I want to make cheese
October 1, 2016 8:44 AM Subscribe
How do the revered do it? And what's the science? Perhaps you want to build a home cheese cave? Well, the Discovery channel explain how to turn 30,000 liters of milk into 1,400 blocks of Mozzarella, while the making of Blue Stilton, and then Swiss Cheese, are revealed. Elsewhere, Channel Cheese shows traditional Toma Ossolana, and Ricotta, making while The British Cheese Board have a short documentary. There's also some serious cheese making action in Somerset, Mary Rose Livingston, farmer owner of Northland Sheep Dairy in New York, talks about her cheesemaking, and John from the north of England makes a nice Blue Stilton.
Vats of gold:
* Parmesan: "If they left the cheese at the bottom of the tanks, someone would have to climb inside to get them out"
* Switzerland: a huge vat of cheese.
* A 1,500 litre vat.
* (promotional) Making Quark in a large vat.
* A big vat of cheese in South Africa.
* (promotional) The Dairy Heritage cheese vat with traveling agitator.
Inevitably there are online guides, though some are fronts for kits. Cheesemaking supply co. have a Beginner Cheese Maker FAQ, wikiHow provide 3 wheys to make cheese at home, the Daily Telegraph have a few instructions, there's a kit-based pictorial guide and a book promotion tie-in, while the Brooklyn Kitchen in Williamsburg show you how to make ricotta. Meanwhile, Kirsten demonstrates making a washed-rind cheese while, after a scary warning, Nori demonstrates how to make soft goat's milk cheese.
Not just cows...
- Making sheep cheese in Kentucky.
- And horse cheese in Mongolia.
- Channel Cheese (again) this time show buffalo cheese.
- The goat, from milking to cheese.
- Pork cheese has potential but (slightly alarming footage) milk extraction is a problem, though back in Mongolia they have more success.
- Okay. People cheese.
Can you make cheese at home? There are kits, but in the hands of journalists at best these provide mixed results in reviews, and at worst: plops. Gavin Webber, a self-proclaimed cheeseman in Australia, has several cheese making videos with more positive results, while an editor at Wired creates American cheese. Alexa happily makes some cheese at home, while elsewhere cheese curds are made, and Brandon the chef show us how to make Burrata.
And some more options:
* How to make homemade string cheese.
* Making goat's cheese for survival.
* Again from the prepper community (where making cheese is a big thing) we have cottage cheese.
* Homemade cheeses for beginners, from Off The Grid News.
* Natalie describes how to make vegan cheese.
Previously on AskMeFi:
- It ain't easy being cheesy!
- Where can we learn to make cheese near Chicago?
- Right now I have a gallon of lime-flavored milk
- Hard cheese from paneer?
- Like buttah!
(In AskMeFi, cheese is mentioned in 1,457 posts and 23,620 comments)
(FPP title: apologies to John Deacon; this was the alternative title we sang on the school bus)
Vats of gold:
* Parmesan: "If they left the cheese at the bottom of the tanks, someone would have to climb inside to get them out"
* Switzerland: a huge vat of cheese.
* A 1,500 litre vat.
* (promotional) Making Quark in a large vat.
* A big vat of cheese in South Africa.
* (promotional) The Dairy Heritage cheese vat with traveling agitator.
Inevitably there are online guides, though some are fronts for kits. Cheesemaking supply co. have a Beginner Cheese Maker FAQ, wikiHow provide 3 wheys to make cheese at home, the Daily Telegraph have a few instructions, there's a kit-based pictorial guide and a book promotion tie-in, while the Brooklyn Kitchen in Williamsburg show you how to make ricotta. Meanwhile, Kirsten demonstrates making a washed-rind cheese while, after a scary warning, Nori demonstrates how to make soft goat's milk cheese.
Not just cows...
- Making sheep cheese in Kentucky.
- And horse cheese in Mongolia.
- Channel Cheese (again) this time show buffalo cheese.
- The goat, from milking to cheese.
- Pork cheese has potential but (slightly alarming footage) milk extraction is a problem, though back in Mongolia they have more success.
- Okay. People cheese.
Can you make cheese at home? There are kits, but in the hands of journalists at best these provide mixed results in reviews, and at worst: plops. Gavin Webber, a self-proclaimed cheeseman in Australia, has several cheese making videos with more positive results, while an editor at Wired creates American cheese. Alexa happily makes some cheese at home, while elsewhere cheese curds are made, and Brandon the chef show us how to make Burrata.
