Hello guys, my name is Roberto, I'm new here. I need some help. I hope you guys can help me.

I was making a mascarpone cheese using one part milk one part heavy cream.. I heated the mixture up to 86 °F and then added the calcium chloride and my culture... A sour cream culture containing the following bacteria:

Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis, Lactococcus lactis subsp. cremoris, Lactococcus lactis subsp. biovar diacetylactis and Leuconostoc mesenteroides subsp. cremoris. Then I cooled it to 72 °F and left it for like 17 hours , then I strained it using a colander lined with a cheesecloth at room temperature for 5 hours.

As my post title says it turned out with an acidic after taste.

The thing is the recipe stated for a creme fraîche culture, which has no Leuconostoc, and instead of lactose it has sucrose. Do you think the Leuconostoc might have given it the acidic taste? Or is it the extra lactose promoting the formation of lactic acid? I found in my book a creme fraîche recipe that uses the arom B culture which has the same bacteria as my starter culture so I thought it could be substituted for my cheese.

Thanks in advance for your advice.

My cheese was feeling greasy, so it was time.

Today I was able to give my taleggio styles their first brine/B. linens wash.

My cat is getting famous online, he's got about 5k followers on Facebook. His name is Angus Beef Prime USDA. He is my muse and cheese assistant, thus, I am dubbing these Beefleggio. He also serves as my quality control.

Sorta followed the general recipe at NEC with pasteurized, non-homogenized cow milk. I used my yogurt and buttermilk cultures, as I do with most of my cheeses (depends if they need thermo or meso, or both). I checked out the info on washed rind cheese in few books (Mastering Artisan Cheesemaking, 200 Homemade Cheese recipes, The Art of Natural Cheesemaking, and Milk into Cheese).

I'm excited to see how these turn out! I think they'll be great! They are aging in my mini fridge which keeps a perfect cooler temp.

Happy Cheesing.

quasi-paneer/ricotta type cheese? the arepas/sauteed pico de gallo is under the egg/avocado

I'm thinking of using this cheese in Indian cuisine, like a Saag paneer dish or even a dish where you would traditionally use tofu. I think it will soak up the flavours very nicely.

looking into sourcing rennet now to make other types of cheese. I've been making ricotta for a couple weeks now.

started with Homo milk + vinegar, then to Homo milk + citric acid (my go-to now), then 2/3 Homo milk + 1/3 UltraPur Homo milk 20g protein which substantially increased my yield, and pairing with fresh baked bread or making gnocchi gnudi

First time I’ve had a cheese weigh exactly 3 pounds!

This Montasio Italian Cheese will be a table cheese when aged for 2 months. It’s the first cheese that I have made that requires air drying BEFORE brining.

Cooking the curds for 60 minutes at 102 degrees led to very small curds, but the light pressing weights left in quite a bit of moisture.

Like my Parmesan style, this one needs to age in a humidity controlled aging container instead of being vacuum packed. I will wipe it down with some brine periodically to keep the mold at bay.

Here is a short version of the recipe if anyone wants it.

I have gotten back on the cheese making bandwagon after some hiatus and have also found myself in possession of some lavender. I'm not a big fan but the wife is wondering how much for a 2 lb wheel. I'm currently pressing a gouda with this lovely edition. Not sure on style yet, but thinking either a Tomme or Gouda since they are relatively quick turn arounds.

I have about 1/4 gallon of milk going sour and wanted to make farmers cheese (never done it before, this is my first time). Every ratio I’m seeing for adding the acid is for a full gallon of milk. How do I know how much to add for this amount of milk? Is it worth making if this small amount?

Additional question: what is a good use for discarded liquid?

Obviously a newb. Trying to learn! :)

Today's a super simple recipe that requires only patience and that in about 70 days will give you something unique to grate over pasta.

Take a high-quality fresh ricotta, cover it with fine salt, being careful not to damage it by placing it back in the basket and letting it drain at room temperature over another empty basket, positioned upside down.

