Hello,
My name is Nitai. I am part of a small cowshare program in Northern California and we have begun making cheese as well. We use raw organic Jersey milk and have had a fair amount of success in our first session of cheesemaking. Now we are looking to hone in and really undrstand and craft our ideal cheeses. I thought joining this forum might help.
Thank you!
Welcome to the forum!
Hi Nitai, You are at the right place to hone in.
What sort of equipment do you have?
Hello Nitai, welcome, have fun, lots of info here!
Quote from: GurkanYeniceri on April 09, 2010, 03:14:38 AM
Hi Nitai, You are at the right place to hone in.
What sort of equipment do you have?
Well, the last time around I had two digital thermometers, a four-gallon pot, a 14" curd knife, a cheese press from thecheesemaker.com and a mold and follower that held about the curd from 4 gallons. And of course some stirring utensils and what not. I also have a Foodsaver vacuum sealer and an upright freezer and mini fridge with override thermometers.
When I start again in a month or so I hope to be doing 8 gallon batches in a hotel pan style pan. I may need to have it fabricated though. Then I will put it in a larger pan for a water bath and heat it all on my 6-burner stove. I am also going to have a PH meter, hopefully some nice molds, and a lot more knowledge and experience!
I live off the grid so that limits some of the tools I can use...Solar system is strained as it is.
As I mentioned we use all of our own raw Jersey milk.
Thanks for the welcome,
Nitai
Do you have a wood stove or gas? Just curious because I sometimes use our woodstove to heat medium batches and it works very well because you can adjust the temp by moving the pot. I also use my own raw cow's milk from a jersey and a guernsey. One day I am going off grid too; or at least be where I can.
We have gas. When you go off grid, be sure to overestimate your usage! Grid tie in can be really great because you could hypothetically supply all your power, make a little money and avoid the nightmare lead-acid batteries.
Welcome aboard Nitai
Hi again Nitai,
For the molds you can look at http://www.ullmers-dairyequipment.com/cheesemolds.htm (http://www.ullmers-dairyequipment.com/cheesemolds.htm)
I am in the process of doubling my production. So far I worked with 8 litres of milk and now will try to increase that to 16 so that the cheese will be much bigger and actually worth the effort. I will also get a new press (or made one with a pneumatic cylinder and a steel frame) and some bigger molds from Ullmers.
Good luck.