Hello, My name is Neal, I live in the UK.
Completely new to cheese making. I have decided to make this my new hobby after bread making.
This has come about after looking for a recipe for polish cheesecake and requires Farmers Cheese to make for Christmas. While researching that I have discovered cheese making.
I will spend a lot of time researching before I buy anything, although I have ordered cheese cloth to make the Farmers cheese in a couple of weeks.
I would assume to make soft cheese first before moving onto the hard cheeses that requires equipment.
Would certainly appreciate any tips :)
Welcome Neal,
You will find this site a great place to learn and share your cheesemaking experiences. Lot's of people out there willing to help and provide answers to the many questions you will have as you embark on your cheesemaking journey.
Starting with simple lactic acid coagulated cheeses is a good place to begin. Cream cheese, farmhouse cheese and quarg are very simple cheeses that will get you learning about the basic process, as well as being good cheeses to eat. Fetta would be a great start to your rennet coagulated cheeses, followed by halloumi. These still need minimal equipment apart from some moulds for forming the cheese. There are also lots of people on the forum making queso fresco and other similar simple, early eating cheeses. The beauty of these cheeses is that you will start to learn about coaglation, curd cutting, whey draining, and be able to try your cheeses within a few days. Next you move onto some mould ripened cheeses such as camemberts, bries and blues. These need a cheese "cave" (refrigerator controlled to 12 - 14 deg C) and some mould spores and humididty controlled containers. These cheese take a little longer to mature, so you can't judge your success until 4-8 weeks later. After this you can move onto a whole world of harder, "yellow" cheeses, that require presses to form the cheese. There are lots of forum members making fantastic manchengos, gouda's, cheddars etc. Some of these will take a year or more to mature, whilst some can be eaten much earlier.
Just get started and post questions as you go. Add some photos and you will find you will get lots and lots of help and support.
Have fun,
Bob :)
Neal, welcome!
In addition to Bob's great reply, there is a Wiki: Recommendations For New Cheese Makers (https://cheeseforum.org/articles/wiki-recommendations-for-new-cheese-makers/) article which should be of some help, all the Wiki Articles are listed here (https://cheeseforum.org/articles/wiki/).
Also the Search tool is very useful, try Searching the whole forum on "Swelling" or "Swell" or "Swell Bread" you'll find several threads of contamination problems people have had from bread making yeast into cheese.
Have fun!
Thanks, been looking at the wiki and alot of infomation to take in. Also been watching some youtube videos.
I think that setting up a cheese cave maybe be difficult, not much room, also looking at the wiki they need to be modified to maintain the 12 - 14. Also it will need to have enough room if making cheeses that require a long time to mature.
Do cheeses need to be stored in a cheese cave if covered in wax, like cheddar?
Welcome to the forum Neal.
I have been reading like mad over the last few days.
So far I have a few questions
1. Milk, it looks like that supermarket milk isnt very good. I have read that a ratio of 12:1 semi skimmed to cream is ok. Will that produce good cheese? or is that not worth thinking about and find a source of raw milk.
2. Kits, I have been looking at a few suppliers and they have starter kits, they worth buying? I believe the most expensive item are presses. Ive seen tutorials that can be made easily at home.
Thanks, Im sure I will have more questions later.
Hi Neal,
Welcome to the board.
In the UK I've found Duchy Originals Organic Whole Milk (I get mine from the local Waitrose) is pretty good - it's non-homogenised which is important. I haven't been able to find a farmer who'll sell me raw milk - they claim it's something to do with food hygene laws and needing a licence - I think they're just trying to get rid of me!
I started out with a kit from http://www.cheesemaking.co.uk/ (http://www.cheesemaking.co.uk/) and the Ricki Carroll book (available from Amazon) which was a pretty good way to begin - at least you know you'll have all the bits and pieces you require!
Another bit of useful equipment is a double boiler for heating the milk. I got a 9 liter one with lid from http://www.easyequipment.com (http://www.easyequipment.com) (just search for double boiler - they seem to always have it on a sale price which is nice!).
Other sites I have used for UK deliery and been happy with are:
http://www.orchard-dairy.co.uk (http://www.orchard-dairy.co.uk)
http://www.ascott-dairy.co.uk/ (http://www.ascott-dairy.co.uk/)
http://www.homesteadfarmsupplies.co.uk/ (http://www.homesteadfarmsupplies.co.uk/)
One mistake I made was to buy a cheap (~£20) pH meter - it never worked properly so I ended up throwing it away. Guess I'll have to wait for Santa!
Cheers,
Mat.
Hi Neal and welcome. Supermarket semi-skimmed plus cream does make for a firmer curd, I've found. Getting raw milk in the UK is as rare as hen's teeth and is banned entirely in Scotland. You might be able to get it at farmer's markets as the licensed farmer can only sell it directly to the producer, or hit on a local farmer who is also licensed. A Google search might help with locating some near your area, but be aware that it (and Duchy Organic) is likely to cost more than the supermarket stuff. You can, however, try mixing some DO with supermarket milk; the quality will make a difference.
Thanks. When I get round to making cheese. If I were to make cheddar. how much milk would I be looking ar for a 1kg batch ?
About 2 to 2 1/2 Imp. galls. I aim to get a three pound cheese from 3 galls.
Quote from: matnewman on December 01, 2011, 11:15:34 AM
Hi Neal,
I started out with a kit from http://www.cheesemaking.co.uk/ (http://www.cheesemaking.co.uk/) and the Ricki Carroll book (available from Amazon) which was a pretty good way to begin - at least you know you'll have all the bits and pieces you require!
Another bit of useful equipment is a double boiler for heating the milk. I got a 9 liter one with lid from http://www.easyequipment.com (http://www.easyequipment.com) (just search for double boiler - they seem to always have it on a sale price which is nice!).
Can I ask why this equipment is needed over a standard pan? I will have to get a bigger pot, for a 1kg batch I need something to hold atleast 9 litres of milk, biggest on that site is 9 litres. To me thats a little to small, unless aiming for 1kg is too much.
Quote from: fied on December 01, 2011, 06:28:17 PM
About 2 to 2 1/2 Imp. galls. I aim to get a three pound cheese from 3 galls.
Thanks, gives me an idea.
Just been cunching some numbers and it looks like that making cheese is also cheaper than buying. I would expect that homemade cheese is just as good if not better than store brought.
I find the double boiler makes it easier to keep the milk at a steady temperature than trying to use a pan on a direct heat. I use around 8l at a time and that makes 800g or so of hard cheese, but that's all my press will take so if I got a bigger pan I'd need a bigger press too.