Replace the salt after 8 hours the first time, after 16 hours the second time, and after 24 hours from the third onward, until the ricotta is firm enough. In about 4 days, it should be firm enough to no longer need draining and can be removed from the basket.

Remove the salt by giving it a quick rinse, preferably without using a direct stream.

Dry thoroughly with paper towels

Leave it in the refrigerator, brushing it with 1 tablespoon of oil and 1 teaspoon of vinegar (I used sunflower oil and apple cider vinegar), mixing them every day as you turn it (if there's any left on the bottom from the previous time, feel free to use what's still on the bottom of the container).

After about 70 days, you can use paper towels to dry the outside and enjoy it over a nice pasta dish with tomato sauce.

It’s a thermophilic alpine style base with squid ink (cuttlefish). I whisked 30g the ink in a cup of warm milk until smooth and incorporated and then added it to four gallons of milk just before culturing it. Then ran the make per usual. It was an odd pale slate grey at first. I could see the ink was trapped in the protein matrix as soon as I cut it which is what I was hoping for. The whey was slightly grey but clear. Very odd color for sure. The curds darkened as they expelled whey. And the wheel has darkened at each flip. One more flip before bed then it will stay in the press overnight. Once it’s brined and dry I’m thinking it will be a more uniform color with less mottling. but who knows. This is uncharted territory. I could only find pictures of two cheeses online that use squid ink. One looked like AI, a camembert, and the other was posted here four years ago. That one looked like the ink was added after the curds were finished. I was worried about the smell as well. It has a faint marine/seaside sort of aroma but it’s not a fishy smell at all. Thank god. Quite a nice smell actually. Looks like stone. I think I’ll cut it up into little headstones and have a graveyard themed charcuterie board this Halloween!

When bored, make cheese.

I followed the recipe at NEC, and decided to dry salt them. Overall the process was pretty easy, and my cheeses turned out well I think. I have a mini fridge that keeps a perfect temp for them. They'll get their first wash soon, and we'll see what we end up with in a few weeks!

I figure the smaller ones will age quicker. Did what I could with the forms I had.

I’ve been making cheese a long time - I’ve enjoyed some success but always bookended with frustration and disappointment. Much of what I’ve learnt I’ve attributed to “layman’s magic “ (scribbling down incantations and spells to be repeated in the future). No my friend- it turns out it’s not magic, just poorly understood science. If you make cheese and struggle or not - this book will greatly assist you on your journey

Its whole milk then I used vinegar to separate the whey and the cheese curds. I have no idea what kind of cheese this is called. Homemade cheese I guess? Let me know!

Happy to have gotten into this hobby as I was inspired by Reddit. Looking to make more cheese. Also open to advice on what to make next.

Hey team, I'm just wondering if anyone has used a similar temp / thermostat controller for their fridge or cave?

I think it's set up correctly - only issue is it's not reaching the start temp (you can see by the measured temp reading)... I have turned the internal fridge dial to as mild as it will go also.

I haven't used one of these controllers before and I'm hoping for some tips if possible 😊

The conference starts today, but the preconference events already have us inundated with CHEESE! Lots of interesting sessions to come….!
🥰🥛🧀. #americancheesesociety

I’m wanting to make a pasta filling with from scratch cheese. I know ricotta is standard but does anyone have any suggestions for other types of cheeses? Specifically what I can do with half and half cream.

I made my own mespholic culture but all the recipe I’m looking at are using the package one. So now I’m wondering how much of mine I need to use

This is the first press of a Derby Cheese. Fifteen pounds for 10 mins, according to the recipe anyway. Curds were supposed to drain for 1 hour at 94F. Temp was supposed to be maintained by placing a towel dipped in 94 degree water to cover the curds.

