Anyone make cheese?

[Lin]

There have been some interesting food/cooking threads recently. Does anyone make cheese? I'm interested in starting to make my own cheese, and starting off with cream cheese. I'm trying to determine how much of a difference there is in taste and texture between using the acid methods (lemon juice, vinegar), cultured buttermilk method, or mesophilic starter.

 

[pamielynn]

I make cheese on occasion - I love this site: www.cheesemaking.com, if you haven't visited it already. I having spent a lot time making different recipes of the same types of cheese, but I've always used a starter. It's wicked fun, though!

 

[ourwolfden]

I bought my hubby a cheese making kit for a present a few years ago. We make mozzarella and ricotta once. Both were kind of bland and rather ehh. But the process was fun!

 

[lsg]

I also make cheese when one of my milk cows has calved. Right now the one I was milking is raising orphan calves. I love this recipe for making lactic cheese:

http://cheesemakinghelp.blogspot.com/2011/10/lactic-cheese-with-suzanne-mcminn.html

 

[Lin]

Lsg, so you use mesophilic starter? Have you ever used acids or cultured buttermilk?

 

[kaliquen]

I've made paneer with lemon juice and mozarella with vegetable rennet.

 

[lsg]

I usuallly use the starter from New England Cheesemaking Supply. You can try live culture buttermilk to see how you like it. Here is another recipe for lactic cheese

http://www.cheesemaking.com/LacticChz.html

 

[Lin]

Thanks, I have plenty of recipes. However I cannot find anything comparing the different methods and how they affect taste and texture of cream cheese. For making cream cheese you can use a mesophilic starter which contains bacteria that produce acid to separate the curd and the whey and break down milk proteins. However you can also use straight acids such as lemon juice or vinegar. And another method is using cultured buttermilk. But no one says anything about how the different methods affect the end result. And you can also come across yogurt cheese recipes that are titled cream cheese incorrectly.

 

[Ruthie]

I'm very frugal, so I would probably start with the lemon juice and/or vinegar methods and if I liked it, I would not worry about the starter.

I am allergic to cow's milk and have been toying with the idea of trying making myself some cheese this summer. So I am happy you started this thread!

 

[FlybyStardancer]

Ruthie, can you have goat milk? That might be a good alternative.

 

[Ruthie]

Ruthie, can you have goat milk? That might be a good alternative.

Yes, I can, and I have a good source for fresh GM. She also makes cheese, but she freezes it which changes the texture.

 

[Lin]

I'm very frugal, so I would probably start with the lemon juice and/or vinegar methods and if I liked it, I would not worry about the starter.

I am allergic to cow's milk and have been toying with the idea of trying making myself some cheese this summer. So I am happy you started this thread!

That's pretty much what I'm going to start out doing, but the starter is required for other types of cheese. So if it improves taste and texture and I can get a good price in some sort of semi bulk.... I'm extremely frugal by necessity lol.

 

[alwaysme07]

I made some too, been busy with my 1 yr old though