New Year's Resolution

Happy New Year to all
If you made your New Year's Resolution to learn how to make cheese, you have made a fun choice and it fits in with mine.

I'm only making one New Year's Resolution. I want to post more consistently on my cheese blog. Therefore, I'm planning to start a series called "So you want to make cheese". I'll include things I wish I knew when I started, and reviews of products I've purchased to make cheese. I intend to start next Sunday Jan. 9, 2011 and post a new article every Sunday after that. 

I have already started writing the articles and have the first four ready to publish. They are all short and not to technical and I'll encourage you to post questions in the comments area. I'll try to answer those I can and find the answers to the ones I don't know. Or if you have a particular topic you'd like see me address, I'll consider your ideas.

I hope you enjoy it.
The Cheesy Geek

Christmas Cheese Gifts

For Christmas this year my wife and I joined forces to gift some family members with a decorative reusable grocery bags filled with goodies: Home made cookies,  Irish Soda Bread, Cheese Crackers, a wedge of Farmhouse Cheddar, and a jar of Feta in Basil infused olive oil.

I made Feta in basil infused olive oil in half pint decorative canning jars.  Using one gallon of 0% fat milk and 16 scoops of goat milk powder, and adding ¼ tsp of Lipase powder, I made one pound 13oz of feta using the recipe I posted earlier. It was aged 4 days before being “canned” with the olive oil.

The basil infused olive oil started out as 3 cups of extra virgin olive oil. Heated to 180F before adding a Tbs of dried basil, the oil takes on the taste of the basil and was allowed to cool.

I cut the feta to about 1/2” cubes and filled six 1/2pt jars. Filling the jars with the olive oil and putting the lids on, finishes these nice gift jars.

Joan made some labels with “Made by the Cheesy Geek” to put on each of them. 

This is the 4lb Farmhouse Cheddar that I made in October. I quartered it and waxed the exposed edges. (And, yes, I took the opportunity to taste it and it tastes like cheddar. (-: )

Overall, I am happy with these cheese gifts. I know that they are not perfect and I'd like the cheddar to be a bit more moist. I also did not compensate for the larger mold when adding the weights for pressing this cheese. I know better now.  There was some sediment in the Feta jars I'd like to eliminate next time. I'll probably have to rinse them off before putting them in the jars.

I hope you all have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

the Cheesy Geek

Feta! Feta! Every where Feta!

Sunday was Feta day at my house. Boy, did I make some Feta. Chef Paula asked me to make some Feta for the soft opening of the school Bistro. The feta will be put into basil infused olive oil and served to the guests as one of the “Chef’s Treat”.

I do have a confession to make. I got 5 gallons of skimmed milk on Thursday and planned to make the Feta on Friday. I mixed one can of powdered goat milk with 2 ½ gallons of the milk in one of my new stainless steel stock pot. New as in: I just got it and never used it before. (I’ll probably post a blog about them another time). I put the pot on my induction burning and started it up to bring the temperature of the milk up to 86F.  About half way through the heating process I got distracted for about two minutes and quit stirring the pot. Can we say: BIG MISTAKE? When I got back to it there was a distinct burnt smell in the air and little brown and black bits were floating around the top of the milk. At this point I KNEW that there was no chance of making an edible cheese from this pot. However, I went ahead and finished the process of making the Feta to test the process I would use on the real batch. Afterward, I fed the hungry sewer gods some not so good cheese. (OK, terrible cheese).

I worked Saturday so I started my next attempt after church on Sunday. This time I used the next size larger pot as the bottom of a double boiler and everything went smoothly. I also started a smaller batch from one gallon of fresh goat’s milk. I want to have a direct comparison between “real” Feta and one made with powdered goat milk mixed with skimmed cow milk.

The whole process used 5 stock pots, four pieces of cheese cloth, three wooden spoons, two thermometers, one slotted spoon and a partridge…(oops, nearly got carried away). Eight and a half hours after I started the Feta went into plastic containers and into the refrigerator to age for a few days.

The 2 ¾ gal batch weighed out at a whooping 4lbs 12oz. I know it will lose some whey weight as it ages a few days but I’m impressed. The one gal of fresh goat milk had a yield of 1lb 11oz. which will also shrink some also.

On Thursday I’ll cut the Feta into ½’ cubes and put them in the basil infused olive oil. A previous test has indicated that it will last at least 60 days in the refrigerator. It will get a sharper flavor as it ages but the olive oil cuts that and the saltiness when eaten.

Until Next Time,

Don’t scorch the milk.

The Cheesy Geek

An interesting discovery

Last night I was thinking about what cheeses I've made since Feb. I have the book "Home Cheese Making", by Ricki Carroll which has 75 cheese recipes and 11 "Other Dairy Products" (chapter 10). This has been my guide for almost all my cheese making so far and already shows the signs of being in an active cheese making zone. With margin notes and drip marks of whey from spoons and fingers, anyone looking at it would instantly know what a valuable resource it has been in our "make room" (the kitchen).

