Category Archives: Raw Milk

Limited Edition Ultimate Cheese Press in Cherry Hardwood

Limited Edition Ultimate Cheese Press in Cherry Hardwood

Just in time for Cyber Monday sales! We’re blogging a little early this week to bring you our newest product. Yes! Another new product. It’s great to give as a gift or keep as a treat to yourself.

Jerri has commissioned a limited edition run of 25 Ultimate Cheese Presses made in cherry hardwood. They are beautiful! It’s first come, first served and a few have already sold. The sale price is in effect now and it continues through the end of December, 2014 or until all 25 presses are sold.

cheese press, hardwood, handmade cheese press, cherry hardwood

Ultimate Cheese Press made with cherry hardwood

Our cheese press is made for home cheese makers, designed and manufactured by Jerri Bedell, the owner of Homesteader’s Supply right here in the USA!  Made from a beautiful grained cherry hardwood with various shades of darker marbling. Each press is as unique as the wood its made from.  Cherry darkens as it ages and becomes even more beautiful. This wood is sturdy, solid and long lasting. It’s treated with organic coconut oil and is stamped with our logo.

Are you new to making cheese? We have a recipe for a very nice cheddar to help you get started. Farmhouse Cheddar. If you’d like to print the recipe you can find the pdf file there. Download it to your computer, send it to the printer, and pick it up on the way to the kitchen.

Cheese Making Day, 2014

Cheese making day was a blast! I’m Robin, the social media manager at Homesteader’s Supply. My daughter Taylor and our friend Tammy joined me for a day of cheese making. Tammy brought four gallons of fresh, raw, whole milk and we put it to good use.

The first batch of cheese was Cottage. The milk got too warm too fast but the cheese turned out well anyway. It was drier than expected. Was that because of the temperature problem? We don’t know. Tammy added heavy cream at the end to improve the texture and it was perfect. The texture is much more coarse and less wet than store bought cottage cheeses we’ve had. We liked it much better.

Creamy curds

These creamy curds formed on top of the whey

Draining the whey while making cottage cheese

Draining the whey

Cottage Cheese

Cottage Cheese

Our second batch was Farmer’s Cheese. This is a lot like cottage cheese without culture.  Use a gallon of milk warmed to room temperature. Stir in 1/2 cup of white vinegar. Let the curds and whey separate. Pour off the whey, saving it for another use. Add salt to taste. Salt is a preservative but we agreed that we’d eat our cheeses long before they had a chance to spoil. Wrap the curds in fine cheese cloth and hang to drip for an hour or so.

Farmer's Cheese with Garlic & Chive seasoning

Farmer’s Cheese with Garlic & Chive seasoning

There was a lot of whey waiting to be used so we made traditional Ricotta. By heating the whey and adding vinegar we separated more solids from whey. The texture wasn’t as smooth as store bought Ricotta, and the flavor was great. We used the whey from the Cottage cheese for the first batch of traditional Ricotta. The second batch was with whey from Farmer’s Cheese, and was disappointing. There was so little left in that whey that it made about two tablespoons worth of ricotta.

Taylor seasoned the traditional Ricotta with basil pesto. It is fantastic as a side to scrambled eggs!

Traditional Ricotta with Basil Pesto

Traditional Ricotta with Basil Pesto

Bay, basil, sage, roasted bell pepper and olive oil makes a delicious marinade.

Bay, basil, sage, roasted bell pepper and olive oil makes a delicious marinade.

We wanted more Ricotta so our last batch was Whole Milk Ricotta, a lot like Farmer’s Cheese. “Rustic” describes it well. It wasn’t as smooth and creamy as we expected. Taylor roasted a red bell pepper to use in a marinade. She mixed extra virgin olive oil, fresh basil, chives and sage, bay leaves, salt and a little fresh ground black pepper and let it set while the cheese dripped. Spectacular! We will definitely make this often, especially when we’re entertaining.

We’ll be making cheese again soon. Up next – Farmhouse Cheddar!

We’ve been using the whey in sour dough bread, rice and quinoa. It’s a nice bonus from cheese making.

 

Best Basic Cheese Kit – Let’s Make Cheese!

I’ve dabbled in a little cheese making in the past – just enough to know I want to make more, and I want it to be delicious. I love really good cheese. Jerri Bedell, our beloved owner of Homesteader’s Supply, sent the Best Basic Cheese Kit to me to try out. You see…I have an idea. I think we should make cheese together. All of us! Well not all of us. Of course not everyone wants to make cheese. But how about some of us?

Here’s my plan. On Tuesday, May 13, I’m going to make cheese using the Best Basic Cheese Kit. There’s time for you to order the kit, get familiar with it, and be ready to make cheese that day. We’ll compare notes as we go and talk about the cheese we made. If you write about this in your blog we’ll share your link on Facebook, Twitter and in a blog about our cheese making day.

The cheese kit is only $44.88, and shipping is free in the lower 48 states.

Best Basic Cheese Kit

So about that cheese kit! This is the same supplies and equipment used by professionals to make cheese.  It contains some of the same quality products in our larger kits, just gives you the basic products you need to try your hand at making all kinds of cheese.  And what better than to buy your kit from a store that takes pride in helping our customers!

Best Basic Cheese Kit

Best Basic Cheese Kit

Our kit does not contain any citric acid or vinegar, and there is no need for a microwave.  Let’s face it, real cheese takes time to make…some faster than others. But if you want the best tasting, all natural cheese, then this is the kit for you.

