grow my own tomatoes for the sauce, I make my own dough, if I make my own cheese it is the total package, so my interest is primarily in (from my very little research) the rennet cheeses. Any and all advice is much appreciated.

Todd
Baton Rouge, LA

[FarmerJd]

Welcome to the forum, Todd. This is a great place to learn. Use the search function to find many threads discussing mozzarella and similar cheeses. Good luck.

[Cheese Head]

Howdy Todd in Red Stick, Louisiana!

We live in Houston and have stopped at Baton Rouge a few times for lunch on way to NOLA or Florida but sadly never stayed there.

There's a thread here with ideas for people new to making cheese.

Sounds like you'll be wanting to make moz, which many find a hard cheese, I think MrsKK has the most popular recipe. I found some rennet in cheese cooler section of second Whole Foods store I phoned, may be faster than ordering on-line.

[tebmsu97]

Thanks for the welcome. After reading through some of the threads already on here, mozz sounds like a bit more of a task than what many on the web would have you believe.

Gladly take some suggestions as to a good first cheese. I would hate to completely bomb the first one then lose support of the boss (aka wife) on my new venture. While hameade mozz is one of the main goals, anything that will be tasty with a cracker and a glass of wine would be fantastic.

[Gina]

I'm new to cheesemaking too. I've made a few cheeses thus far (but not mozz) and think queso fresco would be a good one to try. You get a good product quickly with only a couple days of aging.

[FarmerJd]

John is right about Mrs KK's recipe being the best. You might want to start with queso blanco or paneer or try a rennet type like queso fresco. Good luck.

[iratherfly]

Welcome Todd and Gina!

I started out by making Yogurt, then yogurt cheese (Labaneh). From there it was very easy to switch to Goats cheeses (Chevre) and Fromage Blanc. Queso Fresco is pretty easy and a good way to train in most of the basic processes of cheese making - warming up the milk and holding it at temp, acidifying it, renneting it, cutting the curd, molding, draining and salting. (You can do most of these thins with Chevre too). It gives you a good idea of what you do right/wrong before you go on these 2-month experiments. Your first few cheeses may not come out perfect (but don't cry over spilled milk, just do-over) this is quite normal - all the more reason not to increase anticipation with long-aging cheeses when you start.

Other great cheeses that don't take much time (aside from the ones I mentioned on top and Paneer or Queso Fresco mentioned by others here) include Haloumi, Feta and Mozzarella. A quick Mozzarella could be made in under an hour. Traditional Mozzarella - in a few hours. Good luck!

[tebmsu97]

I never would have thought about starting with yogurt, makes perfect sense once you point it out. I will start digging for a recipe, but if anyone could drop some tips on making a good greek style yogurt, I would appreciate it. We love tzatziki and have a boat load of cucumbers coming in from the garden.

[iratherfly]

Sure! I do it all the time.
Almost boil the milk at 185F (it changes its proteins), then reduce its temp rapidly to 115 (by dipping the pot in a big bowl of ice water and stirring), then put the yogurt culture - or simply drop 1 tablespoon of another yogurt that you really like for every 2qt of milk (use pure yogurt for this, whole or low-fat are better than non-fat. Don't use flavored yogurt or one that was processes with thickeners, stabilizers or preservatives. Brands like Fage or Chobani are best and easy to get). Now just mix it and either pour it into a thermos or put it in cups in a yogurt maker (which is really just a simple incubator designed to keep it in temp for a few hours). Leave it there for 6 hours without touching it as it gels. Then pour it into a container (or cover the cups of the yogurt maker) and refrigerate immediately overnight. It will harden further in the fridge. The next morning pour it into cheesecloth (line a colander with it and place it over a large pot) and drain it for a day. If you do that at room temperature the yogurt will become even more tangy. Expect 1/3 to 1/2 of the volume to be lost here as the whey drains. That's it - Greek yogurt done.

Use whole milk that is not-homogenized for an even better, cream-top rustic yogurt.

You can mix it with salt and drain it for another day for a real hard, salty tangy yogurt - that's Labaneh yogurt cheese, a 2000 year old recipe that is very common in the middle east and Balkan countries. You plate it like Hoummous with olive oil, olives and spices (Za'atar if you can find some) and then "wipe the plate clean" with some fresh warm pita pocket bread yumm. You can also make balls out of it and drop them in a jar, then top them off with olive oil and keep that in the fridge forever.

Play with incubation times and amount of culture or yogurt starter to get more or less tanginess and gellness. Some people add dry milk, to make it thick, I think you can make it thick by skill, can't stand that dry milk stuff. The stuff last forever in the fridge too.

[tebmsu97]

Thanks Fly for the tips. Sounds like i have a weekend project!
Do you hold it at 185 for any certain amount of time?
By day, I am guessing you mean a full 24 hr period?

I really like the sound of the labaneh (hommus is a staple at our house). I assume the salt is to taste and you continue to drain in the fridge?

[iratherfly]

No need to hold as you may ultra pasteurize your milk and kill it, in fact chill back down to 115F as RAPIDLY as you possibly can.

Yes, 24 hour is good but you will be able to tell when the consistancy is becoming greek, flavor intensifies and less whey is drained. Stop it when the flavor is to your liking. Room conditions will affect it too so just taste it.

Salt it halfway through the process. The salt will slow down the bacterial activity but will greatly accelerate whey drainage

[DeejayDebi]

Welcome aboard Todd lots of help and info here just ask!