The Cheese Thread

[jpiwek]

jeeze, every day on this forum i find myself more and more fascinated with food and drinks!

beer, beef jerky, cheese, what will be next?

Yeah me too, Ive only just discovered AHB but there really is a wealth of info here.

"what will be next?"

How bout honey? thats the next one Im looking into. Cant wait for the day I make my first batch of mead from my own hives

 

[T.D.]

Can anyone who makes brie or camembert post a bit of a run down on how you make it? I could get seriously obsessed with cheese making I reckon! :lol:

This thread rocks! :beerbang:

 

[braufrau]

Wow! That's fantastic.

My 3 year old loves blue cheese.

What do you use for followers in the press?
Can you make hard cheese with a press like that?

Another thing to do when I down shift.

 

[AndrewQLD]

Wow! That's fantastic.

My 3 year old loves blue cheese.

What do you use for followers in the press?
Can you make hard cheese with a press like that?

Another thing to do when I down shift.

Braufrau, your 3 year has seriously good taste :lol: , my followers are made from 1" thick oak boards that I cut to size, the cheese goes into the form and then the follower and then a jam jar on top followed by the press board and the weights.
Yes I have made cheddar with this press I have had 30 kilos of weight on it for my cheddar.

Cheers
Andrew

 

[Airgead]

Great thread folks.

I've been making soft cheeses (farm style) and yoghurt for a couple of years now since my wife was diagnosed as lactose intolerant. I've got lactose free yoghurt, farm cheese and ricotta down pretty well now. I'll try my hand at hard cheese next.

The main trick I learned is that the curd sets much better if you use non-homogenised milk rather than the regular stuff. You can usually find it in your local hippy food shop. Or the hippy section of Coles.

Making it lactose free and having it taste like it is supposed to is tricky. If anyone else wants the details let me know and I'll post what I know.

Cheers
Dave

 

[braufrau]

The main trick I learned is that the curd sets much better if you use non-homogenised milk rather than the regular stuff. You can usually find it in your local hippy food shop. Or the hippy section of Coles.

yeah. In Adelaide look out for BD Farms milk.
Even if you don't make cheese it tastes fantastic one your cornflakes.

 

[Tyred]

Making it lactose free and having it taste like it is supposed to is tricky. If anyone else wants the details let me know and I'll post what I know.

Dave,I'm interested. Both my wife and I are lactose intolerant.

Strangely enough, when I brought up the topic of making cheese she said "You'll have to get another fridge then". I only have to work out where to put it when I get one.

 

[Kai]

Is there any risk making cheese close to beer? Can you make cheese in your fermentation fridge?

I've read a bit about making sauerkraut and that the organisms used in making kraut will spoil beer and very quickly and at a good distance. ie, don't make kraut in the same house as beer. Is there any risk of infecting beer if you were to age a cheese at the same time as fermenting an ale in s fridge set to 14C?

The lactic acid bacteria in the cheese might pose a risk, but I think you'd have to have some pretty sloppy practices for it to be an issue.

I would keep my cheesemaking equipment separate from my beer though.

 

[albrews]

fantastic post andrew!!!!

hi, an interesting short video on cheesemaking is on the site www.buildabbq.com

cheers, alan

 

[Duff]

hi, an interesting short video on cheesemaking is on the site www.buildabbq.com

cheers, alan

Don't worry. As soon as Tangent tries his hand at it, there'll be one on YouTube

 

[Pumpy]

Dont get mixed up cheese making with brewing or you may end up with

Stilton Brew

Tasty Porter

Brie Bock

Irish Red Cheddar


Pumpy :unsure:

 

[Airgead]

Dave,I'm interested. Both my wife and I are lactose intolerant.

Strangely enough, when I brought up the topic of making cheese she said "You'll have to get another fridge then". I only have to work out where to put it when I get one.

Ok.. lactose free cheese -

Hard cheeses are usually OK. As long as they are aged. Most of the lactose in cheese comes out in the whey. The rest is eaten by the lactic bacteria to make that nice sharp aged cheese taste. The problem is with hard cheeses that aren't aged or soft cheeses that still contain whey.

