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Friday, July 13, 2012

Cheese Glorious Cheese - Yes I can!

I did it!  I made cheese!  Woo hoo!



So maybe it was a good thing that yesterday's cheese was a flop because it makes me feel like it's not that easy, but I can do it anyway, damnit!  I am pooped out, though.  Lots of standing and walking back and forth between cheeses.  I made 2 today.  I cut the recipes in half so I only used 1 gallon of milk total.  Which is good, because there's only two of us to eat all that cheese.  My next cheeses will take much longer to age, so that'll give us time to eat these.

Here's a little picture show for you:

home cheesemaking starter kit
 My package arrived!

 Inside the package all my goodies! Mesoph... culture, Rennet, Thermoph...culture, calcium chloride, and other stuff.  The red rectangle is cheese wax - so excited!

home cheesemaking starter kit
 Oops, the box was turned around.

heat milk
 To heat the milk very slowly, I set the pot in a sink of warm water

sour milk
 This is the "cheese" that never set.  Sour milk :(

heat milk crockpot
 An experiment turned fabulous.  My cheese pot in a crockpot 
with warm water heats very slowly just like I need it to.

drain cheese curds cheesecloth
 Houston, we have curds!

draining whey
 Draining the whey
failed Ricotta
Attempt at Ricotta from the whey - failed, but no biggie

homemade feta
 Feta is consolidating 

homemade feta
 Feta is firm enough to cut to drain further

homemade feta
Yes, I did, cut the cheese

feta and cherries
The other cheese I made today, cottage cheese.  
HUGE difference from store bought.  Has layers of flavors.

Still need to soak the feta in brine overnight, then wait a few days for it to ripen.  In the meantime I will devour the cottage cheese.  Goes so well with the in season cherries.  I can't stand how good this is!

It's even about to rain.  What a difference a day makes!

stormy day

PS

My neck never felt better today.  I think cheesemaking agrees with it.

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