# Picture of my cheeses



## Cotton Eyed Does

I have Colby, Monterey Jack, Pepper Jack and in the tubs is the garlic chive ricotta spread.


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## Cotton Eyed Does

One more.


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## MF-Alpines

Very nice, Christine. I bet they are yummy!


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## Bernice

Looks so yummy!


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## buckrun

YUM!


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## Cotton Eyed Does

Thanks. I'm really proud of my pepper jack. I love the way the red pepper flakes look in it. I hope the Jack cheeses holds it's shape. The Colbys kinda of spread out some.


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## Lynn_Theesfeld

They are beautiful!!!!
Every time you get to talking about cheese it makes me want to try something other then cheve or farmers cheese. maybe someday


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## Cotton Eyed Does

It's not hard, just time consuming watching the temperatures and stuff. Wish I had a place to age it properly. I will be checking into the external thermometer thing for the small fridge probably by next year.


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## MF-Alpines

Check out wine fridges.


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## Cotton Eyed Does

My deal is I only do this just for our own cheese. I don't sell cheese so I can't really justify putting a lot of money into a special place to age it.


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## fmg

You are so ambitious! I need to find time to make more cheeses!

I've heard of people aging them in a little fridge specifically for cheese aging set to around 50*.


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## Bella Star

Wow ! Chris, They look store perfect ! I too like the way your Pepper Jack looks. Do you use a pepper and spice mix that's in store bought spice bottle or do you mix your spices yourself ?

I wonder IF I could use the plastic containers from store bought frosting mixes and punch holes in it for a cheese mold as the molds are $$ ?


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## adillenal

Somewhere I have some cheese molds for small cheeses. If I ever find them I am going to use them sometime this winter.


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## Cotton Eyed Does

I think you could use anything that has stiff enough plastic. You have to have a follower on top and have a way to press it. I have been using a gallon jar filled with water to start out with then I prop it up against the desk or sofa and set heavy books on top and even the footstool balanced on top. Anything to create the amount of weight needed for pressing a hard cheese. 

I have tasted all of the cheeses. The pepper jack didn't taste so good to me. I used the dried red pepper flakes. Not going to do that again. Dh likes it. The colbys are o.k. and the last cheddar I made was good. One of the cheddars was kind of.... sort of had a bitter taste to it that I didn't like. 

I'm done making cheese. I am drying the girls off. It was fun, but.... I like the taste of store bought cheese better than my own. .. except for that last cheddar. I could eat a half a pound of that.


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## Bella Star

Chris, Thanks , I have had bitter cheese before,some with lots of holes in it and some that turned pink that I fed to chickens  I am going to pick 2 cheeses to make and try getting it down right with making them good before moving on to another cheese type. I tried to tweak the cheese and I added to much Lipase and I thought that was what made mine bitter . My Feta and Mozz was really good tasting and looked and tasted like store bought. I only make raw milk cheeses tho. I also got some dwarf goats to add more cream into the milk as I want to work up to Brie cheese,my favorite !!!


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## eam

Linda - I make goat milk brie all the time. To me, it's MUCH easier to make than cheddar. (My cheddars don't usually come out too good....) It's nowhere near as exacting, nor does it need to be pressed. And, you can eat it in a month!

Here's the recipe I use:
http://www.gourmetsleuth.com/Recipes/Make-Brie-Cheese-943/How-To-Make-Brie-Cheese-1544.aspx

HTH.
Elizabeth


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## SANDQ

This is probably not for the purists, but I use a table top vacuum packer for sealing my cheddar cheese. I make cheese in 1 kg moulds, use my vacuum packer to seal it as soon as it is out of the mold then straight into a normal fridge, at 50 F. It is edible after 6 weeks ( a mild cheddar ) but better obviously if left longer. I used to bandage and lard, but in a normal fridge getting the humidity is difficult. My cheese dried out so much I lost so much. I went on a cheesemaking course in the UK last year ( AB CHEESEMAKING ) and this is the course that the British cheese industry sends its employees on. I was taught to vacuum pack there, and my results were phenomenal, 100% of all my cheese comes out perfect using this method, and I am now expanding my herd again to supply demand for my cheese. I say again this is not for the purists, but if you are producing for your own consumption, it saves allot of messing about with wax or bandage and getting humidity levels in a fridge correct. It also save allot of time and there is no waste. I produce on a larger scale, and this is the only way to go to keep profit margins up!!


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## Laverne

I am using a vacuum sealer also, going from wax to a ziploc bag with olive oil. I got a beer keg temperature regulator from 
Amazon.com for a used freezer I got. it keeps it at a good cheese temperature. I have the cheddars in it aging in their sealed bags and the blue cheeses on racks with a pan of water at the bottom for humidity. They are growing furry mold nicely. But if you can wait it out, I found out that a 14 month old cheddar ripening in a regular refridgerator temperature aged wonderfully. In fact that long low temp. made the best one so far. I also have cheeses that are in the fridge, enjoying retarted ripening, that I will put in the cheese cave freezer when I want aging to commence. I also have a blue cheese I made with a higher fat content, trying to mimic a sheeps cheese blue. I siphoned some of the skim milk out of the bottom when the cream rose to the top after a couple days, with the fresh milk. That will be a high calorie one.


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## Angelknitter12

Yum. I think I need to try some different cheeses.


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