Healthy soil and sustainable growing

[Aliza Vanderlip <songbird97520@yahoo.com>]

I use the organic vegetable rennet - non gmo - I have heard it isnt as good as using calf/kid/lamb rennet but my cheeses are yummy.....  it is a double strength rennet and I use less then half per recipe because I use raw milk too....  really fun to make cow cheeses... next week I am going to do a double cream cheddar.....

 

Blessings,

Aliza
www.SomeKindaWonderfulFarm.com
Ashland, Oregon

“Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” Howard Thurman

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From: Pete Vukovich <pvukovic1@yahoo.com>
To: Healthy soil and sustainable growing <livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Tuesday, June 19, 2012 10:37 PM
Subject: Re: [Livingontheland] living on the land

When we used to  make cheese - a while ago, we ended up switching to what I think was a nettle based rennet if I remember right, and it did seem to work. Like I said its been a while and I do remember the amount of rennet per batch we used was a lot more than calf rennet. Don't know if it helps...

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From: John D'hondt <dhondt@eircom.net>
To: Healthy soil and sustainable growing <livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Monday, June 18, 2012 3:04 PM
Subject: Re: [Livingontheland] living on the land

To make a "hard" cheese that will keep for many months if not more than a year you need "leb ferment". In other words the enzymes a suckling animal produces in it's stomach to process milk it has just drank. (these days a lot of the rennet is "suitable for vegetarians" iow gmo rennet made by E.coli microbes that had the gene implanted) In fact after drinking milk a "cheese" is formed in the stomach. I suspect that our ancestors got the idea of cheese making by seeing this after they had killed a calf, lamb or goat kid.

 

I don't at all like killing young animals a day or two old but in a survival situation that is what one may have to do. Today it is possible to buy concentrates and milk replacer to rear these young ones while milking the mother but when the going gets though that is not possible. Leave all the young alive and suckling and you will not have a drop of milk after the first few weeks after birth. Apart from the fact that most cows will refuse to give the human milker a drop when they know they have a calf waiting. Some will defend their milk and be very dangerous. And even if they allow you to milk them then there will never be enough left to rear the offspring into a decent adult.

 

So practically you give your newborn baby calf, kid or lamb a very good last meal and then kill it. (humanely of course)  Take out the leb stomach fast as you can and tie off at front and back with a string. Put this stomach in plenty dry salt and store in a container in a cool place. About one teaspoon of the cheesy contents will curdle 20 liters of fresh milk. Take out tea spoon of cheese in a cup of luke warm water and work with spoon  to homogenize and get rid of lumps then add to 20 liters of milk. The stomach rennet keeps for well over a year and a calf's stomach should be enough for at least 40 hard pressed cheeses. A goat kid for about 25. Goat kid rennet will give a sharp - peppery taste to the mature cheese. Calf is more neutral tasting. Lamb in between.

 

After pressing these cheeses should mature for a minimum of 4 weeks during which they are regularly turned and washed with salt water. But they get better with aging for a year or longer. Fresh curds taste of nothing much and have a rubbery consistency.

 

j

So, tell us what to do no matter how disgusting. 

Sent from my iPhone

On Jun 16, 2012, at 10:56 AM, John D'hondt <dhondt@eircom.net> wrote:

And some minor details may take years to figure out. One example is how to get rennet to curdle milk and make cheese. There are so many books that tell you to use herbs to curdle the milk. Tried all of them and nothing did even a remotely good job.And still there were so many cultures were cheese was a staple food and a way to store a milk surplus...

We finally found out what to do and frankly, most people would find it disgusting and would be incapable of doing it even if they knew how.

john

I suspect many of us are doing this already. I have multiple three-ring binders covering a variety of subjects, as well as many commercially printed books. Nothing is so effective as actually living the life, though. You find out in a hurry what the shortcomings of the books are. Nothing can completely prepare you in advance for what you run into when you do it.

 

Liz

 

Perhaps a library of sorts with guide books on subjects for survival that could be printed out now. Put the library away until needed or start to accumulate tools for the future if extreme stress times evolve. Blacksmithing, farming, animal husbandry for small animals, crafting, herb growing and the like could be included.

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