And some more options:
* How to make homemade string cheese.
* Making goat's cheese for survival.
* Again from the prepper community (where making cheese is a big thing) we have cottage cheese.
* Homemade cheeses for beginners, from Off The Grid News.
* Natalie describes how to make vegan cheese.
Previously on AskMeFi:
- It ain't easy being cheesy!
- Where can we learn to make cheese near Chicago?
- Right now I have a gallon of lime-flavored milk
- Hard cheese from paneer?
- Like buttah!
(In AskMeFi, cheese is mentioned in 1,457 posts and 23,620 comments)
(FPP title: apologies to John Deacon; this was the alternative title we sang on the school bus)
It's not the making, it's the getting rid of that's the problem.
posted by Namlit at 9:40 AM on October 1, 2016 [6 favorites]
posted by Namlit at 9:40 AM on October 1, 2016 [6 favorites]
"Andrew Jackson, in the main foyer of his White House, had a big block of cheese..."
Also, Blur's Alex James has made the difficult transition from rock'n'roll to curds'n'whey.
posted by A Robot Ninja at 9:41 AM on October 1, 2016 [2 favorites]
Also, Blur's Alex James has made the difficult transition from rock'n'roll to curds'n'whey.
posted by A Robot Ninja at 9:41 AM on October 1, 2016 [2 favorites]
Sammyo, I've thought about it while I'm personally too lazy and have enough hobbies "nuts" isn't right.
You can obviously buy milk, including non-homogenized stuff that you want for most cheeses. The long term temperature control is a bit trickier for me (no air conditioner) but I figured one of those wine refrigerators that you can set to anything in the 50-70 degree range would have worked fine.
And that's for reasonably 'fancy' cheeses. Some cheeses don't need anything like that.
posted by mark k at 9:49 AM on October 1, 2016 [3 favorites]
You can obviously buy milk, including non-homogenized stuff that you want for most cheeses. The long term temperature control is a bit trickier for me (no air conditioner) but I figured one of those wine refrigerators that you can set to anything in the 50-70 degree range would have worked fine.
And that's for reasonably 'fancy' cheeses. Some cheeses don't need anything like that.
posted by mark k at 9:49 AM on October 1, 2016 [3 favorites]
Am I the only one disappointed that the home cheese cave was not a cave home made out of cheese?
Lots of good links for cheese lovers. The Mongolian one was interesting for the little soap opera story of the yurt living couple. I hope the happy ending continues though it is clear the daughter has plans that do not involve yurts.
The Andrew Jackson story needs the famous drawing which puts it in perspective.
posted by eye of newt at 9:59 AM on October 1, 2016 [4 favorites]
Lots of good links for cheese lovers. The Mongolian one was interesting for the little soap opera story of the yurt living couple. I hope the happy ending continues though it is clear the daughter has plans that do not involve yurts.
The Andrew Jackson story needs the famous drawing which puts it in perspective.
posted by eye of newt at 9:59 AM on October 1, 2016 [4 favorites]
Metafilter: a huge vat of cheese.
posted by Multicellular Exothermic at 10:18 AM on October 1, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Multicellular Exothermic at 10:18 AM on October 1, 2016 [1 favorite]
Yes lots of really common cheeses can be made with milk you buy at the store. If the cheese is anything other than raw milk it can be done. Some cheeses take different levels of milk fat so are more difficult but it really is all about the different cultures and being able to hold the right temperatures at the right times. And it's a smaller amount that needs to age you just need a refrigerator. I have some small cheddar cheese blocks that I made from curd I flavoured and pressed in small blocks sitting in the fridge for over two years.
posted by Jalliah at 10:39 AM on October 1, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by Jalliah at 10:39 AM on October 1, 2016 [3 favorites]
Yes lots of really common cheeses can be made with milk you buy at the store. If the cheese is anything other than raw milk it can be done. Some cheeses take different levels of milk fat so are more difficult but it really is all about the different cultures and being able to hold the right temperatures at the right times.