With the movie "Julie & Julia" being so popular, the thought runs through the mind to do something similar with this book as well. The geek went straight to the computer, opened an Excel spreadsheet and began listing all the recipes in the book, by category and page number and which ones I've already made. The tally was 15 of the 75 I've made at least once, and 3 of the 11 other dairy products. This doesn't count a few variations I did on my own, like smoke flavored gouda and mozzarella or the 0% cow milk with powdered goat milk feta. It doesn't include the numerous flavorings of mascarpone, yogurt cheese, honey yogurt, feta in basil infused olive oil, or a feta stuffed mozzarella heart (labor intensive to say the least). The key lime mascarpone in mini filo cups is a must do again. The finger sized baked potatoes with yogurt cheese with cheddar cheese, chives and bacon bits (mini baked potato) is a special occasion appetizer that needs a little tweaking. Of course, cheese cakes made with home made cream cheese or fomage blanc are decadent desserts for times when calories don't matter.

It has been very helpful having Chef Paula as my taster. Her palate and food knowledge has been invaluable as I have progressed and improved my techniques. We have spent a couple days together making cheese and have time during the week to talk and to bring her samples of my latest attempts at cheese making. Her husband has been spoiled by the constant flow of fresh yogurt to his house. It has been encouraging to have her ask me to make cheese for special events she is doing. The school is doing a Bistro as a fund-raising event in November, and my feta in basil infused olive oil will be on every table.

I enjoyed doing the cheese making party. I know Jean got inspired to make mozzarella as soon as she could. I received an excited voice mail on Monday morning saying she got up at 6:30, went out a got some milk and by 9AM had a pound of mozzarella (partially eaten). BTW Jean makes wonderful scones that are even better with strawberry preserves and fresh mascarpone.


I wouldn't be fair if I didn't mention my wonderful and understanding wife. It is not every wife who will allow her husband to take over part of the kitchen and half the kitchen table to make cheese. Our kitchen has had a small refrigerator and a chrome cart invade the one wall. Plastic containers, cheese cloth, molds, large pots, a heating pad, weights, and various utensils adorn "My corner" of the room. Thank you, Dear, I love you.

Okay, it's on to the next adventure. Haloumi is next on my make list. Fresh goat's milk will be here on the Nov 5th. and I'll post the results here as soon as I can. That will be number 16: only 59 to go.

The Cheesy Geek
George.

Bigger Farmhouse Cheddar

 

Is bigger better? Hopefully we'll find out the answer to that burning question in late December. Well, at least about farmhouse cheddar cheese. Using a borrowed 20 quart pot, I spent the day Saturday making a double batch of Farmhouse Cheddar cheese. Four gallons of milk looks huge compared to the two gallon batches I've been making. As the curds formed I wondered if the mold would hold them all. When it came time to put them in, I packed and pressed and packed some more and filled the mold to the top. Surprise, they all fit.

I put the weights on the follower and waited. The stack of weights fell over 3 times in the first four hours. And, over night they did an impersonation of the leaning tower of something, resulting in an uneven cylinder of cheese this morning. Weighing in at 4lb 10oz, this is the biggest cheese I've made so far. It is too big to wax in the deep fryer I'm using as a wax pot so I'll have to brush the wax on. Probably it will be ready for waxing Weds or Thurs.so I'll post another picture at that time.

Here is a comparison picture of the two lb waxed farmhouse cheddar I made last Saturday and the one I made yesterday.

Have fun and make more cheese
the Cheesy Geek

Another Cheese Cake

Chef Paula used some of the last batch of Fromage Blanc to make this cheese cake. She added 1/4 cup of lime juice to a standard New York style cheese cake recipe. As you can see, it has been enjoyed already.

I really enjoyed the texture and smoothness of the cheese cake. If a chiffon cheese cake is a one(1) on the heavy/light scale and a regular New York cheese cake is a ten(10), this comes out a seven(7). There is just enough lime to give it a distinct tang without overpowering the cheese. For me, this recipe using the fromage blanc was a treat I wouldn't mind having again. It gives me the satisfying taste and the firmness of a heavier cheese cake without the fullness.  I'll try to get the actual recipe she used and post it.

From Cream Cheese to Pumpkin Cheesecake

Freshly made cream cheese made from half and half. This is approximately 16oz by weight out of 24 oz made from two quarts of half and half. It turned out very creamy and fairly light.

Then Joan got a hold of it and added some fresh pumpkin and a few more ingredients and made this delicious pumpkin cheese cake. It was light, and creamy and very good. Thanks Honey.