Is cheese making a Geeky endeavor?

I am a geek. Not a nerd, although in my youth I wore heavy horn rimmed glasses, was a loner, enjoyed math and science, and didn't date much. In fact, in high school I only dated two different girls. A Geek is a Nerd with personality.  Over the years since then I have updated my eye wear, socialize more, still enjoy science, and have been married for almost 35 years, have two children and two grandchildren. And I changed from a nerd to a geek. Life is good.
Cheese making has been called a cross between an art and a science. A science because of the effects of time, temperature, enzymes, acids and PH, are fairly constant and replicable. And yet there is an art to small batch cheese making which depends on the quality of the milk being used. Early, Mid and Late lactation milks have different qualities and the amount of rennet needed will vary. The fat content also varies and produces different tastes and textures even when the recipe is followed exactly each time. Dare I say that the what the animal eats will determine the taste of the final product.Cow, goat or sheep milk can be made into cheese using the exact same technique and each will have it's own taste and texture.

Being a geek means that I'm a linear thinker and doer. Mufti-tasking doesn't work well at all for me. Making cheese requires linear thought and action, along with a touch of creativity thrown in to make cheese that is unique to me. When I got interested in making cheese, I went to the internet first and learned what I needed to know to begin making cheese. I spent close to a month reading websites and recipes and blogs until I knew enough to decide I REALLY wanted to do this.
Then I ordered a kit (Mozzarella and Ricotta kit from New England Cheese Making Supply Co.) and tried Mozzarella until I could duplicate my efforts most of the time. I branched out to other cheese and dairy products and practiced until I learned the techniques needed to make the cheeses. The process it what I enjoyed. Learning how it worked, learning what difference temperatures or time etc, The geek in me was pleased with each success and treated everything else as a learning experience. "There is no failure except the failure to learn."

With each success, my confidence grew and the artist part of my brain crept into the process asking "What if...". From yogurt making to rocky road yogurt cheese, to Key Lime Mascarpone filled filo cups, from heart shaped strawberry fromage blanc to goat milk feta wrapped in mozzarella, the experimentation has produced some interesting and surprising results.

Two years after making my first Mozzarella I have made 17 different cheese and dairy products. Some I won't make again. Others have become a regular part of each months weekend activities. Fresh Goat milk feta in basil infused olive oil is my favorite to make. I make a gallon or more of yogurt a month. Most has honey added and the ladies at work eagerly wait for the next batch to hitch a ride to work with me.

I've also held three classes to teach basic cheese making to some friends and family. I actually look forward to the next opportunity to share some of my knowledge with others.

Is Cheese Making a Geeky Endeavor? I don't know for sure but it does appeal to the geek in me. It holds my interest and gives me great satisfaction when someone says "This is great". This geek truly enjoys making cheese.

George
The Cheesy Geek

A Key Lime Yogurt treat

Short post today. I decided to finally try to make some Key Lime Yogurt.  After a little bit of taste testing, (and getting an approval from my Key Lime loving son). Here is my recipe. Feel free to adjust it to your taste.

Take 2 cups of Greek style yogurt,
I used some home made yogurt using New England Cheese Making Supply Co. Y5 sweet yogurt cultured for 7 hours at 113-113 F.

Mix in two(2) TBs of honey of your choice.
I used some local wildflower honey.

Then mix in three(3) TBs of Key Lime juice.
Fresh is best if you are lucky enough to find some. Sometimes you can find the bottled key lime juice at a local grocery store. Amazon.com offers several choices for purchasing key lime juice starting at $9 per 16oz bottle. You could use lime juice but it doesn't have the same twang as real key lime.

I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we have
The Cheesy Geek

What to do with a gallon of yogurt.

What do you do with a gallon on yogurt? This is my pot of yogurt made from the New England Cheese Making Supply Co's Y5 sweet yogurt. Sixteen cups in all. That's a lot of yogurt. It started out as one gallon of whole milk.
To make the yogurt, I heated the milk to 185F and let it sit at that temperature for 20 minutes. This seems to help the yogurt come out thicker. The pot is then put in a cool water bath and stirred occasionally until the temperature is down to about 116F. I then added 8Tbs of yogurt (from a previous batch and frozen until needed) and stirred well. From previous experience, I learned that placing the pot on a heating pad on low and covering the pot with a double layer of bath towel will keep my milk at 115-117F overnight. In the morning. I stirred the pot well and placed it in the refrigerator.
      Now I was ready for the fun part.
First thing I did was to take two cups of yogurt and put it in a separate container. With a couple tablespoons of honey stirred in, it is a delicious treat as is.

