Cheese and Cheese making

[boulderbrewer]

Fresh goats milk is what I use when we have it. I'll used store bought milk if I have to.

[tubercle]

  Tubercle has been making cheese for about a year now. Starting to specialize in cheddar and Gouda. Done went through several variations of presses and have not really been satisfied with the results. Cheeses is good but the right kind of press will make it better. I got a plan in mind for a Dutch press design that I'm gathering up parts for now with a block and tackle weight system.
 
 Been using store bought milk so far with excellent results. I have a source for raw cow and goat lined up but waiting to get the process nailed first.

 Moving on to blues and Swiss styles soon. Got to get another temp controlled fridge first. The one I got now is full.

 Tried the waxing thing. To heck with that mess, bought a vacuum sealer, much better.

 Read all about it.... http://Cheeseforum.org

[boulderbrewer]

I agree with a vacuum sealer. You can always open and get the mold off.

Swiss is a different animal, my guess is you have to press warm and in liquid. I'm not totaly sure about this but both of my rounds swelled pretty good.

Sticker shock on the blue mold! but if you want to try I may sell you one inoculation so you can try.

Turbercle should tell Tubercle just use the raw milk and don't be a chicken.

Cheese forum is good, Check out the http://www.dairyconnection.com/ for all you cheese making cultures.

[beerocd]

Sticker shock on the blue mold! but if you want to try I may sell you one inoculation so you can try.

Turbercle should tell Tubercle just use the raw milk and don't be a chicken.

Easy for a farmer to say - raw milk, on top of travel costs ranges from 6 to 9 a gallon.
Cuz the gub'mint says it'll kill ya dead! The farmers selling the stuff are almost like drug dealers. Who sent you, where did you come from, how did you find out about us? They're paranoid. (and rightfully so)

Could you buy a small hunk of blue cheese at the store and use that to innoculate?

[bluesman]

This is one of my favorites. Aged as long as possible.  

[boulderbrewer]

This is one of my favorites. Aged as long as possible.  

Thats my cheese but it ain't yellow.

[boulderbrewer]

Sticker shock on the blue mold! but if you want to try I may sell you one inoculation so you can try.

Could you buy a small hunk of blue cheese at the store and use that to innoculate?

It may work, I have not tried it. It is only $34 for 10 doses.

Shaved my blue cheese today, Now it looks like real blue cheese. The next shave will be in 20 days. ( I'll post a picture)

[tubercle]

Could you buy a small hunk of blue cheese at the store and use that to innoculate?

 I've read that you can take a small piece and puree it in a blender with some milk and use that to inoculate. It would be worth 2 gallons of milk to find out. Gonna try it next.

 There is a retail store a few miles from here that advertises raw cow milk and goat milk. Time to try it too. I ain't scared

[beerocd]

I've read that you can take a small piece and puree it in a blender with some milk and use that to inoculate. It would be worth 2 gallons of milk to find out. Gonna try it next.

 There is a retail store a few miles from here that advertises raw cow milk and goat milk. Time to try it too. I ain't scared

Just know that the raw milk is gonna give you a totally different texture. The farmer I got my milk from was making paneer cheese and said she couldn't do it with raw milk because it would become stringy. Depends on the cheese you're shooting for...

someone said we were gonna start talking about sausage here. Can you stuff cheese into sausage casings? And then maybe smoke it?

[tschmidlin]

someone said we were gonna start talking about sausage here. Can you stuff cheese into sausage casings? And then maybe smoke it?

I'll bet that would work.

I got some sausages from the store that had cheese in the mix.  The problem is, when you slice the sausage the cheese runs out.  The bigger problem is, that's right when you take them out of the fridge.  More like "cheese" I guess.   

[MrNate]

I think it'd be cool to have a layer of sausage, a layer of cheese, sausage, cheese, etc. until the casing is filled.

[tschmidlin]

I would eat that.  You'd have to cook it hot enough to cook the sausage though, so you'd have to hope the casing isn't broken and doesn't split during cooking.  That would make for a mess in my grill.

[euge]

One would have to heat it gently and slowly. Then hit it with some heat to crisp it up a bit. Or one could use harder cheeses like feta that really don't melt very well.

[MrNate]

I was actually thinking bleu cheese.

[boulderbrewer]

There is a butcher shop in my area that makes "Packer" snack sticks, they add jalapeno and cheddar and then smoke the sausage. It doesn't melt the cheese. I'm sure it can be done.