# cheese ?



## Bella Star

What was your easiest cheese you made in 2008 ?


What new cheese do you plan on making this coming season ?


I didn't make very much cheese this past season but hopefully I will be into cheese-making more this year, however I will have to read and relearn cheese-making :? as I tried a lot of different cheeses to make but mastered none and so I have forgot "How to make Cheese" :blush


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## Dacaree

The only cheese I made was chevre. I use it to make a cheeseball with Ranch dressing mix. I can not keep it in the house and usually take a ball to my church group on Wednesday nights. For a church group they get pretty irate if I forget the cheese!!


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## adillenal

I finally made an almost perfect mozarella. I had tried many years ago and just gave up. I only had to try twice this time. SO proud of myself. Of course, it took me all day to just get the culture ready so I am thinking in the past, I wasn't doing that right. The Internet gives me way more information than the few books I used previously.

I would like to make chevre with a little better texture than my current attempts.


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## homeacremom

Whole milk Ricotta is probably the easiest cheese I've made. It freezes nicely so that's what I make when I have milk I need to take care of fast and not touch again. :lol I blend it and put it in casseroles/quiche as it isn't very spectacular on its own. 
Chevre/Fromage Blanc is delicious and still very easy. 

This year I want to perfect mozzarella. I have to do the long process as one of my kids reacts to citric acid additive. And this year I AM going to try brie. Storage for aging is my problem right now.  

LaNell, I'd love to have the links to the mozzarella info.  Please!


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## Guest

Christy makes the BEST mozzarella!  Her recipe is to die for.

Sara


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## Sondra

feta and chevre here. this year will again try mozzarella and a hard cheese if I can figure out our to age it.


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## Twillingate Farm

Last year we made chevre and ricotta with herbs, that sold really well and was so easy to make. I tried mozzarella twice (first with Ricki Carrolls' recipe and then, successfully with Christy's recipe) but the biggest seller by far was Feta! I don't know if all my neighbors are Greek or what, but we were selling about three pounds of Feta every week.

We even have a local restaurant that comes by for two pounds each week... heck, I had to go buy another freshened goat just to keep up!


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## Guest

Feta is hands down my favorite. I made a bunch this summer so I could enjoy it all winter. 

Sara


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## paulaswrld

Fromage blanc is the easiest, I make tons of Feta amd mozz. I made a lot of colby and I have a goal to master a Camembert this year. 

I also want to make a cheese using grapevine ash...anyone know of a source for some??

Paula


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## homeacremom

We eat lots of Feta here too! It was the first cheese I ever made. My family (extended) who LOVE feta looked at me in astonishment when I brought them homemade feta. It is the only goat milk product that they use without hesitation. :lol


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## Guest

I make three or four gallon jars full of feta in the fall before I dry off. I love it and my kids do, but my wife doesn't. She doesn't like very much of any kind of cheese besides Kraft singles though. I send it to my sis in CA, she loves the stuff. She is a salt-a-holic though. I'm going to try some Camembert again this year. What I made last year didn't turn out too well. But I think it was because I left the fridge door open one morning and didn't figure it out until the afternoon and it got too hot. It was out in the storage building.


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## Bella Star

I was so giddy over cheese making that I tried out several types to make and mastered none and will have to re-learn how to make the simple cheese again ,this year I am going nice and slow with making 1 cheese at a time... well maby 2 types and get them down to where I dont have to drag out my book and read instructions while I am making the cheese... I want to Get It ! :blush I am thinking I will work on Kristy's Mozz and Chevre and work up to Brie my favorite


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## Leo

Ditto on the lots of feta, mozz.,munster, but want to make some more hard cheeses(parm, manchego, gouda, etc).

Paula, You can make your own ash, here's a copy of the text:

The custom manufacture of charcoal is a somewhat simple chore. I will relay
the "Paint Can retort method", that should yield enough ash of any type (
Grape vine, Maple, Oak, Pine, etc?) for cheesemaking needs and
experimentation that you care, but you can scale it up to any size (house)
your actual use requires.

I am a NY State and Federal licensed manufacturer of display explosives (
Aerial Display Fireworks), charcoal is a primary ingredient of aerial
fireworks manufacture and it's manufacture is a very elementary process.
Cheese maker's should have no problem with this. You will all be "Charcoal
/ Ash experts" after this post and your first batch is finished. Good Luck.

Materials Needed:

Paint Can (new and empty)
Choice of wood, vine, or other pithy product
Nail or awl
Hammer
Fireplace tongs
Campfire

Optional Materials:

Marshmallows on sticks
Kids and Family Members

Method. The NEW One gallon paint can can be purchased at any paint store.
One could use an old used burned out paint can but we are talking an
eventual food product here folks, so start with a NEW paint can.

With the lid removed from the can, a nail or awl and hammer is used to make
a vent hole in the direct center of this lid, about 1/4 inch ( 6 mm ) in
size. One vent hole only should be enough for our purpose. Care should be
taken not to distort the form of the lid because it is vital this lid fits
back on the can securely.

You now have a one gallon "Retort". You will fill your retort with whatever
wood product you care. It is not absolutely necessary that the wood be dry
prior to selection, but it doesn't hurt either. Grape vines seem to be the
subject matter concerning this cheese forum, but it could be any wood type
pieces of pithy fiber including maplewood, oakwood, soybean straw,
blueberry vine, etc..

It is very important to attempt to completely fill the void inside the
retort. Vine or other should really be "crammed" into this space and then
some. Wood can be cut up into small chunks and slivers in an attempt to get
more into the retort. Important: Air (oxygen) within the retort is your
enemy. However having done all this, you do still need to be able to
install the vented lid securely ( tight ).

With the lid returned to the retort tightly, you now require a rolling hot
campfire. ( optional marshmallows, Kids etc.. ) With ample care, the retort
is carefully placed onto the logs, coals, and flames in such a careful way
that the vent hole can always be watched carefully.

Very soon, as the retort begins to heat up to red hot, the contents will
begin to smoke. You are watching for this smoke spewing from the vent hole
only. Very soon the venting smoke should become white. The retort will not
blow up! The vent hole prevents an undue pressure build up within the unit.
However white smoke will stream out the vent as the retort gets hotter and
its contents volatilize. This white smoke will come to an end at some point
( one hour - plus or minus ) after all the volatile fuel within the retort
is spent. It is at this time that the retort is lifted out of the flames
with fireplace tongs or other, and set aside to cool overnight. Do Not open
while it is hot!, the contents will be ruined.

By the next morning your retort contents should be cool. Carefully open the
retort and you should have lovely custom charcoal. You may process this
charcoal by grinding or crushing, or however you care to process it ( Very
Messy, but clean fun! ). I should think this product would be fully edible
for cheese application and uses.

That's about it. Be safe. Good Luck!

Royal A. Purdy, [email protected]


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## paulaswrld

Wow, thanks so much I am going to try it. I also want to make Manchego (at least one that really tastes like manchego) the problem I believe is all in the milk.

Paula


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## Guest

This year I want to work on my mold ripened cheeses!

Christy


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## Bella Star

The ash sounds intriguing,especially since I need to prune my grapes . I also have some mold that I want to use and I think I bought it for the Brie making. ....
soo many choices of cheese and only sooo many months of milking


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