Seconded. I've made a couple of cheeses on a whim - I made a ricotta-ish thing once, I got a fancy kit that let me make ricotta, and I've also made this super-easy yogurt cheese called labneh, which you make by simply dumping an entire pot of yogurt into a very fine sieve and letting it sit for like a day, to drain off as much of the remaining whey as possible.
I checked out the Guardian's "food gadget tester" link above (the 'Plops' link) and I'd bet that he wasn't using the right kind of milk. I was warned that the kind of milk you get makes a big difference - if use milk that's been too homogenized, then the solids won't curdle together no matter what you do. I followed almost exactly the same process he described - using an acid to curdle the milk, and straining out the whey - but I used milk from the farmers' market and had much more success. And yes, what you get there is indeed a ricotta rather than, like, cheddar or something.
But yeah, the yogurt cheese is a super-simple thing. Get a sieve and line it with a couple coffee filters, set that over a bowl, and dump in a tub of yogurt. Let that sit for a whole day (in the fridge if you want, although the counter is fine too, whatever you're comfortable with). A good deal of whey will drain out - more than you're expecting - and you'll have a softish, very thick stuff left over. Stir in some salt if you want. Then - you can roll pinches of that into little balls in your hands, layer that in a jar with some chopped herbs, pour olive oil over the whole thing and leave that in your fridge, and you have a very decent little cheese course (one or two balls of herbed cheese, spread on crackers).
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 11:24 AM on October 1, 2016 [5 favorites]
Seconded. I've made a couple of cheeses on a whim - I made a ricotta-ish thing once, I got a fancy kit that let me make ricotta, and I've also made this super-easy yogurt cheese called labneh, which you make by simply dumping an entire pot of yogurt into a very fine sieve and letting it sit for like a day, to drain off as much of the remaining whey as possible.
I checked out the Guardian's "food gadget tester" link above (the 'Plops' link) and I'd bet that he wasn't using the right kind of milk. I was warned that the kind of milk you get makes a big difference - if use milk that's been too homogenized, then the solids won't curdle together no matter what you do. I followed almost exactly the same process he described - using an acid to curdle the milk, and straining out the whey - but I used milk from the farmers' market and had much more success. And yes, what you get there is indeed a ricotta rather than, like, cheddar or something.
But yeah, the yogurt cheese is a super-simple thing. Get a sieve and line it with a couple coffee filters, set that over a bowl, and dump in a tub of yogurt. Let that sit for a whole day (in the fridge if you want, although the counter is fine too, whatever you're comfortable with). A good deal of whey will drain out - more than you're expecting - and you'll have a softish, very thick stuff left over. Stir in some salt if you want. Then - you can roll pinches of that into little balls in your hands, layer that in a jar with some chopped herbs, pour olive oil over the whole thing and leave that in your fridge, and you have a very decent little cheese course (one or two balls of herbed cheese, spread on crackers).
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 11:24 AM on October 1, 2016 [5 favorites]
From eye of newt's link:
Well, probably because it had it's original cultures intact, and the only crap we're able to get is pasteurized.
I sometimes wonder what the rate of irritable bowel would be in this country if we had real, living cheese.
posted by jamjam at 12:55 PM on October 1, 2016 [3 favorites]
By 1837 Jackson’s second term was winding down, and he wasn’t about to haul a two-year-old mountain of cheese with him when he left office. So he decided to make the famed fromage a featured player at his last public reception at the White House. It was an astute move; there’s nothing people love more than free food. The reception’s 10,000 visitors attacked the wheel of cheese with such fervor that the entire thing was gone within two hours.How in hell was Jackson's cheese edible after two years when none of the cheddar I buy will last two months in the fridge?
Well, probably because it had it's original cultures intact, and the only crap we're able to get is pasteurized.