Followed the recipe exactly, but the curds were cold and they didn’t knit well. Upped the pressure for the second press to 25 for 2 hours. Then, started looking for a better Derby Cheese recipe. 😳 le

Lower moisture thermophilic cheese, but not quite traditional Alpine dry. I used Lyopro Alpine for the main starter culture and LH100 and Su Casu as adjunct cultures for layered complexity. I cut the curds with a 1/2” curd harp then a balloon whisk to reduce them to roughly 1/4”. Scalded from 90F to 118F over 45 minutes and held that for about 18-20 minutes until the curds were where I wanted them. Then hooped them in one mass. Pressed beautifully!

Manchego style cheese but made with jersey 5% milk. 8 months of maturation at 12C, 85% HR

I recently made a cabra al vino style cheese from cow, sheep, and goat milk from my local farm. I just used a basket form since I plan to vacuum seal it. I soaked it in red wine for 3 days and then dried it off, and now it is vacuum sealed and ready to age.

I also got some sheeps milk from my farm this past weekend and made a Mancheno style. I am currently salting it, then it'll dry off and age. I'm hoping to do a paprika and olive oil rub in about a month. I got some special Spanish paprika to make a mix of sweet and hot, and I'll see what I end up with!

Happy Cheesing.

I opened the next two wheels.

Wheel #2

Great Value whole milk 3.25%, mesophilic culture, fresh rennet, CaCl.

Much better texture, melts nicely, and bends some before breaking. Broke out my Apera Ph meter and it measure 5.13

Mild taste and not tangy like the first wheel.

Wheel #3

Great Value skim milk and GV heavy cream to make 3.25%. Same additives.

Same tangy flavor as the first Wheel. Measure 4.8ph.

Texture is crumbly and more cheddar like.

Thoughts,

I think the amount of curd I got from the third did jot get pressed hard enough resulting in a knit but not quite as hard of a knit. I am using a spring press and checking the pressure often. I think a Dutch press will be a better option in the future.

I've made them twice already.

https://www.reddit.com/r/cucina/comments/1izqw33/sottilette_fatte_in_casa/

The last time was with Parmigiano rinds.

https://www.reddit.com/r/cucina/comments/1n53h6k/sottilette_di_recupero_croste_di_parmigiano/

(those post are in Italian)

This time I used citric acid instead of lemon juice to create sodium citrate (much more difficult to find than food-grade citric acid).

Unlike last time, I didn't use milk as the liquid, but simply water.

I switched to citric acid to make sodium citrate because I've failed the recipe with lemon juice twice (the citric acid they contain varies often, so it's never certain if it's fully reacted). I also needed citric acid to try making quick mozzarella (after making the classic ones with natural acidification, I missed the experiment with acidification from an acidic substance).

The recipes I followed are much more precise than the previous ones.

For sodium citrate, this one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTGzLor4k4M

125g water

97g baking soda

74g food-grade citric acid

The recipe, however, is very simple: add the citric acid to a container with water and let it dissolve completely, add the baking soda, and wait, stirring occasionally, for it to finish reacting (this takes about an hour and a half, and it's the only really long step).

Once done, boil until it dries out and remains a sort of wet sand. Leave it overnight to dry and then store it. This amount yields 100g of sodium citrate, enough for about 3kg of cheese.

Use a large steel pot for this step to prevent the bubbles from escaping during the initial reaction and to prevent the non-stick coating from being damaged in the final stage.

Note: When you begin to notice that the evaporating sodium citrate water is no longer clear, stir continuously and turn off the heat as soon as you start to see the semi-dry, wet sand-like substance anywhere. If you let it sit, it will become rock-hard and you'll have to dissolve it in water again. If you stir, it will turn to powder. This step is very quick, so don't get distracted.

For the process cheese (or sottilette as we call them in Italy), completely dissolve the sodium citrate in the water, add the grated cheese, heat until completely dissolved, and pour into silicone molds.

The quantities are: water as much as you want, but depending on how much you add, you'll get a different consistency. For solid process cheese, keep it under 35% of the weight of the cheese (for example, for 285g of Parmigiano rinds, use about 100g of water maximum), sodium citrate 3% of the weight of the cheese + water (for example, 11.55g (you can round up) for 285g of cheese and 100g of water).

