Homemade cheese

**_JP_** · 12-02-2009, 09:04 PM

Anybody here that goes to the bother of making cheese? I make a basic cheese in my kitchen from a combination of whole milk and buttermilk. Quite good when it's fresh, or chilled.

**timmy** · 12-02-2009, 09:24 PM

Never tried it, but thought about it after reading the following book

The Self-sufficient Life and How to Live It

**Buck47** · 12-02-2009, 09:48 PM

I've been thinking about it. Spent some time on the web, found a few good web sites.

Take a look at these let me know what you think.

Frankhauser's Cheese Page
http://biology.clc.uc.edu/Fankhauser/Cheese/cheese.html

The Cheese Forum
http://cheeseforum.org/default.htm

And here is the best one
This woman makes a lot of cheese and she lives in Brooklyn

http://heinennellie.blogspot.com/200...1_archive.html

**Confuzius** · 12-03-2009, 05:18 AM

I've made Tvorog and Paneer but nothing aged or complicated.

**Luc** · 12-03-2009, 11:59 AM

I got a cheese making kit for my birthday a few years back. I tried it. Nice stuff.

What would really interest me is to make my own cheese curds

**Dennis** · 12-03-2009, 12:12 PM

I tried, unsuccessfully. I never got the break after adding the rennet. Haven't tried since.

**FreezerBurns** · 12-09-2009, 08:37 AM

I made some cheese I saw Alton make on Good Eats using a gallon of skim milk and some vinegar. It turned out great, homemade cottage cheese.

**Sue** · 12-09-2009, 09:31 AM

I have. A friend from Holland got me started and I am unsure what the type cheese we made is called. It was a white cheese and we dipped the small blocks in wax.

You will probably need a press. They can be pricey. I made one out of two wood cutting boards that would fit into my kitchen sink. Drill a hole in the four corners of each lining up the holes. In what will be the top board make the holes just a tad bigger so it will slide easier. Use wood glue and glue four sturdy dowel rods the bottom. Put the standing dowels into the top board.

You can use a filled milk jug for a light weight. For a heavier press needed for hard cheese like cheddar, I used weight lifting disks, (whatever they are called ?).

For the bowl I used a large margarine tub and made holes in it with a red hot nail for drainage. When pressed it made a nice medium size wheel of cheese.

Give it a try, it's fun but can be addictive. The problem is you have to wait so long to enjoy it.
Sue

**Mama Bear** · 12-12-2009, 09:49 PM

I have two beginners kits.. got them here http://www.thegrape.net/browse.cfm/2,1430.html but haven't actually made them yet, I want to tho.. I made lasagna today and kept thinking I could have used my own mozzarella and riccotta... this one kit makes both and you can use right away. http://www.thegrape.net/browse.cfm/4,10278.html this kit makes 30 lbs of cheese.. either mozzarella or riccotta.. I have to try this...

**Cheech** · 12-13-2009, 01:37 AM

SWMBO makes cheese. She's made feta, mozzarella, lactic, and ricotta. Its actually not that difficult. You may want to check out "Home Cheese Making: Recipes for 75 Delicious Cheeses" (http://www.amazon.com/Home-Cheese-Ma...0696736&sr=8-1). She loves it, and says it has been a great guide.

You can get started with minimal supplies. You can check out New England Cheesemaking Supply Co. for further.

Originally Posted by Confuzius

I've made Tvorog and Paneer but nothing aged or complicated.

How do you make tvarog? Is it hard trvarog or soft? That stuff is great, and I haven't had it in forever. As long as I'm posting, do you have the recipe for sweet dumplings?

**thunderball** · 12-13-2009, 02:27 AM

Originally Posted by Luc

I got a cheese making kit for my birthday a few years back. I tried it. Nice stuff.

What would really interest me is to make my own cheese curds

Montreal poutine perhaps?

**Cheech** · 12-13-2009, 02:35 AM

Originally Posted by thunderball

Montreal poutine perhaps?

I so long to try that stuff. If only they had it here in California...

**Confuzius** · 12-13-2009, 09:30 AM

I think this is the recipe I used for Tvorog
http://yulinkacooks.blogspot.com/200...rs-cheese.html

And this one for Syrniki (the dumplings)
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/russian...ki/detail.aspx

Tvorog with honey and raisins is also great on toasted borodynski bread (a dark corriander/rye/pumpernickel trype bread) no recipe for the bread though...

**Luc** · 12-13-2009, 12:01 PM

Originally Posted by thunderball

Montreal poutine perhaps?

Spot on Dave!

They have a 'Lord of the Fries' with a 'French Canadian fries' here but they use grated mozzarella. Anyone who had Poutine before knows that's the fake poutine...

**chilipepper** · 12-28-2009, 09:04 AM

I've been making cheese for a little over a year now and have had some good success and some good failures too. Here is a Stilton that I've been really trying to perfect:

I started out with the kits and such for soft cheese and then moved to hard cheese and mold ripened cheese. The later being the one I'm most interested in. There is a ton of great information and recipes over at http://www.cheeseforum.org/forum. You can also see many of my cheeses and recipes there under this same username. I also started a little blog of some of my cheeses too but have been just too busy to contribute too much there. http://www.thecheeserie.com.

Let me know and I'd be glad to help where I can.

Ryan