I sometimes wonder what the rate of irritable bowel would be in this country if we had real, living cheese.
posted by jamjam at 12:55 PM on October 1, 2016 [3 favorites]
How in hell was Jackson's cheese edible after two years
It probably wasn't. Deliberately mass-poisoning his guests on a whim would not be out of character for that omnimalevolent genocidaire.
posted by justsomebodythatyouusedtoknow at 1:11 PM on October 1, 2016 [3 favorites]
It probably wasn't. Deliberately mass-poisoning his guests on a whim would not be out of character for that omnimalevolent genocidaire.
posted by justsomebodythatyouusedtoknow at 1:11 PM on October 1, 2016 [3 favorites]
Yeah, except that his guests were all white people.
posted by jamjam at 1:21 PM on October 1, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by jamjam at 1:21 PM on October 1, 2016 [1 favorite]
Out of curiosity {does quick search} huh; there are 43 MeFites with "cheese" in their username. Including a competing Mister Cheese and MrCheese!!!, a pair of stinky cheeses, and ... I wish there was an explanation for this one.
posted by Wordshore at 1:27 PM on October 1, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Wordshore at 1:27 PM on October 1, 2016 [1 favorite]
I've been on a massive cheese-making kick lately and so yes, I like this very much!
posted by iamkimiam at 1:33 PM on October 1, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by iamkimiam at 1:33 PM on October 1, 2016 [1 favorite]
I've been on a massive cheese-making kick lately
Bless you!
posted by Harvey Kilobit at 2:01 PM on October 1, 2016 [1 favorite]
Bless you!
posted by Harvey Kilobit at 2:01 PM on October 1, 2016 [1 favorite]
Well, probably because it had it's original cultures intact, and the only crap we're able to get is pasteurized.
Nothing to do with it being pasteurized or not. As I said up thread I got my own pasteurized cheese curds and it's been in my fridge for over two years. At the factory I worked at it would be stored for years as well. The cultures that make cheese into cheese are added to the milk they don't automatically come with it pasteurized or not.
If it's opened it won't last long because bacteria or mold will get to it. Opened cheese won't last unless it's treated to keep contamination down to a minimum (like don't touch the surface or put on a non sterilize surface) and seal it up tightly every time. Though it can easily be contaminate by just mold in the air.
As long as it was sealed well it should last, especially hard cheese for a very long time.
Jackson's wheel was likely dipped in wax and kept in a cool place. It also very well could have developed mold on outside and just cut off. As gross as it sounds with hard cheeses cut the mold off and the cheese is fine safe. Before refrigeration it was quite normal to just regularly cut bits of mold off the outside of the blocks that were being used, for hard cheeses at least. With soft cheese mold development is more sketchy.
If your un-opened packaged cheese is not keeping then that's not right and quite frankly if that's a regular occurence I wouldn't buy that brand it anymore. I can think of a dozen reasons why packaged cheese would go bad in an unopened package and every single one is a warning sign that quality control in whatever plant is making it isn't up to snuff.
posted by Jalliah at 2:04 PM on October 1, 2016 [5 favorites]
Nothing to do with it being pasteurized or not. As I said up thread I got my own pasteurized cheese curds and it's been in my fridge for over two years. At the factory I worked at it would be stored for years as well. The cultures that make cheese into cheese are added to the milk they don't automatically come with it pasteurized or not.
If it's opened it won't last long because bacteria or mold will get to it. Opened cheese won't last unless it's treated to keep contamination down to a minimum (like don't touch the surface or put on a non sterilize surface) and seal it up tightly every time. Though it can easily be contaminate by just mold in the air.
As long as it was sealed well it should last, especially hard cheese for a very long time.
Jackson's wheel was likely dipped in wax and kept in a cool place. It also very well could have developed mold on outside and just cut off. As gross as it sounds with hard cheeses cut the mold off and the cheese is fine safe. Before refrigeration it was quite normal to just regularly cut bits of mold off the outside of the blocks that were being used, for hard cheeses at least. With soft cheese mold development is more sketchy.
If your un-opened packaged cheese is not keeping then that's not right and quite frankly if that's a regular occurence I wouldn't buy that brand it anymore. I can think of a dozen reasons why packaged cheese would go bad in an unopened package and every single one is a warning sign that quality control in whatever plant is making it isn't up to snuff.
posted by Jalliah at 2:04 PM on October 1, 2016 [5 favorites]
We have seen thee, queen of cheese,posted by Harvey Kilobit at 2:04 PM on October 1, 2016 [3 favorites]
Lying quietly at your ease,
Gently fanned by evening breeze,
Thy fair form no flies dare seize.
It a lot less stress if you don't name your cheese until after you taste it. I used to try for absolute consistency in taste and texture. Now I just let the bacteria surprise me depending on which goat the milk came from, how long she's been in milk, what she's been eating, how fresh the milk is, etc., etc. Just get everything that's going to touch the milk a close to sterile as you can and have fun.
