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Hi! I'm interested in becoming a cheesemonger and I thought a great way to start learning about cheese is by trying to make my own. What books do you recommend for a beginner? I read that Home Cheese Making by Ricki Carroll is great, but not the best for a beginner. What does everybody think of Making Great Cheese at Home by Barbara Ciletti?

Hi awesomektz, welcome, I see from your profile that you are in Austin, presumably Texas so through Amazon etc you should have good access to books.

There are reviews of several popular cheese making books in our Library, also if you search on "Books" in the Discussion Board you will get several threads similar to yours. Should give you some ideas, which book all depends on your goals.

If you are looking for info on styles, taste and texture, then the Cheese Bible by Christian Yeubner is a good off the shelf resource but it does not go into cheese recipes. It does hit on pairing and a good group of recipes using cheeses.   
                                                 Jaspar

Quote from: Jaspar on August 22, 2011, 10:50:43 PM
If you are looking for info on styles, taste and texture, then the Cheese Bible by Christian Yeubner is a good off the shelf resource but it does not go into cheese recipes. It does hit on pairing and a good group of recipes using cheeses.   
                                                 Jaspar

I would agree.

Also, as a means of rounding out my cheese knowledge, I have been sampling various cheeses from iGourmet.com. There are a lot of cheese purveyors out there. I have been very happy with the selection, price, and quality that iGourmet offers.

After tasting a German Tilsit from iGourmet recently, I decided to make my version of that style. It's a little over two weeks old at this point.

-Boofer-

I steer everyone away from Ricki Carroll's book.  Way too many inconsistencies.  My personal favorite (because I own it, probably) is Debra Amrien-Boyes 200 Homemade Cheese recipes.  I've had great success with the recipes and enjoy her descriptions of the different cheeses.  She also has some recipes for using the cheese you make.

personally, while i am so drawn to books like this, i steer away  (just as was mentioned with mrs. caroll's book; too many inconsistencies, and i have no experience to know the difference).

forums like this, are my favorite way.  i want to learn from people like me who do these things.

IMO, this forum is your best bet: and there is just as much information here, than in a book   

While I like The Cheese Bible, and gleaned some techniques, I would strongly recommend avoiding the most current version.  The older version really detailed many individual cheeses.  The new one has mostly overviews of cheese types and lots of cheese related recipes for cooking.  I'm not sure what book I'd recommend for mongering, probably The Cheese Primer by Steven Jenkins, though I haven't seen it in a while.