New Cheese maker

[Kevin_Cheese_maker]

Hi  everyone, My name is ......can you guess? Ha Ha... I am in my late 40's but have cooked all my life.  I am a Vet, and disabled so I try to keep myself busy.  Pastor by trade and I have to say that defines me. 
I just made my first cheese yesterday. (Mozzrella) It came out real good but I know I will improve with practice and the knowledge I glean from this site.  I want to work myself up to making Parmesan, and cheddar, and maybe Jack.
Glad to be here,
K

[zenith1]

Glad to have you aboard Kevin. Mozz is a good place to start, totally different in the make from the hard cheese though. Pick one and try to understand the entire process well before jumping to another(which everyone wants to do), it will make the process a little less pain full. Where do you hail from? Let me be the first to Thank you for your service as well.

[smilingcalico]

Welcome. I've learned more on this site than I can describe. As a cheesemaker by trade, this site always helps me up my quality.

[Bishop]

Hi Kevin and welcome

[McCreamy]

Welcome to the forum! This is the best cheese resource I have found. Everyone is very friendly and eager to help everyone else learn!

[Louise]

Hi Kevin 

[Kevin_Cheese_maker]

Thanks for the welcomes everyone.  I hail from Southern CA, but spent 8 great years in north central Arkansas....beautiful country.

[Boofer]

I hail from Southern CA, but spent 8 great years in north central Arkansas....beautiful country.

Interesting. My wife and I spent some time in and around Port Hueneme/Oxnard before moving to Mountain Home several years ago. Agreed...beautiful country.
We could only stand the unbearable humidity for a short time before we relocated back to Port Hueneme and then to the Pacific Northwest.

Welcome to the forum.

-Boofer-

[Cheese Head]

Welcome Kevin, cute avatar picture! Moz is one of the harder cheeses to start with.

[Kevin_Cheese_maker]

I hail from Southern CA, but spent 8 great years in north central Arkansas....beautiful country.

Interesting. My wife and I spent some time in and around Port Hueneme/Oxnard before moving to Mountain Home several years ago. Agreed...beautiful country.
We could only stand the unbearable humidity for a short time before we relocated back to Port Hueneme and then to the Pacific Northwest.

Welcome to the forum.

-Boofer-

Boof,
Agreed the humidity was bad and very hard for me to deal with, those short summer months I did tend to hibernate to escape the 89- 90% humidity ...maybe a person has to be born and grow up there to bear it.

Welcome Kevin,  Moz is one of the harder cheeses to start with.

Well the smooth precision of preparing something you're familiar with was lacking in my last attempt at Mozz--I'm sure that the more I do it, the better and quicker it will become...also I am still collecting a few pieces of equipment I need.
But my love is for Parm.  I can eat that every day and at every meal! So I want to get to making that, and get a couple of rounds aging. I gotta build the knowledge base and skill in the small easier cheeses before moving on though. Wish me good Luck.
Thanks for the welcome!

[iratherfly]

Hi Kevin, welcome!

Of all the cheeses you mentioned I would suggest to try Jack before moving on to Cheddar and doing Parmesan only after you have made some decent Cheddar. Jack is a simplified Cheddar and it doesn't age as long so you can judge and correct it easier and can probably do 2-3 fully aged batches by the time it would take you to age the first good cheddar. Parmesan requires lots of pressing and very long aging and it is expensive to make because it is very low yield and takes large wheels so I would only do it after getting a little experience and confidence with the jack and Cheddar. That's only my personal opinion of course, some may not agree...  In any event, Mozzarella is a great start and you can take it to the next level with other Mozzarella-related aged cheese such as Provolone and Caciocavallo (also known as Kashkaval); they are rustic, quick to age, easy to make well and very versatile in the kitchen!

[Kevin_Cheese_maker]

Hi Kevin, welcome!

Of all the cheeses you mentioned I would suggest to try Jack before moving on to Cheddar and doing Parmesan only after you have made some decent Cheddar. Jack is a simplified Cheddar and it doesn't age as long so you can judge and correct it easier and can probably do 2-3 fully aged batches by the time it would take you to age the first good cheddar. Parmesan requires lots of pressing and very long aging and it is expensive to make because it is very low yield and takes large wheels so I would only do it after getting a little experience and confidence with the jack and Cheddar. That's only my personal opinion of course, some may not agree...  In any event, Mozzarella is a great start and you can take it to the next level with other Mozzarella-related aged cheese such as Provolone and Caciocavallo (also known as Kashkaval); they are rustic, quick to age, easy to make well and very versatile in the kitchen!

Well that sounds like some well thought out advice.  I'll study up on Jacks and do 3-4 Pepper Jacks before moving on to cheddar's, and etc..  Thank you for the words this is the kind of wisdom that really helps out new cheese makers.

[iratherfly]

Any time... And while we are at it; do a successful plain jack before adding peppers to one on your first try. Think of these as practice runs...

[Kevin_Cheese_maker]

Any time... And while we are at it; do a successful plain jack before adding peppers to one on your first try. Think of these as practice runs...

Is adding the boiled pepper flakes in at the milling stage going to affect the cheese?  If I remember the boiled pepper water is added in with the milk at the start.  I really love pepper jack,,,,,plain jack so so.  Thanks for the info.

You received my first cheese given for your previous lengthy reply.

[iratherfly]

Thanks for the cheese

My view is that cheese has lots of variables to troubleshoot later so you want to learn to make it in stages that will reduce the number of variables that can be subjected to troubleshooting later. If you were to make a pepper jack and your results won't be what you have expected, you would naturally want to correct them on your next batch.  The crushed peppers can release essensial oils into the curd that will effect the enzymatic activity that breaks down the fat. Pepper water can effect the pH of the curd which will affect your aging period and final cheese elasticity and moisture content.  ...but go figure if your cheese has failed because of milk quality, over-acidifying with your starter culture or cutting the curds too small or too large ...or was it the addition of peppers and pepper water?

If you make a plain jack and you are at the point where it is good enough for you to be confident about it so you no longer need to troubleshoot your process - than obviously you only need to troubleshoot your addition of peppers and pepper water and that would be easy to figure out.

That being said, pepper jack isn't an overly-complex cheese and you may have success right on the first go so try it. Don't make cheese you don't care for so if plain Jack isn't your thing - by all means do a pepper Jack of another plain cheese that may be more exciting like a Farmhouse Cheddar