The remaining 14 cups with into a colander lined with damp 140 thread count sheet cut to the size a bit larger than the colander. In a couple hours nearly 4 cups of whey have drained from the yogurt and it is a little thicker than Greek style yogurt.

Here I added a level tablespoon of cocoa powder and two level tablespoons of powdered sugar to two cups of yogurt. After a good stir it looks like this.

This is not the time to give it a taste. You will notice the dark spots in the yogurt. That is the cocoa powder before it has a chance to hydrate. Put it in the refrigerator for an hour then give it another good stir.

And here you have chocolate yogurt!!!!  Oh how about the other 8 cups of yogurt? Well, do you like Rocky Road Ice cream?

First, 4 levels Tbs of cocoa powder and 8 level Tbs of powered sugar got mixed into the yogurt. 2/3 cups of mini marshmallows, 1/4 cup of nuts (here is used crushed walnuts) and 1/2 cup of mini chocolate chips gently mixed. Finally, I put the colander in a pot and put it in the refrigerator overnight. This allowed another 2 cups or so of whey to drain and thickening the yogurt into a soft cheese.

The final yield of the rocky road cheese was 6 one cup containers like this one.

Like most recipes these are more of guidelines for you to follow and modify according to your personal tastes. Honey has many different tastes and sweetness. The most widely available is clover honey and is moderately sweet.  Orange bloosom honey has a little bit of a tang to it. Local honey will have a range of flavors for you to experiment with.
The rocky road recipe and chocolate yogurt are set to my taste for a less sweet yogurt. I used semi-sweet mini chips in this batch. Try some chocolate mint sometime if you like the minty flavors. Use your favorite nuts, pecan, almond, or hazel nut, even crushed peanuts aren't bad.

Have Fun and make more cheese.
the Cheesy Geek

Ending the Year making Cheese

While I haven't posted in a very long time, I haven't stopped making cheese. Just haven't posted here. On Dec. 29th 2011, I made Queso Blanco with four delightful young ladies. In the picture above, I'm supervising 6 year old Lexi  putting a gallon of milk into the pot as 15 year old Kristi looks on.

Twelve year old Megan (little momma) is taking her turn stirring the milk to keep it from scalding.

 Even three year old Lauren (I'm almost four) takes a turn stirring with a little help from Nana.

 Lexi hams it up for the camera but kept on stirring.

Finally, after 20 minutes of stirring the milk hit the perfect temperature of 185F. and the white vinegar added to perform its magic on the milk. Megan scooped the curds out of the whey and into the butter muslin with a little salt.

After hanging around draining for a few hours, this is what half of it looked like. Half was made into a dip. (crumbled and mixed with some salsa and heated in the microwave).

Lexi and Kristi had no problem consuming this bowl, with a little help from Nana.

And Kristi showing what she liked most about the afternoon: a nice slice right off the block.

This was a fun afternoon making an easy cheese that gives the kids the chance to see the results of the help and eat it the same day. The Cheesy Geek had a great time and intends to do some more classes this year.

So You want to be a Cheese Maker: Part Seven

What I have purchased to support my cheese making habit: Part Two.

You will notice the box on the right side of the picture. This is what I call my “Freezer Box”. It is actually a sectioned container for small hardware parts and was only $4 at WalMart (Rubbermaid Storage Case 151200) . As I began acquiring cultures and other items which should be stored in the freezer it was soon apparent that I needed something other than plastic bags to keep them in. Not only was it inconvenient searching all the little pouches amid all the other freezer residents, they sometimes froze to the bottom of the freezer. This box was actually my third attempt at keeping these items together. First there was a quart sized plastic bag, then a small sealable plastic food container. As you can see the packets can be kept visible and each item is easily identifiable.  I can now go to the freezer and remove just the packets I need for the current cheese making project without exposing the rest of the cultures from any thawing.

Below is a list of what I would consider a fairly complete “Beginner’s Cheese Making Kit” for someone who wants to get everything at one time.