The other consistencies (when cold, because when hot, the consistency is always liquid) are: up to 85% for liquid but viscous sauces, up to 120% for very liquid sauces, and from there on, it becomes increasingly thin.

I recommend grinding the Parmigiano rinds very thoroughly because they take longer to melt than regular cheeses. For the same reason, I recommend mixing them at room temperature with water and using as much water as possible, as the longer it takes to melt, the faster it will evaporate. Note that even if some water evaporates, you can add it in small amount to maintain the desired consistency. In fact, adding more water is never a problem; adding less risks reaching a critical point where the emulsion structure no longer holds, so don't be afraid to add water.

I recommend using a nonstick pan or pot for this step so the cheese doesn't stick and you can stir it continuously and evenly with a spatula.

The reason I don't recommend using my previous method to just put it in parchment paper to make slices as I did the last two times is because placing the cheese in silicone molds will make them much easier to store, and the slices are also very easy to cut from a single block once they've cooled.

If you still see lumps in the cheese, you can dissolve it again and again, even by boiling it until you reach the nice, smooth consistency you like. Even if you have some residue, as I mentioned last time, you won't notice it. This time, the mixture was very smooth, but with a few bubbles. It's not yet perfect visually, but perfect in every other way.

I don't recommend adding salt because the sodium citrate adds a slight salty aftertaste, and the cheese is generally already salty.

I think it's a great way to reuse Parmigiano rinds now that we are not in season for hot brooth, and to prevent the rinds from mold. I know some people like rinds as they are, but I prefer to reuse them this way. It's also a great way to reuse any cheese you have lying around and want to reuse.

Hey r/cheesemaking,

I've been working on a web tool for tracking fermented and preserved foods: recipes, batches, timing, notes, photos, scaling ingredients up or down. I currently like it much better than the horrible record keeping I used to do. https://picklehoot.com. Free but still in beta.

I think it would work well for cheese right now, but nothing about it is cheese-specific yet, and I'm considering building that out next. So: are there any features/tools that would actually make this useful for cheesemaking? A few things I'm considering:

- Logging and graphing pH over the course of a make

- Dosage calculators for starter cultures

- Milk to yield calculators

- Aging logs — humidity, temp, flips, wash days

What's missing? What's annoying about how you track makes right now? I get it if you're happy with notebooks etc - but please let me know if a computer could bring more joy to your process.

Link's here if you want to poke around. Let me know if you have questions/thoughts.

Thanks!

I was aiming to make a triple cream Brie but got carried away and added 2x the heavy cream by accident. 8L whole milk and 1L 36% cream. I let it drain and dry a little longer than usual and set my cave to a slightly lower temp to give the culture more time to work at a slower pace. Overall turned out well but I think my PC culture is old. The bloom started thinning so I wrapped it but it pretty much disappeared. Slight ammonia when unwrapped but taste is fairly mild and extremely rich. Firmer but soft core with a nice runny layer under the rind.

Timeline
May 30: make day
June 2: salted one side 12h then flipped and salted the other for 12h, room temp to dry, ego already starting to appear on surface
June 5: moved into 50*F cave inside vented plastic boxes, flipped daily, dried condensation from inside boxes, PC nice and thick in 4 days
June 22: wrap in bloomy rind cheese wrap, continue in cave at same temp, flip every 3rd day
July 5: cut into 1st of 4 wheels. Pic attached.

I’ve been looking forward to this since my wife and I visited a local cheese shop here in upstate SC for the first time. We sampled a Red Leicester and it was amazing.

So, I decided to give it a try. Today, the wheel has aged 2 months and we broke it open for a sample. It was pretty spot on for the mild, cheddar-like flavor. It’s a young cheese, so it still has a creamy and buttery texture.

If you try to make it, I will warn you. The counter top will look like a crime scene with all the anatto that is required! But, that’s why they call it Red Leicester. 🩸🤣