[tubercle]

Tubercle has a new hobby...

...making cheese!


If I had known it was this easy and cheap I would have done it years ago.

Got 8 pounds of cheddar, 2 pounds of pepper jack and some sort of parmesan-something-or-other-hybrid-mutant I made up that is aging now. Waiting is the hard part.

  The Tubercle household loves cheese so why not.

And it easier than making beer.

[dj99]

How easy and cheap?  How many gallons of milk does it take to make a pound of cheese?  I gots to know.

[tubercle]

How easy and cheap?  How many gallons of milk does it take to make a pound of cheese?  I gots to know.

 It depends on the milk (solids and milk fat) but roughly 0.8 - 1 lb cheese per gallon. Around here store bought milk is ~ $3.29/gal. Parmesan cheese at the grocer is going for $22.00/lb So I can have a pound of any kind of cheese made in the world for the price of a gallon of milk plus about 50 cents for other ingredients (culture and rennet) and about 5 hours of my time. Just like beer!

 Aging is the hard part though. Cheddar 3 - 12 months. Parmesan - 12 to 24 months  


Just like this forum is the king for brewers, I found my wealth of info here if anyone is interested: Cheeseforum.org
Like beer forums, there are many but I found this to be the most informative. There are many places to buy ingredients - austinhomebrew.com being one.


Finally found a hobby, besides fishing, that me and the lovely and talented Ms. Tubercle can enjoy together. She considers herself a beer drinker which consist of 1/2 can of Coors light at a Christmas party once a year a "binge" but that doesn't exactly meet my definition

[dj99]

Thanks for the info!

In the NW, I buy milk for $2 a gallon, and store brand medium cheddar cheese for $2 a pound on sale.  Sharp cheddar costs more.  Costco parmesan (not too bad), is something like $3.00-$3.50 a pound   It would have to be a lot better than store bought to spend 5 hours making it at that exchange rate!

I've always thought about making it myself.  Please post again when you get it done, and let us know how it turns out.

[tygo]

You should try your hand at DIY mustard next 

[tubercle]

You should try your hand at DIY mustard next 

Hmmm....

[MrNate]

Dang, that was going to be my next endeavor. How are you aging it?

[boulderbrewer]

Get some cows, sheep or goats and it gets cheaper, free milk. I love making cheese. If you use store bought milk just don't get the ultrapastuerized milk. It does not work.

We have goats that give a very high butterfat, yumm.

[weazletoe]

  I keep kicking around the idea of cheese making. I guess the same way I tossed around beer making before I actually did it. Seems like a good plan for when I get to settled in Idaho. On thing I have not found on cheese making, does one have to wear pants while going about the process?

[tygo]

You should try your hand at DIY mustard next 

Hmmm....

Be careful with this one tubercle.  Might want to check out this thread first:  http://www.homebrewersassociation.org/forum/index.php?topic=1675.0

[capozzoli]

I would love to see some pics.

Havent tried it myself but love the idea.

So ya been making curds?

[tubercle]

Dang, that was going to be my next endeavor. How are you aging it?

 From what I understand so far, most should be aged 50-55f with some type of humidity control, usually in the 85% range. I have waxed mine so the humidity part is not in play. That's mainly for the un-waxed/un-vacuum packaged types. There are as many types and styles of cheese as beer! And about as many methods

 Right now I got them in my converted keg fridge set @ 50f (Stout & old brown on tap so I'm good). I found most use a dorm fridge w/thermo controls and a bowl of water.

  There is a lot of beer equipment, pots and fridges and such, that cross over with cheese I couldn't resist. So far I have zero investment other than ingredients and a press I bought for $70.00. After I got the press and looked at it I could have made it in 30 minutes for $5.00 Again, just like the beer hobby


 I read that mustard thing - that's funny.

[tubercle]

Get some cows, sheep or goats and it gets cheaper, free milk. I love making cheese. If you use store bought milk just don't get the ultrapastuerized milk. It does not work.

We have goats that give a very high butterfat, yumm.

 Been using store bought 2% but have just found a place about 15 min down the road that sells "raw" cow milk and goat milk. That's next. Tried the first batch of cheddar I made, aged about 1 month - couldn't wait any longer - and it tasted great but a little dryer and crumbly than I expected. Who cares, it was cheese and it was good.

[boulderbrewer]

Did you get a pressure guage for your cheese press. My first ones turned out crumbly like that. I'm guessing it is from over pressing.

[tubercle]

Did you get a pressure guage for your cheese press. My first ones turned out crumbly like that. I'm guessing it is from over pressing.

 I got one of these: http://schmidling.com/press.htm

 It has a spring that is supposed to be 50 lb bottomed out and different pressures depending on the number of turns. I haven't tested it on a scale to verify but I need to. I have found several good plans for lever types and I think I will build one of them. I've got enough scrap material laying around. I believe they would be more repeatable if not more accurate. Once I figure out the "cooking" process I think repeatably in the pressing part - time and pressure - will take it the next level.