Rennet tablets $6.50.  My first 10 tablets came in the “30 minute Mozzarella and Ricotta kit”. I have since purchased the Tablet Vegetable Rennet -1 box (100 Tablets) at $39.95 to restock my own supply and to provide to people who have attended one of my Cheese making parties. Since they last 3 years in proper storage, I’m not too worried about them going bad before I have a chance to use them.

Citric Acid $5.95 C13N.  Also included in the Mozzarella kit, Citric acid does not need to be stored in the freezer but should be keep in a sealed container or zip lock plastic bag to prevent moisture from getting into the package.

Lipase L3 $6.95  I purchased the mild lipase originally to add flavor to the Mozzarella. One important note is that when using lipase in mozzarella you need to increase the amount of rennet to ½ tablet or your curds will be not be so good. Lipase is used in many of the Italian cheeses such as Romano, Provolone, Feta, and others. The Capilase Lipase Powder is the very sharp version of this enzyme.

Calcium chloride C14 $4.95  This is an essential ingredient for making hard cheeses from store bought milk. Added to the milk prior to adding the culture this aids in setting the curds firmer and makes cutting the curds easier. Storage: no refrigeration required

Mesophilic cultures C101 $5.95 This package contains 5 direct set culture doses for making a variety of hard cheeses including cheddar, Gouda, Colby and a number of others. You could also purchase this as a part of a “Hard Cheese Sample Pack” $14.95 which includes the thermophilic culture pack (for Parma and Romano cheeses) and a 5 pack of Buttermilk Culture.

Yogurt cultures $14.95 I would call this pack an option. If you don’t like yogurt, or yogurt cheese, then skip this one. Containing one pack of Bulgarian starter culture and 5 packets each of a tangy and a sweet direct set cultures, this sample pack lets you discover which one you like best and you can reorder the one you prefer. My personal favorite is the Y-5 “Sweet” yogurt because the flavor intensifies as it drains and becomes yogurt cheese. The “Tangy” becomes stronger than I like. 

Cheese cloth U1 $5.95 Cheese cloth is included in the kits you can purchase and you should not rely on the common cheese cloths sold in most grocery or hardware stores. They often have a larger weave and the poor quality does not hold up to washing.

Butter muslin u2N $5.95 is used to drain many of the soft cheeses including ricotta and mascarpone. I have noticed that many of the recipes call for a double layer of butter muslin to drain the cheese. I have started to use a 130 thread count sheet to make napkin sized squares to drain many of the cheeses I make, and they work very well.

 4.5” mold M3 $15.95  If you purchased “Home Cheese Making” by Ricki Carroll, you will want this mold. All of the two(2) gallon recipe hard cheeses have been tested and calibrated for this particular mold. If you want to make larger batches you not only have to increase the size of the mold but also the pressing weight.

2 reed mats SM1 @$3.00ea  = $6:00 I recommend two of these reed mats so when you are air drying your hard cheese you can rotate the mats so they don’t stay wet and start growing mold. While the cheese is sitting on one you can sanitize and dry the other. It works for me anyways.

Cheese salt  $2.95 For using in making cheese you need to have a salt that melts easily and doesn’t contain iodine. This is it. I use this when adding salt to curds and mixing it in.  However for brining I use Morton’s Kosher salt because it is a whole lot cheaper.

Cheese Wax- 1 lb 5.50 Naturally if you are making hard cheeses which require waxing then you have to have at least a pound of it and a cheese wax brush $7.95

$95.50 Sub Total

$14.05 Shipping to Florida (Your cost may vary)

$109.55 total From New England Cheesemaking Supply co

A couple of other items in my box include:

Crème Fraiche (DS) $5.95 If you never had good crème fraiche, try making it with half and half and this culture. You will be amazed by the difference.

Sour Cream (DS)-5 packets $5.95 Here again is a classic example of how making it fresh is so much better than store bought. Turning a quart of light cream or half and half is as simple as heating it to 86 F, adding the culture and letting it sit on the kitchen counter for 12 hours. No additives or preservatives.

Fromage Blanc(DS)-5 pack I liked this one so well that I purchased 5 packs of 5 when they had a clearance on short dated products. If you look back on my previous blogs you will find several blogs dedicated to Fromage Blanc including last weeks strawberry heart. 

