Homemade cheese

[Thirsty Boy]

LOL
Thanks Thirsty boy, I'm not sure if I can get any of that around here. I have no idea where I would get a bamboo mat and I am not sure what a regulation tin of food is. I can make a guess but I am not sure where to get 6 inch round can of food.

I have seen some other simple ones on line but I was thinking more along the lines of this.

http://schmidling.com/press.htm

He is the same guy who makes JSP malt mills and he has all the instructions right there for you. I think I can cobble up most of the parts for nothing or really cheap. I am hoping to build it for around $20. I just haven't put my mind to it yet, I have the brew bug.

As a bonus I have a super discount hardware/building supply store about 500 yards from my house.

Kace, I forgot, you Americans refer to them as cans rather than tins... I'm making cheese as I type and plan to press in a tuna can (about 4inches diameter) my bamboo mat is one that I got in a kit for making my own sushi handrolls, but anything that allows the whey to drain out underneath should do the trick. Just a bit of wood with some grooves carved in it maybe??

I'm using a lever as the press, I'll take a photo when I'm done to show you (if it works, never done it before)

Cheers

Thirsty

[Thirsty Boy]

I'm using a lever as the press, I'll take a photo when I'm done to show you (if it works, never done it before)

Here's the ultra ghetto cheese press I rigged up for now.



I didn't end up using a tuna tin... this was cheese number two today and it was a whey cheese made from the whey left over from making a Queso Blanco. I didn't get very much curd from the whey, so its a VERY small cheese. The tin is a little one that had corn kernels in it.

The tin is the mold (both ends cut out), one end is the follower. And the rest is a sauce bottle a stick and a 5kg hand weight...

Luckily this one only has to press for 24hrs

But you see the idea?? With a few bits of wood and a bucket of water as weight... it might look like this



Cheers

Thirsty

[kace069]

I kinda thought that was what you meant by a food tin, I was thrown off my the 4 inch measurement, I thought you meant a 4 inch diameter, Which by chance I stopped at my parents house today and they had a bulk sized can of sliced peaches probably about 6 inches in diameter, I told them to save it for me.

I seen a similar set up to that a few days ago on line, youtube I think?

Thank for all the great info there Thirsty! I just may take a whack at it that setup first. I just have to secure some rennet and some bacteria, I really wnat to do hard cheeses, I may try a soft cheese soon.

[Thirsty Boy]

I did mean 4 inches in diameter... I just ended up with a lot less cheese than I thought. I had tuna can all ready to go which was about 4inches across, but that would have meant that my cheese would be only abut 1/2 an inch thick

That peaches tin will be the go... I'll probably end up making some molds out of plastic down pipe and large diameter water pipe.

Probably going to stick with "fresh cheeses" for a little while though, till I get the hang of it a bit more.


Oh... BTW more ghetto solutions

Mesophillic bacteria for your cheese - Natural Yoghurt
Thermopillic bacteria for your cheese - Cultured buttermilk

Haven't tried a cultured cheese yet, but when I do I'll probably start with a fetta and use yogurt as a source for the bugs

Cheers

Thirsty

[BadRock]

So instead of saying Brew Strong what do cheese guys say to one and other....Go forth and curdle!?

[baltobrewer]

So instead of saying Brew Strong what do cheese guys say to one and other....Go forth and curdle!?

"Hey whey to go man!"

[kace069]

Thanks again Thirsty!.
I saw the post about using yogurt and buttermilk for starters but didn't realize they had different cultures.


Go forth and curdle? hmmm

Since I haven't made any yet I can't say.
I am just hoping it doesn't become something like go forth and hurl.

[Bigbrews]

I started making cheese about 3 years ago. My first attempts were pretty good. I was making 4lb blocks of various cheese from Chedders to Blues. Gradually, I noticed that the quality of the cheeses was starting to diminish. Last year I attended a cheese making class put on by Oregon State University. One of the attendees was a cheese maker from Rouge Creamery. They make award winning blue cheeses. He tried the cheese that I brought and told me what was wrong with it. There are a couple of big factors to success. One being sanatition and the other is acid control. My cheeses were developing way too much lactic acid. He recommended a book to me that they use in their creamery. The book is called American Farmstead Cheese. It is quite technical, but if you are really serious about a making good cheese, you need to get this book along with a good acid testing kit.