I am getting ready to (re)start my cheese making project. I am a US citizen, retired and living in the Philippines. I had attempted to start this a year ago, but health problems got in the way. Now I'm ready to try again. Dairy products are not common and they are generally expensive. I do have access to fresh cows milk and frozen caribao (water buffalo) milk.
So I am about ready to pull the trigger on buying gear in the USA and having it shipped here. There is not a lot of cheese making going on except for a French-Canadian down in Mindanao. He's setting up a commercial outfit, while I am at the hobby level. Here is what I am proposing to get started with:
Cheese Vats:
Nesco 18 Quart Roaster Oven
Adcraft FW-1200W Portable Steam Table
appropriate sized 6" hotel pans (full or half size) for the steam table
Also under consideration is an Alfa F9000 Food warmer at just a bit less than twice the cost of the Adcraft unit, but which is not louvered and has a drain spigot built into it.
I read the thread where one member maker used a food warmer/steam table similar to the Adcraft and put a full size hotel pan in it. But the specs on the Alfa's specs look like a 6" full sized hotel pan will fill it completely, leaving no room for water. I am not sure how much room there is around a 6" hotel pan in the adcraft. How much water bath is necessary for the Steam Table approach?
And if I use the roaster, the milk goes directly into the roaster's pan, no water bath? I plan to get both a Steam Bath and the Roaster. One can back up the other, plus I hope to use the steam bath for sous vide cooking as well. And the roaster to keep the turkey warm while we use our traditional oven for other things.
PID Controllers:
I will use an Aubers or Foodsavers PID unit to control heat.
I do have a small cheese press. No cheese molds, limited access to a thicker muslin cloth, not the looser weaver cheesecloth I used in cooking the States.
Meters:
I will get a Extech PH110 meter for checking PH while making. I already have a Thermopen from Thermoworksl, so monitoring temperatures is not a problem.
The Fromage:
The cheeses I am most interested in are: Mozzarella, ricotta, provolone, then cheddar, monterey jack, edam or similar, and lastly (but not least) parmigiana or similar. I will have a smoker for doing smoked cheeses at some point. And envision a cheese cave from a PID or similar control running a chest freezer, but we can talk about that after I can actually make a cheese that needs aging! :)
I have one cheese making guide/book from Australia (which isn't at hand as I post this but does include PH levels) and will order the following from the USA:
The Cheesemaker's Manual by M. Morris
Home Cheese Making by Ricki Carrol
The Joy of Cheesemaking by Jody Farnham, Marc Druart
I am open to other books that should either replace one of the above for my newbie library or that I should add at a later date.
Rennet is available here in powdered/granulated form. Some starters can be had in Manila, so I will try those first. I will order from the USA some buttermilk starter, a yogurt starter, and a couple of simple cheese starters, hoping they arrive undamaged from the trip. I do not plan to get into blue cheeses in the foreseeable future.
So I am looking for comments, particularly in the equipment area on what I should get, or skip and add. Since everything will come over stuffed in a box, bouncing over the Pacific ocean, on a container ship, hopefully it will make it in one piece. Robustness and durability is a consideration. (Starters will come FedEx air freight.)
Power here is 220 volt 60 cycle but I have plenty of step down transformers that provide 110v power, plus AVR's if necessary to help keep the power smoothed out.
Any ideas will be very much appreciated. Thank you.
Of the books I've read so far, I liked 200 Easy Homemade Cheese Recipes, and American Farmstead Cheese the best. The first for recipes and the second for an understanding of the process with getting too technical. I enjoyed The Joy Of Cheesemaking, but Ricki Carroll's book was irritating the minute I progressed beyond Fromage blanc! I have a few more books that look to be very good, but I haven't had the chance to read them yet...
Looks like you laid out the plan very well Tatoosh. I don't think you will fail anywhere.
For the books, my advice is DON'T BUY ANY.
Instead use the forum and the wisdom of crowd.
If you are itching to buy a book then get the Kosikowski's Book (http://www.cheesemaking.com/store/p/4-Cheese-and-Fermented-Milk-Foods.html). It is heavy though and the shipment will be costly. May be one of your friends would bring it to you on a holiday trip.
No books??? :o You can't ever have too many books! Thanks for the book suggestion--I'll be sure to put that one on my x-mas list! Seriously though, I think the decision to use, or not, books should be based on your learning style. There are many equally valid approaches to learning. :)
Thank you very much for your comments. I am a book guy too, but in real life, I learn better with hands on instruction and by actually doing it. But I love ideas and understanding how things work together and effect each other. So I will add the other books to my library list.
I am still rather perplexed on the cheese vat operation. How the actual hotel pans will fit the steam table, how much water will go in to act as a water bath. And the roaster question, milk directly into the insert? These are simple fundamentals that are nagging me.
The first time I went crabbing, I had no idea what I was doing, so it was throw the baited, rented "pot" over, let sit for awhile, find the float and pull the rope. We caught almost no crab. What I didn't know was that since the rented pots didn't have a top to them, but were more like collapsible buckets, you needed to get directly over the pot before pulling it up. Gravity and water pressure keep the crab inside. Not realizing that, I and my friends pulled a whole lot of rope, usually at an angle that spilled any crab out, getting a great work out, a nice day on the water, and darn little crab to show (or eat).