Now before you go out and buy all the the above, plus the hardware from last week: STOP!!! Get the book first, look it over and decide what cheeses you want to make. Then, look at what is needed to make those cheeses. Then, order what you need. 

Have a great week

George "the Cheesy Geek"

A mid week break: Valentines Day Treat

Here is a Valentines treat I made for my Honey. I have written before about making Fromage Blanc before. It is a cream cheese like white cheese but tends to be much lighter. After making the Fromage Blanc, I took some fresh strawberries (Local and in-season here in central Florida) and put them through the food processor with a couple table spoons of sugar. I combined two cups of the cheese and half cup of strawberries with a fork although you could probably use the food processor for mixing them. I "cook" more by taste than recipe and after combining the cheese and strawberries, my first taste said: "More sugar, Please". a little more sugar. . .  a little more mixing. . . and a little more tasting. . .I lined two Coeur a la creme molds with damp cheese cloth and spooned the mixture into them. After a few hours draining on a pan in the refrigerator it was ready to be turned out onto a plate. The addition of some sugared strawberry finished off this dessert. I suppose you could add a bit of whipped cream but would probably be too rich. For pretty, you could dust it with some confectioners sugar. But, we liked it just the way you see it above.

The cheese was much lighter than I expected considering that the leftover Fromage Blanc became pretty dense. Chef Paula called it "Fromage Blanc Strawberry Mousse". I'm not sure it is as light as a mousse but it is surprisingly light and delicious. I believe we could use any in-season berry to make this special dessert. I'd like to try peach next time they are available. Blueberry, Blackberry, Raspberry...oh my.

Until next time
Make more cheese
George "the Cheesy Geek"

So You want to be a Cheese Maker: Part Six

Things I bought to support my cheese making habit: Part One

Over the past year I have spent a fair amount of cash on my cheese making habit. The picture above is only a part of what I have purchased. This week I'm going through the hardware I've acquired to make cheese. Next week I'll be discussing the "consumables" and a few specialized cheese making items.

30 Minute Mozzarella and Ricotta Kit

This was my first purchase as an introduction to cheese making nearly a year ago. The price at the time of this blog post is $24.95 with shipping an additional $10.60 for shipping to Florida. CONTENTS: Dairy Thermometer (E3), Butter Muslin (U2), Citric Acid (C13), Vegetable Rennet Tablets (R4), Cheese Salt (S1) and Recipe Booklet. Buying the kit saves $2.30 over the cost of the individual items.

The Good: This kit does contain everything needed to make Mozzarella and Ricotta except for the pots and spoons/ladle etc. The instructions are clear enough and have some recipes in the back using the cheese made with the kit. It might be helpful to include the URL for the recipes with pictures on their website, but overall, this is a good kit for the beginner.

The Not As Good: The Dairy Thermometer was not practical for me. With 50-something eye sight, it was difficult to read and did not have a pot clip which means I had ld it in the milk while it reads the temp then take it out to read it. For the Mozzarella this wasn’t a big problem but with the higher temps for making Ricotta holding a 6 inch thermometer in a pot of 180F milk was not a pleasant experience. After the third use, I dropped it on the counter and it broke (it is a glass thermometer). I’m now using an “instant read” thermometer which I’ll discuss later.

The Bad: Shipping costs seem a bit high. One online seller only charges $6.95 shipping for this kit and is further away from me than New England Cheese Making Supply Co. Amazon.com has the same kit at $25 with free SuperSaver Shipping (as of 2/11/11).

 

Next is my choice of thermometers. As I said above, the glass dairy thermometer that comes with the kit was pretty useless to me. Joan had an “instant read” thermometer and it was ok. It was an inexpensive model from WalMart. It wasn’t waterproof and didn’t have a way to calibrate it. To replace the battery the case had to be taken apart, exposing the innards. There was a wire going from the bottom half to the top half and it broke when I tried to get it apart.

I then purchased a CDN DTQ450 ProAccurate Quick-Read Thermometer. It is water resistant (I’ve dropped it into a pot of milk three times and it still works). The battery replacement is though a screwed, gasketed battery cover. And the temperature range is -40 to 450 degrees F. The average read time is 6-8 seconds. At $12.69, it is a great deal even though it doesn’t have a pot clip.

