Hello from middle America—This forum is great. I'm a recently retired book editor, so I have lots of time to experiment in the kitchen. Over the past about six months I've made several recipes from Ricki Carroll's wonderful book Home Cheese Making. Everything has been edible and a couple quite good. Now, I feel ready to start learning some of the subtleties that make for so many different varieties of cheese. If I could be more consistent, that would be good. For example, my family loves a recent cheese I made, from a recipe for Gouda, but flavored with dry mustard and Guajillo chile peppers from my garden (I told you I have lots of time). Yum! But I wonder if I can ever make it come out the same way again. Thanks to everyone for the good info here.
Hi Marilou,
One thing you'll want to do is take copious notes. Detailing all aspects of a cheese make will help you shoot for the same targets. For example, I have 3 Camembert style cheeses aging right now. 2 are from the same batch and smell buttery. The third is from a different make, which I overheated to 115 f. It smells a bit like a Swiss. However, if it turns out I like the mistake cheese, I'll know what to do to shoot for it again. Best wishes.
Hi Marilou, welcome to CFO, we have members all over the world, where you at, Happy New Year!