OK, I feel embassed enough going through the checkout with 4 US gallons/15.2 liters of milk, and I do get a couple of looks, not that I really care.
But then along comes Wayne who today is going for his first monster 24 US gallon batch.
(https://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=1878.0;attach=4152;image)
So my question to Wayne and others is, how do you do it? Do you say nothing, tell them it's for a milk bath, tell them it's for a work camp, or just tell the truth that it's for cheese making?
Every time I buy 4 to 9 gallons they ask me if I have 2 kids or something. I tell them I am making cheese and they look at me like I am from another planet.
LOL, I have used the "Wife wantes a milk bath" line. Twice.
(much to the continued mortification of my nearby wife)
I get the usual "Someone's thirsty" commments from the chechout girl.
Bottom line is some care, some dont.
If I explain it. and tell them we are making cheese, I think i get on the checkout girl's "He's a wierdo" mental list.
24 gallons in the vat...
Yeah Wayne, there you go, have a great day!
It took a couple minutes but I now see the five white canisters as what they really are, heaters. But then the question arises are they home made or off the shelf?
How are you controlling them, turning them on and off manually? How many circuit breakers have you added to the house panel to handle five (X) watt heaters?
I used to build a primitive electrical control system for foil embossing and I used a process controller. Wish I still had one of those around still.
I would look at this (https://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,847.msg12502.html#msg12502) thread and follow it down....
You are right they are heaters, I have 10K watts of heat over 5 seperate 20amp circuits. These are controlled by GFCI circuits and simple switches.
I built it all myself.
I shared this thread with my wife, and she gave me the look... (as if to say sheesh, that's nothing....)
She said try doing this: Go to the pharmacy an ask for 2 dozen Feminine Hygiene products. (douches)
That will raise some eyebrows...
(we had a couple dogs tangle with a skunk)
I have to say your wife has a very good point there! ;D
I am just envious for you guys for having one gallon jugs of stuff. The largest pack of milk there is in my local store is 1.5 liters (that's a bit less than 0.4 gallons).
Plus, $1.89 per gallon?! I want free milk as well. *sigh* I am so very envious.
While I have not bought huge loads of milk yet (12 liters at a time tops), I have bought big batches of apple juice for cider making and haven't got any looks. They probably think I'll be making hooch, but hey, I don't care ;D
riha, if I remember you are in Finland, guess the Fin's don't drink much mlk thus reason for no 3 liter jugs . . . low prices here in US as recession, they were more commonly USD3.5 1 year ago, that said the US does have an extremely efficient distribution system.
And as stores are big, you can get some really big shopping carts that would easily fit 24 US gallons/91 liters of milk ;D.
Hey Wayne,
Go big or go home!
The setup looks great (although perhaps a bit S&M with all the chains in the basement).
We won't start to worry until someone finds you looking in your cave and saying, "It rubs the lotion on its skin or else it gets the hose again".
Cheers and keep us up to date on this cheese
CC
Quote from: John (CH) on August 23, 2009, 04:48:26 PM
And as stores are big, you can get some really big shopping carts that would easily fit 24 US gallons/91 liters of milk ;D.
One of my forum members from Canada says they pay $4/3 liters in the stores too.. Maybe that's a popular size in metric countries? He says it's $5 for 3.8 liters= gallon!
I think one reason we pay less is government subsidies. They also regular the prices. I hear the subsidies are down though.
I've been purchasing gallons at Sam's Club for $2.78/Gallon this week. Cheap, but not too cheap. I wish I had $2 gallons! Inquiring at local Ma-Pa's, milk was $4.99 a gallon!! WOAH! Too steep.
They haven't been saying anything, despite having a 10 and 14 gallon parade going on. It's probably expected from a big outlet like Sam's.
Baby Chee if you find a good supplies for raw milk ... I use my beer kegs for milk jugs - no deposit on the bottles or the hassle of keeping up with them. I swapped out the beer line dip tube for shorter CO2 line dip tube. Easier to clean. If I drop them off day before she bottles I get $2 off per gallon.
That's a great idea! I have a dozen of those 5 gallon soda kegs!
I'm still looking around for a dairy farm in the general area. They are all bankrupt and closed because the land is super valuable for crops. I would probably have to drive 70+ miles to get fresh milk, which would be best, but would only be worth it if I can buy $2 gallons in 30 gallon trips.
Around here, Kroger's brand milk is $1.99/gallon. FYI wherever you buy that quantity of milk, talk to the store manager about case pricing - usually a 10-15% discount.
