Tag Archives: cheese making

Ultimate Cheese Press Instructional Video

The Ultimate Cheese Press and More!

Wardee from GNOWFGLINS shows us how to use The Ultimate Cheese Press step by step. It’s very simple and seeing it in action lets us know we’re doing it just right.

You’ll find supplies you need to make cheese on our website. Calcium chloride and lipase are here.  Cheesecloth and muslin.  We have a great variety of cultures.

Do you need drying racks, funnels and other cheese making tools? We have two cheese making books. And kits. We have great cheese making kits.

And there’s more! You’ll find more cheese making supplies here.

Cheese Recipes

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.

Farmer's Cheese with Garlic & Chive seasoning. Ultimate Cheese Press can be used to form a wheel.

Farmer’s Cheese with Garlic Chive seasoning

We’re proud of our American made products. Made in the USA, they keep our dollars in not just our country but in our communities.

An Important Update for The Ultimate Cheese Press

The Ultimate Cheese Press is our pride and joy. Designed by Jerri Bedell, founder of Homesteader’s Supply and is manufactured by another American company. We’re happy to tell you that we’ve made a change in how our presses are oiled.

We’ve been testing organic non-GMO cold pressed coconut oil and we are very happy with the results. Coconut oil is thicker, soaks into the wood well, and stands up to the acidic nature of whey in cheese making. Presses being shipped now have been treated with coconut oil but If you’d like to order a raw press (not oiled) please request it when you order.

The Ultimate Cheese Press

The Ultimate Cheese Press

Next time you need to treat our press you should follow these steps.

  1. Wash the wood with warm, soapy water. Wash all indentations and where bolts meet wood well.
  2. Air dry for a minimum of four hours, overnight if possible. Be sure the wood is completely dry.
  3. Melt 1/4 cup of organic non-GMO cold pressed coconut oil just until it melts.
  4. Wash your hands to avoid transferring anything to the coconut oil.
  5. Using a lint-free cloth, apply a heavy coat of coconut oil. Place oiled pieces on lint-free cloth or paper towel while the wood absorbs the oil and the oil solidifies. Fold your cloth into small sections that can be pressed into the grooves.
  6. Let the pieces sit for an hour or two before wiping clean with a lint-free cloth.
  7. Inspect all pieces closely. If you’ve missed a spot or the coating of oil is uneven, repeat steps three through five.
Oiling The Ultimate Cheese Press

Oiling The Ultimate Cheese Press

You should hand wash your press with warm (not hot), lightly soapy water after use. Never soak the wood. Be sure to let the pieces dry thoroughly before reassembling the press to store.

The Ultimate Cheese Press

The Ultimate Cheese Press

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.

 

Farmhouse Cheddar Cheese Recipe

Farmhouse Cheddar Cheese Recipe

For convenience you may send this recipe to the printer and pick it up on your way to the kitchen. Download the recipe in a pdf file.

3 gallons whole milk

Mesophilic Culture (1/4 tsp Abiasa, 1/8 tsp Danisco, or 1/16 tsp Sacco)

2 teaspoons calcium chloride (only needed for store bought milk)
1.5 tablet rennet or 3/4 tsp liquid rennet
1/4 cup unchlorinated water
1 Tbsp salt

  • Combine milk, (calcium chloride) in 16 qt stock pot (double boiler to prevent scorching)
  • Slowly heat mixture to 86 degrees. Turn off heat and stir in lactic cheese culture. (Different types of culture create different flavors of cheese)  Stir gently throughout. Cover mixture and allow to rest undisturbed at 86 degrees for 45 minutes.
  • Dissolve rennet tablet or liquid rennet in 1/4 cup  water.
  • Keep the milk at 86 degrees.  Stir the rennet mixture into milk slowly but thoroughly. Allow milk to set undisturbed for 30 – 45 minutes or until curd shows a clean break.
  • Using long knife, cut the curds into 1/2 inch squares, then stir gently just to break the strips of curds into chunks. Let it sit to rest for 5 minutes.
  • Slowly heat the curds and whey to 102 degrees, raising the temperature 2 degrees every 5 minutes. Stir curd gently to prevent matting and reduce their size to half peanut size. A large whisk works well by placing it to bottom of pot and putting up right so curds break as they fall through the wisk. Hold curds for additional 30 minutes at this temperature
  • Place pre-warmed with hot water colander over a pot and pour the curds into it.
  • Reserve 1/3 of the whey and pour back into the cheese pot. Set colander of curds onto the cheese pot. Cover top with cheese cloth and lid to keep in warmth. Allow curds to drain for 45 to 60 minutes. This is called the cheddaring process.
  • Cut slab into pieces and press through french fry cutter or cut by hand.
  • Add 1 tablespoon course salt. Using your hands, gently mix the salt into curds. You can eat these curds now, or press into a wheel.
  • Place the curds into cheese press and follow the directions for dressing with cheese cloth for the next 12 hours.
  • Remove cheese from press, unwrap the cloth, place cheese on drying mat to air dry for 12 hours, creating a nice skin over the whole cheese.  Cheese is ready to slice and eat or you can wax and age for stronger cheddar flavor.
  • Mix 1 tablespoon of salt with 1/2 cup of water. Use a corner of the cheese cloth to lightly apply a saltwater wash to the cheese.

Cottage Cheese Recipe

Cottage Cheese Recipe

1 Gallon Cow, Goat or Sheep Milk
Mesophilic Cheese Culture
Rennet
salt

  • Gently warm the milk to 70 degrees F in a warm water bath.
  • Add: 3/8 tsp Abiasa culture, or
  • 1/8 tsp Danisco Culture, or 1/16 tsp Sacco Italian Culture
  • Let the culture dissolve on the milk surface for 2-4 minutes before stirring. Work well into the milk using the 20 top/bottom strokes.
  • Add: 1/4 tsp liquid rennet diluted in 1/4 cup of cool water, or
  • 1/2 tab vegetarian rennet diluted in 1/4 cup cool water for 20 minutes prior to use

Mix thoroughly.

When a firm curd forms from sitting at room temperature, cut the curd mass with a knife into 1/2 inch cubes and stir gently for 2-5 minutes.

Cook the curds and whey slowly to 102 degrees F in a double boiler pot system while stirring frequently to break up the curds. Using a large wire wisk makes this process so easy… just place wish into the pot and pull up through the curds. Try to raise the temperature 5 degrees F every five minutes taking 45-60 minutes to reach your final cook temperature.

Once the curds appear firm and springy and are approximately the size of a shelled peanut, drain through a clean cheese cloth.

Rinse the curds in very cold water, allow them to drain completely then add salt to taste. Remember that salt is also a preservative, helping to prevent mold formation and prolong the shelf life of your cheese. You may enrich the curds with heavy cream or pack as dry curd into storage tubs and refrigerate.

The products will have approximately 10-14 days of shelf life.

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.