Homestead mailing list

[Rob <becida AT comcast.net>]

At  8/28/2008 06:50 AM,bob ford wrote:
> How long do you age the cheese?  The cheddar I 
> use daily is aged for 14 months.  Some of the 
> better cheeses are aged longer but they cost 
> more per pound than fresh Alaskan Crab 
> Claws....I've never seen cheese made.  bobf

Never seen it ... Hmmm

The best way to see it is in your kitchen IMO, 
but there is a cheese place just across the 
street from The Pikes Street Market in Seattle 
where you can stand on the sidewalk and watch the 
milk do it's think in these stainless bath tubs...

This is the "in your kitchen" way.

This is a really simple way, the last time I did 
it after it had drained a bit I added some garlic 
and Italian seasoning, mixed with my hands (the 
cheese was still warm) and let finish draining. I used it in lasagna.
You can go down to the store and buy a gallon of 
milk to try this, everybody has vinegar and maybe 
a candy thermometer for the milk temps. Don't 
forget to pick up some cheese cloth.
The hard part is slowly heating the milk, the 
neat part is seeing the milk turn into chunks <VBG>.

Rob
becida AT comcast.net
who still doesn't understand the political 
polarization on this list but is slowly learning 
to not get into it with the fanatics. Cheese is good...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Beginner Cheese Directions
Ingredients:

1 gal milk to ½ cup vinegar

salt (more for firmer cheese) salt pulls away the whey
(2 ½ tbl for ricotta per gallon)

Directions:

heat slowly to 190-200º

slowly add the vinegar until it’s in, do not over stir

let curdle & cool until it get to about 100º

add salt

either cut or breakup the curds
        ricotta very small pieces, cream cheese no smaller than a quarter

drain the cheese into a cheese cloth lined colander

hang the dripping cheese until it gets to the consistency you want
        ricotta & cottage about an hour hanging, cream cheese is 4 hrs

mold & chill the cheese