Here is a good site to find fresh milk.
http://www.realmilk.com/where4.html#nd (http://www.realmilk.com/where4.html#nd)
And a couple of sources in North Dakota
Dazey: SL Farms, Sam Leppert & Family, 1827 106th Ave SE. (701) 733-5562 slaussies@aol.com . Raw fresh Goat and Cows milk. Occasionally they will have butter and cream available. The cows and goats are Organic. They will deliver to the areas of Bismarck, Fargo and Devils Lake, ND areas. If they get more than 10 customers in any area in ND they will deliver fresh milk. They also have Organic grass fed beef.
Sherwood: Fountains Abbey Dairy, Tricia Berg, 4995 County Road 4, Sherwood, ND 58782. (701) 386-2454, triciaberg@gmail.com , http://goatfad.googlepages.com/home. (http://goatfad.googlepages.com/home.) Fresh raw milk to the Minot, ND area. Milk is sold by the quart or gallon.
Thanks!
The farm in Dazey is only 50 miles away. I could get over there when I need lots of milk.
I'll contact them and see what they charge.
Glad I could help. I'm sure there are others closer to you. Let me know what they charge you. I'm really curious to see how your milk prices compare to ours. The raw milk will be more expensive, but it makes great cheese. Of course, the way you're going thru milk you need a price break. :P
What are you doing with all of your whey? You DO know that you can make ricotta from the leftover whey don't you??? And there are many, many other uses. From a 3 gallon batch of cheese, I usually get about a pound of Ricotta as well.
FYI nationwide dairy farms are only getting about 10 cents a pound (or less) for raw milk. A gallon weighs 8 pounds, so that's just 80 cents a gallon. The dairy farmers are really getting screwed by the big corporate milk processors. Of course that't how they can sell $2 a gallon milk at Krogers.
My bank account just squealed in horror.... the price list from the dairy guy isss...sss....*sob*
$8 a GALLON!
$10 for goat milk.
$20 for a gallon of cow cream.
...pass. I definitely can't afford that. It's $32 for a cheese. At present I pay around $11.
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Now I find out about the whey!
I could have used that to my benefit this week.
All my whey aside from some for brine went down the drain.
What a waste. I was looking at it and wondering.
The next two days I can't use it either because I have only one piece of cheesecloth left and that's for the mold.
Yesterday I made the mistake of putting a few cloths in the drier and they came out ripped and tangled.
Crap. It's 20 miles to the hardware store, assuming they even carry cheese cloth.
When I begin doing cheeses again later this month (Cam and Cheddar) I'll have more cloth and do the Ricotta.
Thanks for the info.
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I might blow $10 for a gallon of whipping cream at the store later this month and use it for a special cheese.
I'd love to make a blue from a couple gallons of cream, for family holidays.
I know everyone thinks these prices are high but in reality they don't allow for much profit if the farmer is using quality organic or natural feed ingredients and taking good care of his/her animals.
I expect that my cost for my own goats milk is more than $5.00 per gallon - not to mention the time and energy spent on milking and keeping up the farm -- but i enjoy it.
I know a cheesemaker with a fairly large, well run goat dairy and she has told me her computed cost (not sales price and not including transport to markets etc) for her own milk is about $3/ gallon..so $10 per galon is not an outrageous markup when you consider the time and work put into twice a day milking.
Quality costs $...and I think there is a general consensus that a milk that is only hours (or perhaps a day or two at most) makes a better cheese.
You will get higher quality and a higher yield from raw milk.
Good quality artisan cheeses go for $20 a pound and up. I looked at an Asiago last week that was $26. I pay $6/gallon for raw milk and average about 1.25 pounds of cheese per gallon. I figure if my cheeses are really good, I am making them for around 1/3 of retail priices.
As I said previously, dairy farmers are only getting about 80 cents a gallon for their milk right now. That is actually below cost for most of them.
Baby Chee -
I use linen dish rags from WalMart for cheese cloth. They drain slower but they don't loose anything. I thnnk the last batch I bought was only like $6 for four of them and I cut them in half. Cheesy dish cloths but great cheese cloth! The wash great too.
I use "flour sacks" from Sam's Club to drain large curds. This is a really nice dense cloth that holds up to repeated washings. Really cheap. Back in the restraunt supplies section.
I usually use butter muslin for ricotta and soft cheeses.
Thanks for the recommendations for cheesecloth.
I'll build skills on the cheap Sam's milk. In the future when I am assured of quality control and decent low-quality milk making nice cheese, I'll upgrade and make very special and rich cheeses with the real stuff straight from the teat.
...I can't wait. But I have to anyway. {._.}