Adventures in Cheesemaking


Tucker and I recently embarked on a really genius (or really stupid) adventure in cheesemaking. Tucker's mom recently gave us an awesome Mozzarella and Ricotta Cheese Making Kit and recipes from Ricki Carroll and we were so psyched! We love cheese! Who doesn't? Aren't all things better when they're homemade? That's our philosophy. So as cheese lovers and culinary adventurers, why not make cheese? Well, for one, we've learned that it's tricky. And that it requires equipment that we don't have. And it requires delayed gratification, which is well, really annoying.

I'm not trying to turn you off from making cheese, it was definitely fun, and hopefully will taste delicious (we won't know for another month or so), but just know before you start, this is a looooonnnng process. I think we spent at least 6 hours straight through just getting through to the first stage when the cheese dries out for a few days.

We started out making a farmhouse cheddar, so it won't be ready to taste for another month, BUT, here are some pictures documenting the process!


 "Ripening" the milk via hot water in the sink.

 The cheese ripens and starts to separate curds from whey!

The curds are cut into cubes.

Reheating the curds so they shrink and separate from the whey. We made the whey into ricotta. Yum.

Hanging the curds to dry.

Mmmm... I could deep fry these and eat them right up!

 Curds are pressed into a mold...

 And weight was put on it for a while...

 Then more weight (we had to get creative here).

After being pressed for 24 hours, we bandaged the cheese in cloth, and left it on the counter to dry for a few days. Now it's in our cheese cave (basement)!

That's all for now! Check back in a few weeks when we find out if it's edible.

Comments

I can't wait to hear how it turns it out!
Lee Morgan said…
How long until Tucker needs a cheese press?
Rachel Dines said…
Lee, I think he might need one imminently. He's been talking about building one...
Terri said…
This is hilarious! Your best post yet (especially the extra weight photo). The molded cheese is beautiful!
Lucas Kain said…
Very nice. We used to make all kinds of cheese (not really all) while my grandmother was alive. Sadly, we don't anymore and I regert it a lot. Might try soon! I hope it goes well with you. ;D

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Francesca. said…
I have a couple of law school textbooks that would be perfect cheese weights if you want them. Otherwise, they're gathering dust in the bottom of my closet. :)