Made some Cheese and Butter

[OlJarhead]

Stumbled across a place selling raw cows milk (shhhh don't tell the food police!) and bought 4 gallons at $4.50 per

Made two gallons into Cheddar:


This is the first cheddar I've made where everything was very close to correct (in the process anyway) including the final cooking of the curds.  I'm drying it now and hoping to age it for 12 months (minus a sample or three) to really see what I've done

My last cheeses were 'ok' but not properly cooked in the end so leaked whey throughout the aging process

Also decided to make some butter:


My son-in-law and I shook a quart jar about 2/3rds full of cream for about 30 minutes and this is the result...melted some on popcorn tonight and it was excellent -- but the real test will be tomorrow when I have it on my home made bread (from home milled flour) and try some of my home made apple jelly on it

Oh ya, I may be fatter by noon tomorrow!

[Whitlock]

That is 
We (mostly my wife) make our own bread,butter,jams and even milk based soap all the time.

Now cheese that would be even better.
Would you mind elaborating a bit on the process.


  Thanks,W

[Windpower]

looks good, O

That's how my mom made butter

[OlJarhead]

If you have the milk (raw unpasteurized) then you can do it either of two ways:  the first is to go with the raw milk and make the cheese, the second is to bring the milk to 170 degrees to sterilize it and then make the cheese.

I use a book for my recipe's at the moment but I've been working on perfecting cheddar for over a year now (and no where near perfection of course) and the recipe is mostly the same no matter where you go.  Also, my cheddar is a 'pressed' cheddar rather then a stacked cheddar (I can explain that later).

Basically you go to somewhere like cheesemaking.com and buy some Mesolithic starter culture.  When it arrives you put it in a quart of sterilized milk and let it grow.  Once grown (overnight) it';s ready for use in your cheese and to freeze (pour the remaining culture which will be a lot like yogurt into ice trays to freeze for later use).

Start with the milk in a large pot and carefully bring the temperature of the milk up to 90 degrees (take your time to prevent overheating it or scorching it).  Then put in the culture and cover the pot (off the burner) and let sit for 45 minutes to 1 hour (best to have a ph meter to test ph from here on but I never used one until recently and am only now learning how).

Next, bring the milk back to 90 degrees (should be there already) and pour in the rennet (oh ya, buy rennet -- animal rennet in liquid form -- at the cheese place too) after diluting it in non-chlorinated water.

If using raw milk you'll have to stir the top for a while longer then the main body of milk to keep the butter fat mixed in (it's explained in the book)....

Let sit for 45 minutes -- check for a clean break (insert finger and hook it upwards to see if the curds break cleanly).  If clean break exists cut curds into 1/2" blocks -- you'll have to stir with your hand to get the bigger curds up so you can cut them with a table knife -- and begin SLOWLY raising the temp to 100 degrees.  This should take about 5 minutes for each two degrees you need to raise the cheese temp so if it's down to 86 degrees before you start then you need 14 degrees of temp rise or 5x7=35 minutes total to raise the temp.  This is important.

Once you've reached 100 degrees you continue to cook the milk/curds&whey for 30 more minutes (here is where a ph meter is handy because you can check the PH before draining) and drain the whey afterwards (the whey can be used for making ricotta if desired).

Now put the curds back into the pot and continue cooking at 100 (don't let it rise above 102!) for 60 minutes longer (you could go 120 minutes too depending on what you desire).

Once done place in cheese mold (lined with cheese cloth) and press at 10psi (for a 4" mold that equates to about 25lbs of weight hanging off a lever with a 6:1 ratio and some added arm weight etc -- or 157.5lbs or pressing weight) for 1 hour, then flip and press for a full 24 hours.

You can flip it once or twice in the process if desired but give it the full 24 hours (some will argue on that).


Cooking the milk after putting in the rennet and cutting the curds.


Stirring the curds and finding large ones to cut smaller


Whey is drained and the cooking continues


Keep a close eye on temps


Pressing cheese with a quickly made Dutch Press (I'm going to make a much better one when I have the time)


Notice the whey coming out of the cheese -- I think I could have cooked it another hour perhaps.  The final cook is to cook out the whey as much as possible.


Despite the crappy press we were able to keep the cheese upright -- not so much the press! LOL but it worked. 


A lot less whey comes out after the initial hour.


Cheese achieved   Now it sits on a sushi matt in the cheese cave (small fridge with a water bucket in it for humidity) which is kept as close to 50 degrees as I can get it.  It will be rotated daily and dry for 3-4 days then get waxed and be rotated daily for a month or so where I'll start to rotate every couple or three days.

[Whitlock]

Wow more complicated than I thought
Still going to give it a try but not yet the freezer is stuffed full.

Thanks for taking the time to explain very informative.


Later,Whitlock

[rick91351]

What brand of flour mill?  Ellen is about to go through the roof with all the additives and preservatives in flour and store bought bread.  Why do they remove stuff then add it back in plus more? 

   

[OlJarhead]

What brand of flour mill?  Ellen is about to go through the roof with all the additives and preservatives in flour and store bought bread.  Why do they remove stuff then add it back in plus more? 

We use a manual mill that I bought from pleasanthillgrains.com -- I think it's called the Family Grain Mill and ran about $130.  You can get an attachment to run it of a kitchenaid or other big mixers too but we haven't gone that far.

NOTHING beats making bread with you own home milled flour! 

[OlJarhead]

Wow more complicated than I thought
Still going to give it a try but not yet the freezer is stuffed full.

Thanks for taking the time to explain very informative.


Later,Whitlock

Freezer?

[considerations]

Great pics....you need a hair net for that arm! 

[Whitlock]

Freezer?

I have 10 or 12 pounds of cheese in the freezer.

[OlJarhead]

I have 10 or 12 pounds of cheese in the freezer.

Ahhh I understand -- so enough to last a few weeks

I don't keep cheese in a freezer.  Instead I vacuum seal it and leave it in the fridge.  Never goes bad that way but ages a little.

For my home made cheese it's kept in a cheese cave to age.

[OlJarhead]

Here's my cheese in the cave developing its rind.


The rind is developing nicely and I hope to wax in a day or two.

[OlJarhead]

Waxed today


Now we wait for it to age.

Min 60 days.

[OlJarhead]

Broke out the cheese this weekend and let me tell you: WOW!  Holy Cow!

Two months young, too young to be anything but a super mild cheddar and guess what?  This puppy blows away any medium Tillamook out there!  Hands down this is the best Cheddar I've ever had.  Period.

It's back in the cave to age a couple more months...then I might have a HARD time leaving it there

[MikeC]

Nice.  To avoid the excess whey, is it possible to cook too long?  Within reason of course.

After sampling do you re-wax for storage?

And, do you have a good cottage cheese recipe? So far the ones tried have been a bit bland compared to store bought.

[OlJarhead]

Nice.  To avoid the excess whey, is it possible to cook too long?  Within reason of course.

After sampling do you re-wax for storage?

And, do you have a good cottage cheese recipe? So far the ones tried have been a bit bland compared to store bought.

Cooking is the key to getting rid of the whey when making cheddar.  You have to cook it for at least 1 hour after draining.

Yes, I rewax after each sampling -- I could vacuum seal it but that's a different type/kind of aging that I'm not ready to try.

Cottage Cheese?  Have some recipes but haven't tried it yet.