With the help of this forum, and 200 Easy Cheeses, I've made a lot of cheese: at least one every week since September. I'm consistently producing good, eatable cheeses, but the only truly memorable ones were made from raw Jersey milk that I get locally. I can't afford to spend $7.50 a gallon with any frequency, so I use cheap milk, and get cheap cheese. Good, but not great. My question is, if I were to use a gallon of the good milk along with three gallons of my cheap but serviceable milk, would I be getting enough benefit from the NSLABS in the raw milk to make a difference? Particularly in the cheese I'm currently working with, my modification of Pav's fresh curd recipe, where the milk is pre-ripened for almost three hours. Enough time to get benefit from the native flora in the milk, to spread into the cheap P/H store bought?
Dave in CT
Quotewould I be getting enough benefit from the NSLABS in the raw milk to make a difference?
Yes. Moreover, you'd benefit from indigenous lipases, and a better casein structure. It will taste just like it is, better than store bought, not as good as all raw.
Cheeses like the one you're working on, or washed curd ones tend to work OK for store milk.
Is there any cheese that is 'just fine' from store milk? What about Parms or other types that use skim milks?
I can get my Jersey raw only once a week. The fact that it costs $16 per gallon in the SF bay area is also tuffff.
(The cream is $10 a pint.) Something cheaper (Berkley Farms, eg) would be nice.
annie
QuoteIs there any cheese that is 'just fine' from store milk?
Blues do turn out rather nice. Like my Stilton recipe with Clover (in your area) or similar milk is rather nice. Clover should be what, $4/gal? Still try to get the best store milk you can, though. It's the homogenization that makes store milk crap for most cheeses. Sometimes, a bloomy rind will turn out OK.
QuoteWhat about Parms or other types that use skim milks?
They're OK, very edible, and very usable for cooking. You get the lipase action and low moisture, and that works even though the fat is homogenized. Anything with moderate moisture, even cheddar just does not turn out well. there are ways to try and work around it, like by using specific strains of helveticus and acidophilus, but it's kind of hit and miss.
Annie,
I've had fairly good results with Caerphilly, Butterkaese, and Lancashire with store bought milk and Flora Danica or MM100. We sometimes put saffron in the Butterkaese, which is great and gives another layer of flavor. I've also made Butterkaese adding sazon seasoning mix into the milk. This makes a cheese rather like American, and our kids love it.
All of the Swiss type cheeses I made came out fine, they just are not great. Comparable to the store brand I get for $4 a lb. Fine when put in a sandwich with my home made pastrami - doesn't upstage the meat, melts well.
I'm going to try more additives, like horseradish, seeds, and so on. The inclusions can give a flavor that the store bought milk lacks. I guess that's why mass producers started doing that.
A Leiden I made from cheap milk came out just fine, because the cumin seeds have so much flavor.
When I say cheap milk, I don't mean bad milk. The milk I'm currently getting at Aldi's for $2.09 a gallon seems to be gently handled. I don't even need to add calcium chloride, and get a nice curd that's only fragile for the first few minutes.
Dave in CT
Dave,
Thanks for the suggestions. I also make Pastrami, or actually just about anything you can cook yourself. My PASSION!
When I die, I'm probably going to reincarnate into a loaf of my sourdough... I think somewhere else on the forum,
someone was asking about sourdough starters. It was a question I could answer, but I couldn't find it again. Maybe
you saw it. I live in the San Francisco area and, as everyone knows, we have great 'yeasties' etc. here.
And Linuxboy, once again, you've given me much to digest. I'm excited to hear about the Stilton. It's on my 'do soon'
list. I've done blues but not that one and it looks like great fun. I just have to dig up your recipe again. (that was a
hint)
Now, we do have Clover, but our best local dairy is Berkeley Farms. Trader Joes carries their line, only under the Trader
Joes label. (and not nearly as dear) I believe that this milk may be non-homogenized. And the people at the dairy suggested to me how to get their freshest products.
The Cheddars I have made (and held for over a year) are lovely with the raw. So I probably wouldn't change that.
Once again, thank you Dave and Linuxboy,
annie
Oops....
Linuxboy, I repeated something that I was 'told'... Not a good thing to do. I just pulled some reviews of local milks, and it appears that Strauss products are the best. They are also non-homogenized. They are more epensive than Berkeley Farms, but not as pricey as my beloved Claravale raw. Also, the real reason I wanted to know about store bought was that I can only get my Jersey on Wednesdays. And while I will still start cheeses mid week (I work), it would be nice to have a relaxed
week-end day to start one. The Strauss I can get at my local Lunardi's and I can be sure that it is fresh.
Thanks,
annie