Hi there cheese makers.
I zm very new to all this cheese stuff. Have been making yoghurt for some time but in september 2011 my partner got me a cheese making kit for my birthday. The rest as they say is history! I love eating so many different cheeses, and i just want to make them all.
Tryed to start slow. Have made some nice goat feta, hallumi, ricotta &marscapone many times with good success. Now i think i have over steped my limits. I have offered to make the cheese platter for families christmas get together. In the cave i have got- epoisse, brie, crottin, gouda& a farmhouse cheddar. Wish me luck.
I think this site is amazing. It doesn't seem like there is a problem out there that couldn't be solved by all you happy cheese makers
Cheers Leasa
Welcome to the virtual club!
Wow, you are up to bat for Christmas, fingers crossed for you!
Hi John.
Thanks for the welcome.
Yep! Christmas could turn into a cheesy mess. Oh well can only try!
Hi Leasa,
Welcome to the forum. Great to see more Aussies getting onto the forum and exchanging ideas. There is a great amount of information available, lots of friendly advice and quite a lot of Aussies here to help with local advice. Where abouts in Aus are you?
I too have been making cheese for only a short time, May this year, but have concentrated on camemberts predominately, and have just successfully started Fetta. I have also made some good mascarpone and quarg, and regularly make yoghurt. Next challenge is halloumi and blue brie, before moving on the straight blues and washed rinds. I'm also starting to get keen to try some harder cheeses, but I guess I'll need a press for that!
You have set yourself a real challenge with the Christmas project, you'r very brave! ;)
Have fun, and ask any question you can think of, as someone will have an answer.
welcome to the forum Leasa. Sorry about your addiction....
Quote from: zenith1 on November 13, 2011, 12:41:55 AM
welcome to the forum Leasa. Sorry about your addiction....
Hi, my name's Boofer...and I . . .
crave . . . making and enjoying cheese. ;)
Hey, Leasa, you'll probably get a fair amount of interest in how your Epoisses is doing. Quite a few threads recently looking at it.
Welcome aboard.
-Boofer-
Welcome Lesa :)
Hi everyone thanks for all the welcomes.
Boofer you said i might get a lot of interest from my epoisse. Well typical me i just jumped into this forum without looking at how it all works and i posted a epoisse question in the problem page. I've had quite a few looks but no help. I think i should of put it into the washed rind section, not sure how to get it moved?
Bob- I've seen there are a few aussies on here, which is fantastic! I'm from a beautiful part of Queensland, Mt Tamborine, Gold Coast hinterland.
My partner makes fantastic beer and bread, and now I'm making cheese. This IS the good life.
Leasa,
Gold Coast hinterland is beautiful, much nicer than the crowded coast! You have it made with beer, bread and cheese. Just need to crush a few grapes and you'll have everything you need for a perfect summer afternoon! :)
I'm in Nar Nar Goon, West Gippsland, Victoria, another beautiful part of the world. We may not have as much sun as you guys get, but I do have access to beautiful fresh milk from one of the best dairy areas in Australia!
Have fun on the forum.
Lucky you Bob. Do you get raw milk.
We went on a farm stay weekend a bit back and the farmer GAVE me 8 lts of freshly milked cow juice. I made one tiny little cheddar ( the cow was feeding a calf and i got the left overs) & the discs of epoisse.
Where are you from? Nar nar goon. No offence but is that a real place????
Wine making- no thanks to hard , plus grape growing, i'd call that farming not for me.
Please really i want to know about nar nar goon are yiu in farming area?
Greetings Leasa and welcome to the cheese fanatics club. I'm just down the road near Mt Cotton(beenliegh Redland bay road). I applaud your Christmas Venture. So, it's about 7 weeks to Christmas and there are also some wonderful hard cheeses that you can make that will mature that will complement you softer cheeses. I don't know what is in your kit so I'm just assuming you don't have any lipase or thermophilic culture here are a couple of suggestions.
Farmhouse Cheddar - this one is a good 6 week maturing cheese - this doesn't use the traditional 'cheddaring technique' but its a good cheese nonetheless.
Monteray Jack - this is 4-6 week maturing cheese and you can add herbs and peppercorns or chili to both
You may even have time try a Camembert - I wouldn't for my first but if you are brave it's a lot of fun !!
if you have lipase and a thermophilic culture a Manchego is a cheese of good taste. if you don't have cheese colouring don't worry as a nice creamy cheese looks wonderful on the platter. But, in case you want something just a bit different visually. Infuse 10-12 strands of saffron in 1/4 cup of boiling water and let cool. Drain and retain the liquid and the strands. Add your Calcium Chloride to this when cool and this is then added normally. When you break up the curds by hand (milling) add the reservered strands. Looks amazing when you cut it open.
Have Fun
-Mal
Yes Leasa, Nar Nar Goon is a real place! It is located about 70km's from Melbourne, just past the outer south eastern suburbs, in West Gippsland. It has always been a farming community, predominately dairy originally, but now a mix of dairy, beef and horses. There is also some very productive vegetable growing land just south of here, where much of Australia's export crop of asparagus is grown. The town is not famous for much, except it's name and the murals on the buildings. ;) If you have a look at Wikipedia you can see some photos. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nar_Nar_Goon,_Victoria (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nar_Nar_Goon,_Victoria)
We live on a 10 acre property adjacent to the town, where we have horses. I get my milk from a friendly local farmer, straight out of the vat, cream and all ;D
Figuring out Epoisse, Brie, Crottin, Gouda and Farmhouse Cheddar in a month + aging it is "taking it slow"??? Ambitious!
No Not taking it slow! Have been a bit crazy. No more cheese untill the new year. Have to see what happens to all i have going first. Will only be doing the stamples till then, feta and maybe some hallumi. Doing a 2 day cheese course in new year so hopefuly that will sort me out.
Welcome to the forum Leasa.
Hey Boofer, where were you on the last CA meeting? ;D They served tofu on crackers :P
Quote from: Gürkan Yeniçeri on November 17, 2011, 09:29:34 PM
Hey Boofer, where were you on the last CA meeting? ;D They served tofu on crackers :P
Aaackk!! :o :P
-Boofer-