So I'm trying to skip as much of the effort without result as reasonably possible. Sure, it is a learning curve and things will fail. That, at least for me, is part of the adventure. And what makes success all the sweeter. My first few attempts at sous vide cooking with what was at hand were, well, far from the culinary delights I imagined. But now, we turn out succulent thick pork chops and drop off the bone ribs full of flavor. But it took time and experience to get there. I am really looking forward to the journey with cheese!
anutcanfly, I had looked at the 200 EMCR book and passed but will reconsider that one now. The American Farmstead Cheese book is in my buy next time group.
And I do appreciate the idea that asking those that are doing it is a very good way to learn, Gürkan Yeniçer. I will put the book you recommend on my "next buy" list too. The price isn't all that high, much better than the Modernist Cuisine set that, when available ... goes for $500 plus! That set is on my "buy when I hit the lottery" list.
Okay, now where did I put that Visa card? 8)
Hi, Tatoosh.
Books:
- Margaret Morris's book. I just bought and read this. I wish I had been steered to it earlier. Quality and comprehensive.
- 200 Easy Homemade Cheese Recipes. Highly recommended. Search kudos on the forum. A lot of folks here like it.
- Ricki Carroll's book is okay. There are some things you need to be watchful of though. They're mentioned in the forum.
Cave:
I don't see any mention of how you will store and age your cheeses once you've made them. Small dorm fridges work well and are fairly cost-effective. Add a temperature controller (http://www.amazon.com/RANCO-ETC-111000-Digital-Temperature-Control/dp/B0015NV5BE/ref=pd_sxp_f_pt) to keep your cheeses in a narrow range (50-55F).
Molds:
I have found a great many semi-hard and hard cheese styles can be fashioned using one 7.5-inch Tomme mold with follower. A 4-inch camembert mold (no bottom, no lid) can also accommodate several soft cheese styles.
Presses:
Search on the forum and you'll find presses ranging from a 6-foot ladder resting on the mold follower :) , restaurant-sized cans of vegetables, barbell weights, custom furniture pieces, Rube Goldberg variations on a theme, and different Dutch press styles.
Have vinegar and non-iodized salt available. A small, soft vegetable brush or fingernail brush can be helpful in cleaning off unwanted molds.
Lastly, use the forum. Got a question? Search the forum. You may find multiple answers...all good...some excellent.
Oh yeah, we like cheese porn too...so if you have pics of your cheese makes (successes & failures...just ask me ;) ) post them.
-Boofer-
Boofer,
Thanks for the insights. The Cheese Makers Manual should arrive with the food warmer/cheese vat. As well as a couple more of the books. It all will come slow boat (container ship) so I will get my fill of anticipation.
The press I have is small, but I won't be doing anything large until I am much more comfortable with the process. I don't have molds at this point and appreciate the comment very much. I am adding a couple of molds to my initial order now.
The cheese cave, when necessary, will likely be a small chest freezer or the small dormitory refrigerator you describe, on a controller. Since my first cheeses won't need aging so much, I thought I'd get comfortable with them before progressing. I am getting a controller though, so it will be here and ready for me to make the transition.
Some of the ingredients are still quite a challenge. No citric acid (powdered) but we have a ton of lemons and limes here. Citric acid may show up, it just isn't in the places I've looked so far. Same for non-iodized salt. Cheese salt or a substitute may have to be shipped. Maybe not from the States, I might be able to find a source in Hong Kong, which isn't so far from here. It is a lot of looking and getting to know the right people here for answers. Marketing is not quite the fine art here that it is else where. And things pop up, usually in Manila. A 6 hour trip for me but one I will make in the next month or so, on a resource spotting trip.
Unwanted molds (fungi type, not cheese forming) are a problem. Very high humidity here. I will add brushes too. Any recommendation on cleansers that work well with cheese? Right now we mostly clean with soap and then spray with a mixture of water and bleach.
And I will get my camera fixed and cleaned so I can share as I go.
QuoteUnwanted molds (fungi type, not cheese forming) are a problem. Very high humidity here. I will add brushes too. Any recommendation on cleansers that work well with cheese? Right now we mostly clean with soap and then spray with a mixture of water and bleach.
When this happened in the basements of monasteries where they affinage the cheeses, they washed it with local spirits, wines, beer etc. or scrape it with coarse salt.
We usually use heavy brine or vinegar with a cheesecloth to wipe the mold and drink the spirits for better use :D
Get a good supply of vinegar and packs of coarse sea salt in advance.
To clean the cave, I am using 50% vinegar, 50% methylated spirit in an atomizer.
Quote from: Gürkan Yeniçeri on October 07, 2011, 03:24:06 AM
We usually use heavy brine or vinegar with a cheesecloth to wipe the mold and drink the spirits for better use :D
Oh, Gürkan, you sly dog, I use cooking wine when I'm in the kitchen...cooking. Good wine and good cooking. Mmmm! ;)
-Boofer-
Hmm, spirits? I don't suppose Tanduay rhum would do for washing? Lots of that cheap here and I use it for making vanilla extract already.
I've found some differences in the size descriptions of the food warmers, so it looks like I will go with the Winco Electric Food Warmer, which seems to have a larger "cavity" and will hold the 6" hotel pan with room to spare.
Mozzarella and ricotta are my first projects so I don't think a cave or press will come into play until I'm comfortable with making those. Then I will look at what it takes for making a provolone and cheddar. For the harder cheeses like parmigiana, I understand it takes many months in a cave, maybe 6 or more, before they are ready? That will be an antsy period for me, I'm sure.
Plenty of time to read some books and search the forum for ideas and answers before anything arrives and I can really get started. I've been going through the downloadable library here and doing some torrent searches. When my wife's Christmas present arrives, a Kindle reader, I may download some content on that for myself. >:D
Tatoosh