The next step up is the CDN Proaccurate Digital Programmable Probe Thermometer. ($21.95)It is made for cooking meats in the oven with a stainless steel probe and cable which leads to the display/control unit. With a temperature range of 32 to 482 degrees F. it is more than adequate for use in making cheese. It does come with a pot clip and has a folding stand and a magnetic back. Two of my favorite features are the count down timer and the programmable temperature alert. The count down timer is convenient for timing your set times for both culture and rennet. The target temperature can be set and the display shows both the target temperature and the current temperature and it beeps when the target temperature is reached. NIIICE!!! The only down sides are that you can’t set it to alert when the target temperature is lower than the current temperature (would be nice for cooling milk for making yogurt), and the stainless steel cable could be a bear to clean if you get milk in the mesh. So make sure you clean the cable after every use.

One of the reasons I chose these two thermometers is that they do read higher temperatures and could be used to check temperature of melted wax and can be used for candy making or deep fat frying.  (Just make sure to thoroughly clean them after every use). 

Two things I bought early on were the Oxo Good Grips Stainless Steel Skimmer at $10.95 and Progressive GT-3520 International 19-Piece measuring Cup and Spoon Set at $9.95. The skimmer is perfect for stirring the milk and mixing cultures and rennet as well as removing curds from the pot.  The measuring cup and spoon set seemed like a good value with spoons from 1 Tbs all the way down to 1/32 tsp, and measuring cups from 1/8 cup to 2 cups.I also purchased a large strainer scoop from WalMart that is excellent for getting the curds out of the pot quickly. It is a Faberware Scoop/Strainer and was $6.95.  Plastic Colander from WalMart also for draining curds was only $1.95.

One of my favorite purchases for its versatility is the Cuisinart 77-7 Chef’s Classic Stainless 7-Piece Cookware Set. It was priced at $76.45 with free shipping when I purchased it in May of 2010. I was looking for a stainless stock pot to use for cheese making when this came up on my search. The set included 1 ½ quart, 3 quart sauce pans, an 8 quart stock pot and 10 inch skillet with lids. I use the 8-quart for one gallon batches of cheese or yogurt (for yogurt cheese). And often use the 3 quart sauce pan to make ½ gal yogurt batches.  The 18/10 stainless steel is heavy enough to hold temperatures better than the thinner pots I have. I do use the fry pan to cook with regularly as well.

Speaking of pots, I purchased the Heuck 26003 4 piece Stainless Steel Stock Pot Set when I needed to make cheese using more than 2 gallons of milk. (Reminder: an 8-quart pot is full to the brim with 8 quarts of milk in it). At $40.87 I didn’t expect heavy duty stainless steel and I got what I expected; Light-weight stainless steel pots made in India.  Although the lead description says “4 Piece” it is actually an 8 piece set including lids. They nest inside of each other and serve well as double boilers in 8, 12, 16 and 20 quart pot sizes. A plus with this less expensive alternative to 18/10 stainless steel is they do work with my induction burner. The down side is that they do dent easily and I had several small dings on one of the pots when it arrived. As long as you are willing to take a small risk of having dents in your pots, this is well worth the money for the weekend cheese maker.

When I decided to show my cheese making (cough cough) talents to some family and friends, I knew that standing around the stove in our kitchen was not going to be the best experience for them. So I purchased a Max Burton 6015 Portable Induction Cooktop Stove and Interface Disk Combination Set. The price at the time was $139.99 with free Super Saver Discount shipping. (on 2/11/11 it was $159.99). I like that it has 10 power levels with variable temperature controls and a 180 minute timer and the interface disk for using it with non ferrous pot and pans. Putting on the kitchen table was perfect for having 6 people watching the demo and learning how to make cheese. It did take a little getting used to and getting familiar with the settings available took some patience but now I love it for most things when making cheese. The unit is easy to clean and the switches are all protected from spills.

Next week I'll reveal the contents of my "freezer box". (That's the box on the left side of the picture above.)
Until then enjoy the week and happy cheese making.


George (the Cheesy Geek)

>>Disclaimer: I have not "Monetized" this blog. I receive no compensation for posting any links to other websites or merchandise. Prices quoted were correct at the time of publishing the post.>>>