With this kit you will be able to make many types of cheese, as it includes both basic mesophilic and thermophilic cultures, enough to make up to 24 lbs of cheese from each type.   And, these cultures are the only  type where you can make a mother culture for continued use, so they can last you a very long time.  We include that recipe. The Reblochon Mold is the best one to use as a form for soft cheeses and mozzarella, and as a press for harder cheeses like Colby and Cheddar, making one pound of cheese from one gallon of milk!  The rennet is vegetarian, and usually only needs 1/4 or 1/2 half tablet per gallon of milk. The calcium chloride is for making cheese with pasteurized milk, necessary to help for the curds.  And the bonus is you can even make butter and sour cream with this kit!

Everything that is included in this kit and more information about the kit is available on our website. Please let us know that you’ve ordered one of our cheese kits (doesn’t have to be this one in particular!) and will be making cheese with us. We’d like to blog about the project, include your photos and comments, and if you have one, link to your blog. You may comment here, leave a message on Facebook or send Robin an email.

The Ultimate Cheese Press

Now that the birthing and milking seasons are in full swing there’s an abundance of milk. It’s time to make cheese!

Our cheese press is made for home cheese makers, designed and manufactured by Homesteaders Supply right here in the USA! Homesteader’s Supply carries cheese making supplies. We suggest starting with our kits and replenishing as you go.

The Ultimate Cheese Press

The Ultimate Cheese Press

Made from a beautiful grained hard maple, with a lighter basic color with various shades of darker marbling. Each press is as unique as the wood it’s made from.  It comes with an innovative design that makes pressing cheese easy, and they all come out the same.  No need for pressure gauges, no lopsided cheeses… every one comes out great!  And this press will probably last you a lifetime with proper care!

Raw presses will be readily available soon. They are not oiled! You can choose the oil you’d like to use. Organic coconut oil works very well. We’ll make an announcement when the raw presses are in here in the blog, on Facebook and Twitter.

Some of the features of the Ultimate Cheese Press:

  • Perfect to make all types of hard and semi-hard cheeses.
  • Ergonomically designed handles and followers to reduce the stress to your hands and fingers.
  • Comes with 2 hoops, now larger and taller than other presses, to prepare a 1 lb to 5 lb cheese!
  • Designed to accept the hoops in perfect position every time!
  • Hoops are made of food grade heavy duty water pipe. Professional cheese makers prefer this type of hoop over the metal hoop type, as it won’t cause too fast of cooling the cheese during pressing time as stainless steel does.
  • Made with all food grade materials, will last a very long time, sturdy hardwood with heavy-duty stainless steel fasteners.
  • Easy to use; small enough to just place it into baking pan to allow for draining… therefore no mess, no fuss…
  • Finished wood with Canola Oil with no odor, no petro-chemicals, natural for food contact, makes the wood water proof, and all you need to do is reapply a very small amount of your own oil of choice when it appears dry.
  • We use real wood, not plastic. Latest research confirms that wood inhibits bacterial growth, which is not the case for plastics such as melamine. Now you know why everyone is going back to butcher block cutting boards!
  • No need for gauge… as you just turn to tighten as whey is released. So Simple! Easy to Clean! Just can’t say enough about this press… it’s the best!
  • With proper care, this cheese press should last a lifetime! (soap and water, no dishwasher!)
  • Dimensions:  Base approx 7″ X 7″,  Unit Height 11″, Large Mold 7″ tall, 6 1/2″ Diameter; Small Mold 7″ tall, 4 1/2″ diameter.

Wardeh Harmon, owner of GNOWFGLINS (visit the website – you’ll love it!) demonstrates the use of The Ultimate Cheese Press. You’ll see how simple this cheese press is to use in the video.

We’re proud to have designed this press and to have it manufactured right here in the United States. It’s a beautiful, functional, easy to use press that’s great for hard and semi-hard cheeses.

Homesteader’s Supply Featured in Podcast with GNOWFGLINS!

The folks here at Homesteader’s Supply enjoy Wardeh’s work at GNOWFGLINS very much. She does an amazing job on her e-courses and podcast which help other homesteader’s learn the lost traditions of food preservation, cheese making and all things homesteading! Wardeh recently invited both Jerri and myself (Nance) to be a part of her teaching endeavor!

I was featured a couple of weeks ago in a Podcast on raw milk and keeping a family cow. Wardeh and I had a great conversation about our move from Arizona to Wisconsin and how all of us, including Cookie cow, handled the move. We talked about cheese making a bit, but more about how to keep a cow healthy and why we put all that work into milking a cow twice a day! You can hear the podcast by clicking on this link or on any of the photos of me below.
Jerri was also featured this week on Wardeh’s podcast discussing cheese making and the “Ultimate Cheese Press” manufactured by Homesteader’s Supply. They talked about why make your own cheese? How to get started with some easier recipes and how to troubleshoot when thing go wrong. Listen to Jerri from her home in Arizona talking with Wardeh on this Podcast.
We hope you enjoy the podcasts and welcome any feedback you have! 
Happy Homesteading!!!!!!

Drinking at the Milking Bar!

Milking bars are one of those inventions that really make a difference for dairy farmers – both big operations or just a couple of cows. Often times calves are pulled from momma once the colostrum is consumed, especially in dairies… and rather than using the hand held bottles to feed each calf, milk bars were created to feed many calves at once. I decided to share the wonders of milk bars tonight because we import these items from New Zealand (no, we could not find a USA made milk bar) and the prices are due to go up… apparently because of a weakening US dollar. If you have any interest in purchasing a milk bar for your calves, lambs or goats… now would be a good time before prices increase!