cheesemaking

[echo4747]

I was wondering if anyone here has made cheese. After watching a couple youtube vids about it. seems as if its not so hard to do. I'm thinking of trying some soft cheeses (mozzarella, feta,ricotta) first. For those that have made these. How does the taste compare to what one would purchase in a supermarket?

 

[Stopsignhank]

I made ricotta twice using a recipe from food network. It is so much better than the store bought ricotta. More expensive mind you after you, but well worth it. It is pretty easy also and fun to do.

 

[DrPizza]

I can be better, it can be worse. It also offers more opportunities for flavors. E.g., adding chives to a soft cheese. It is relatively easy, but, depending on the type of cheese, you may need access to raw milk, not pasteurized homogenized vitamin D added stuff from the grocery store.

 

[NetWareHead]

you may need access to raw milk

Came in here to post this. The pasteurization process permanently changes the milk and makes it unable to coagulate or form the curds needed for cheesemaking. If you have trouble making cheese, this may be your issue.

IMO, home made ricotta, mozzarella etc... is superior to store bought. Better taste for sure. I dont like all of the additives in some store ricotta for instance. They sometimes use thickeners like xanthan gum, carrageenan etc... for profit reasons.

 

[echo4747]

Came in here to post this. The pasteurization process permanently changes the milk and makes it unable to coagulate or form the curds needed for cheesemaking. If you have trouble making cheese, this may be your issue.

IMO, home made ricotta, mozzarella etc... is superior to store bought. Better taste for sure. I dont like all of the additives in some store ricotta for instance. They sometimes use thickeners like xanthan gum, carrageenan etc... for profit reasons.

The few youtube videos I've watched, mention, at least in the case of mozzarella chesse that its OK to use pasteurized milk just not ultra-pasteurized. I'm not sure how difficult it will be to get non-pasteurized milk in my area. I live in western new york and do know that there are dairy farms in the area.. just not sure how willing a farmer would be willing to sell small amounts of milk.

 

[echo4747]

Actually here is a site that locates raw milk suppliers.:
http://www.realmilk.com/real-milk-finder/

turns I have a farm about 15-20 min from my home that sells raw goats milk I will try regular cows milk from the supermarket first.

 

[DigDog]

making cheese is easy (add rennet, stir milk, take cheese); getting it to mature into something decent is way more complicated.

 

[DrPizza]

Western NY? You can just come down and milk my goats for raw goat milk. 😛

I've actually been considering doing that a bit this year. The babies are getting close to weaning age. For a couple hundred dollars, I could be getting 10-15 or more gallons per day, for just an extra hour or so of work. Of course, I'm not sure what the heck I'd do with that much milk. That's a lot of cheese! But, your thread got me in the mood to possibly give it a shot this year.

 

[DigDog]

maturing the cheese requires an enclosed space with exact temperature+humidity range, building one won't be cheap. but, if you do, you can make a discrete amount of money from it.

 

[RearAdmiral]

I wonder how difficult it is to get your hands on buffalo milk for mozzarella...

 

[Scarpozzi]

There was a beer/wine/cheese making supply store here in town for a while. It takes a lot of milk to make cheese and as others have said, raw milk is what you want so it will do what it's supposed to do.

Just remember that quality cheese can sometimes cost $16/lb...if you're a consumer of that kind of cheese, making it yourself can actually save money. You just have to practice in small batches to get the process right.

 

[NetWareHead]

There was a beer/wine/cheese making supply store here in town for a while. It takes a lot of milk to make cheese and as others have said, raw milk is what you want so it will do what it's supposed to do.

Just remember that quality cheese can sometimes cost $16/lb...if you're a consumer of that kind of cheese, making it yourself can actually save money. You just have to practice in small batches to get the process right.

Depends on what kind of cheese we are talking about. Fresh cheeses that are made quickly and intended to be consumed quickly stay cheap. Ricotta/mozzarella need minimal ingredients and some heat and the cheese is then ready to eat. The expense starts piling on when there are ageing, smoking or other maturation steps or if expensive milk is needed.

 

[Scarpozzi]

Depends on what kind of cheese we are talking about. Fresh cheeses that are made quickly and intended to be consumed quickly stay cheap. Ricotta/mozzarella need minimal ingredients and some heat and the cheese is then ready to eat. The expense starts piling on when there are ageing, smoking or other maturation steps or if expensive milk is needed.

Well that's just common sense.

 

[CPA]

I would imagine a sharp cheddar is out of the question unless I want to wait 6 months to a year?

 

[echo4747]

Western NY? You can just come down and milk my goats for raw goat milk. 😛

I've actually been considering doing that a bit this year. The babies are getting close to weaning age. For a couple hundred dollars, I could be getting 10-15 or more gallons per day, for just an extra hour or so of work. Of course, I'm not sure what the heck I'd do with that much milk. That's a lot of cheese! But, your thread got me in the mood to possibly give it a shot this year.

If I have success/enjoy making some homemade cheese I will surely try raw goats milk. I don't have enough land at home to raise any animals. Since you already have goats, why not give it a shot if you have the time. This farm: http://www.goatmilkbuffalo.com/(goat milk fudge looks tasty) isn't too far from my home and also is near the Indian reservation gas stations. My thinking is: whatever premium I pay for raw goats milk will be offset when I fuel up at the reservation for ~$.45/gal less