Hi all,
I'm from Sydney, Australia and my name is Lindsay.
I was making cheese about three years ago and stopped because of varying degrees of success but have decided to pick up the ball and run with it again.
I am also a very keen craftbrewer.
Thanks for your time. :)
Good evening Lindsay and welcome to the forum. I too am from Australia, but from the hot and humid north. So what cheeses have you tried so far, and what troubles were you experiencing? I also make my own mead.
I have made several batches of Camemberts and a couple of blues. I noticed even though I was very fussy with time and temperatures the cheeses were vastly different. It was then that I discovered that our Milk Processing folks are allowed to use a 'filler' in their products named Permeate. That's when I stopped.
Only recently I noticed one particular supermarket selling milk labeled with the words 'No Additives', that's when I though I would give it another go.
Up here I am able to get milk from a company called Mungally and the milk is not homogenized and comes from the Atherton Tablelands, and is so far the best milk that I have been able to get, apart from raw milk. You definately need to source a good supply of quality milk, as it will make all the difference to the yield and quality of your cheese.
Tea, I fully understand what you're saying, however, things a little different in the big smoke. I have to pay $5.05 for every two litre container that I buy. And when you do 10 litre batches that rips into the money a tad. :(
I have a friend who has a Poll Hereford Stud in the Hunter Valley and he is surrounded by dairy farmers. I visit him from time to time and spend a weekend there quite often. I have asked him to inquire with the dairy farmers if I can buy 20 or 30 litres of raw milk when I'm due to travel home. I have a cool room at home so I don't have a problem with storage.
I'm waiting for a reply. :)
Yep I pay $5 too for my milk. If you do get a farmer to sell you some, just make sure that you don't blab. It's illegal for them to sell milk privately and they can loose their license.
Quote from: Tea on December 27, 2009, 10:21:01 PM
Yep I pay $5 too for my milk. If you do get a farmer to sell you some, just make sure that you don't blab. It's illegal for them to sell milk privately and they can loose their license.
Wooah, that's something I was unaware of.
Welcome aborad Divey! Great forums and wonderful people here ready to come to your aid! Just ask and you will get many answers.
Howdy Divey and welcome, several Ozzie's here already none yet from WA I think.
AUD is strong but still ouch on your milk prices!!
John
Quote from: John (CH) on December 30, 2009, 03:49:58 AM
Howdy Divey and welcome, several Ozzie's here already none yet from WA I think.
AUD is strong but still ouch on your milk prices!!
John
Where are you from? and, what prices do you pay for your milk?
Divey, also known yet from Tasmania!
I'm mostly from Vancouver Canada but live in Houston, TX, USA.
I can't get raw milk but there's a good thread here on manufactured Past & Homogenized milk prices (https://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,1326.0.html). I'm currently paying USD1.99 for 1 US Gallon/3.8 liters or whole cow's milk, or AUD2.24 > USD0.52/liter - AUD0.59/liter.
I'm going to have to rent a moving van and go to Texas to buy milk! Even WalMart here gets almost $4/gal for their UHT milk and we can't even use that.