Unless you've got $130K to invest in getting your dairy and creamery up to code, you're not going to be able to sell your cheese legally anyway.
posted by ridgerunner at 2:29 PM on October 1, 2016 [2 favorites]
Unless you've got $130K to invest in getting your dairy and creamery up to code, you're not going to be able to sell your cheese legally anyway.
posted by ridgerunner at 2:29 PM on October 1, 2016 [2 favorites]
The emphasis on sanitization and temperature control reminds me a lot of the most common advice to new home brewers. (Which makes sense because both try to make something tummy out of what's essentially "kind of spoiled food"!)
posted by wenestvedt at 8:14 PM on October 1, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by wenestvedt at 8:14 PM on October 1, 2016 [2 favorites]
In a couple of years, homecheesing will be the new homebrewing. Man caves will turn into cheese caves across the land, and nearly every family will have a goat or a sheep in the back yard. Cheeseries will sprout up by the dozens in every major city as amateurs go pro, while cheesehunters will document their tasty excursions on the new social network Unwaxxd. While most of us will be content with the odd cheddar or brie, bearded lumberjack types will duke it out over whose cheese has the most International Stinkiness Units. This will all last about five years until all the cheeseries go bankrupt as artisinal meatloaf sweeps the nation.
posted by miyabo at 9:21 PM on October 1, 2016 [6 favorites]
posted by miyabo at 9:21 PM on October 1, 2016 [6 favorites]
Miyabo, the next big home thing is going to be charcuterie and sausage making. A ton of people are getting into it, and it's just as finicky as cheese or beer.
(Yes, I know, /hamburger, but still)
posted by Ghidorah at 2:20 AM on October 2, 2016 [3 favorites]
(Yes, I know, /hamburger, but still)
posted by Ghidorah at 2:20 AM on October 2, 2016 [3 favorites]
This is where I get to tell about my Year of Cheese.
I had access to a dairy farm. Got raw, unpastuerized whole milk. I made 2 pounds of cheese a week for a year.
It was a glorious thing. At one point. I served a meal of fresh stuffed pasta (tortelloni with cheese and pork). The whole meal was locally sourced. The eggs were right off the farm.
So I had all of this whey. Nobody tells you that when you start making cheese, but there's lots of whey.
Pigs love whey.
Two little piggies, with lots of whey, plus other treats, equals big happy pigs.
So I ended up smoking some nice goudas over applewood, along with big shanks of pork belly.
That was a good year.
posted by yesster at 2:46 AM on October 2, 2016 [9 favorites]
I had access to a dairy farm. Got raw, unpastuerized whole milk. I made 2 pounds of cheese a week for a year.
It was a glorious thing. At one point. I served a meal of fresh stuffed pasta (tortelloni with cheese and pork). The whole meal was locally sourced. The eggs were right off the farm.
So I had all of this whey. Nobody tells you that when you start making cheese, but there's lots of whey.
Pigs love whey.
Two little piggies, with lots of whey, plus other treats, equals big happy pigs.
So I ended up smoking some nice goudas over applewood, along with big shanks of pork belly.
That was a good year.
posted by yesster at 2:46 AM on October 2, 2016 [9 favorites]
That sounds delicious. I've always smoked cheese (gouda, cheddar, jack, and blue; mozzarella was too moist to really get any flavor) with cherry, I'll have to give apple a try sometime.
posted by Ghidorah at 7:04 AM on October 2, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Ghidorah at 7:04 AM on October 2, 2016 [1 favorite]
"Have you ever questioned the nature of your own reality home cheese cave?"
posted by turbid dahlia at 8:54 PM on October 3, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by turbid dahlia at 8:54 PM on October 3, 2016 [2 favorites]
A piece of advice: If you plan to make cheese out of store-bought milk, which you totally should try, make sure you don't get ultra-pasteurized. The casein doesn't coagulate like it's supposed to.
posted by Foam Pants at 12:24 AM on October 6, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Foam Pants at 12:24 AM on October 6, 2016 [1 favorite]
Ultra-pasteurized or ultra-homogenized? I'd thought I'd heard it was the latter.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:00 AM on October 6, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:00 AM on October 6, 2016 [1 favorite]
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posted by sammyo at 9:32 AM on October 1, 2016