Cheese Makers

Comment by Andrew Cumberland on December 2, 2012 at 23:56

Bacterial Brothers and Sisters:  I wanted a group where we could freely use those bacterial words - mesophylic, thermophylic, flora danica, pronomic shermanii etc without fear of judgement or nerdy ridicule!  

Here is my oath as an amateur Fromager:  "I promise to happily share my crazy cheese experiments, regardless of whether they succeed or fail.  (Often a good balls-up can be quite helpful to others as well.)  

I vow that if I find something that tastes fantastic, I will share it with my Fromage Friends, my Brothers in Bacteria, my Cheesy Colleagues.  

This be my Bacterial Oath."

Whilst I chose to amuse myself with the lead up, this could actually flourish into a recipe sharing, tips and problem solving team.  Cheese making is so much fun, it's mostly easy (though subtle at times) and tastes great!

Comment by Lissa on December 3, 2012 at 4:31

Oui, je veux être un fromager.

Woke up at 3.30 thinking about my cheese making kit....now that's not healthy lol.

Comment by Lissa on December 4, 2012 at 5:04

Good clues, thank you :)

My beginners aim is Feta in an oil and herb marinade. I'm thinking that should be realtively fool proof! but now I know to watch for the bubbles.

The rubs sound interesting but as a total novice they're something for down the track.

"soak the cheese in a container with wine, spirit or similar"

Flavouring with wine - I have lots of red wine that I use mainly for cooking (it's good stuff I just don't drink much of it anymore) - is there anyway to use it with the Feta? Don't want to do anything with my first batch that would make it inedible.

Comment by Lissa on December 4, 2012 at 5:07

Andrew - do I add the calcium chloride and starter at the beginning of heating the milk? or when it's reached it's temp?

Being lazy here and asking instead of reading up.

Comment by Andrew Cumberland on December 4, 2012 at 21:17

You add it when it reaches 37 degrees.  Let's use real words - add the calcium back to the milk first.  Leave it for 5 minutes (we wouldn't need it if we could use real milk instead of paturised) and then add the starter.  I think they are left for a half hour or 45 mins before you add the splitter (rennit).   

Comment by Lissa on December 6, 2012 at 15:46

Ok, have followed the Mad Millie instructions, I hope correctly, for making Feta. Not difficult but a little messy as I didn't know what I was doing.

I accidentally overheated the milk while I was reading the instructions and had to wait until it cooled down again.

Below is the mix sitting in a water bath of 37C. The bowl is to keep the pot down and stop it falling over.

Below - after stirring the curds and why every 5mins for half an hour I've added some parsley and chives before pouring into the moulds. Using the water bath to steralise some of the equipment at the same time.

Below - mix into the moulds. The tiny drying rack provided in the kit is almost useless. Not nearly tall enough.

Below - 2lts of whey left over. I know now there are things can be done with this but no idea what. I've refrigerated it and will probably just drink it chilled. Quite nice really.

Comment by Andrew Cumberland on December 6, 2012 at 18:34

Nice work LIssa.  I sit my drying wrack on the side of the sink and let that last bit just drain away.  Go to the last cheese recipe in the Millie book - whey ricotta!  It's also great if you make bread with it.

Comment by Lissa on December 7, 2012 at 4:43

Should have read the bit about the brine mix before I went to bed as it's made with hot water. It's in the fridge now cooling and I'll probably add it to the Feta when I get home later today.

I plan on storing the cheese in an olive oil and herb mix in one of those large jars I have. Hopefully this will keep it longer than just the brine mix - what do you reckon? It seems to sit on the shelf at the shop for months like this.

Comment by Andrew Cumberland on December 7, 2012 at 16:18

It will indeed. Just be very careful there are no little air bubbles trapped in there (give it a gentle swirl). 

Comment by Lissa on December 8, 2012 at 5:10

Thank you :) It's important to have a success the first time around. Failures can now come occasionally and won't strike me to the heart.

It's texture is kind've rubbery - is that normal? And it was too salty for my liking - surprising how it took up the salt in such a short time. I've used some of the Giant Garlic out of the garden for the marinade. It's very aromatic.

What would you recommend I try next? I have 4lt more milk sitting in the freezer.

Very sorry about the shittake feta. How can you use it up so it's not a waste?

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