To do this you will need some lactase enzyme. The same stuff as in the lacteze tablets that the lactose intolerant carry around with them but in liquid form. We buy it at the local chemist but a lot of hippy food shops have it too. The enzyme takes the lactose and converts it to galactose which the lactose intolerant can tolerate. It takes about 24 hours to work.

The obvious thing to do is add the enzyme, wait 24 hours then make the cheese. the problem is that stage 1 of the cheesemaking is usually to inoculate with a lactic culture to give the cheesemilk the right flavour and reduce the PH. Now these cultures are good at producing lactic acid by eating lactose. Not galactose. If you convert all the lactose the finished cheese doesn't have enough flavour and the lack of acid means it goes off very quickly.

You also can't wait till the curd is going into the moulds as by then its too solid and you can't stir the enzyme in properly without destroying the texture of the curd. In a cooked curd cheese you can't even add it when you add the rennet as it won't have enough time to work before you cook it and denature the enzyme.

You need to find a point where the enzyme has enough time to work but doesn't break up the curd or cause the milk to sit too long with the culture in there or it will clabber before you can add the rennet.

After much experimentation I have found that the best result occurs when you add the culture and enzyme together. The culture has enough lactose to eat and the enzyme has just enough time to work while the milk cultures and the rennet works. For cheeses with really short culture and set times you can add the enzyme a few hours before you add the culture. The aim is to have 24 hours elapse from the moment you add the enzyme to the point where the curd is being cut. Once the curd is cut things just proceed as normal. It takes a bit of experimentation but the results are pretty good.

Cheers
Dave

 

[Cortez The Killer]

Cheese making is soooooooooo on the cards

I need more time to do all the things i wanna try

Maybe I could quit work and start selling cheese :blink:

Cheese

 

[Tyred]

Thanks for that Dave. Hopefully be able to start making cheese soon.

 

[capretta]

i think there is a regional conspiricy regarding junket!! i got books from the library on making cheese and sourced all the ingredients locally except damn junket (rennet). all these old biddies told me they just bought it the other day from coles/woolies but they havent stocked it for months! i tried health food shops only to be laughed at by muscle bound vitamin lovers, and chemists only looked at me strangely when i asked the young girls behind the counters about curds and whey!! hippie organic shops were not interested in my troubles either.

the only sympathy i got was from delis run by old greek italian families who lamented the missing junket cause the grandmother could no longer make cheese! i had shops offer to buy it off me if i ever found it.

i have discovered it appears that the major supermarkets decided not to stock it anymore causing the single factory that made it to fold. but take heart, a group of ladies from that factory heard the wailing and gnashing of teeth across the land and started http://simplyjunket.com.au/
i flicked them an email tonight and ill let you know how i get on. i have lined up 3 local shops that want it as well.

ps. i know i could get rennet on cheeselist, but for $20 (inc postage) i thought i could just waltz into a supermarket and get a substitute cheaply. it then became a matter of stubborness.

 

[domonsura]

ps. i know i could get rennet on cheeselist, but for $20 (inc postage) i thought i could just waltz into a supermarket and get a substitute cheaply. it then became a matter of stubborness.

Stubborn is good, DAMN THE MAN. WE MUST HAVE JUNKET!!!
Funnily enough, I have some in the cupboard, but damned if I can remember why I bought it. I suspect it was one of those 'geez I haven't seen this in years' purchases....... And it was from Coles too.....

 

[johnno]

There is a link here to a really basic cheese recipe. With all ingredients available at home.

Would be good for practice fo a beginner.

http://www.iskcon.net.au/kurma/2007/01/15

Then click on the "make your own homemade cheese" Link.


cheers
johnno

 

[capretta]

well i got my reply from the junket ladies!! they have accepted a few orders from local suppliers but they politely informed me that junket wasn't really a great substitute for rennet, and unless i was interested in making just "softer" cheeses rennet would be the way to go after all!! (which i probably would have realised if i got to the cheeselist faq) *******!
so back to cheeselist, they have my money now.. but at least i know junket lives on in the hearts and minds of the elderly and ethnic of illawarra, i will have to buy some now as my corner store stocks it!

 

[Cortez The Killer]

which store is that???

 

[capretta]

the corner store on campbell st near the masterbuilders called louies corner store ( the name is a little redundant but hey) also city liquor on the princes highway in fairy meadow should be getting it also which is closer to yours i think?