You will be amazed at how easy it is to make your own
cheese. You already have most of the equipment in your kitchen and
we supply the rest. A simple cream yogurt cheese spread can be ready
for breakfast overnight. Mozzarella cheese is ready the same day
its made and even the aged cheeses like Cheddar, Gouda and Colby are ready
to eat in just a few weeks. Unlike many cheese kits on the market,
ours is complete. Even the cheese press and wax are included.
That's right, you can make mozzarella
cheese in only one hour. You get all the special ingredients to make
six individual batches for a total of almost 7 pounds of fresh American
style mozzarella. Kit includes thermometer, cheese basket, 3 rennet
tablets, mild lipase powder, citric acid, cheese salt, calcium chloride
and easy to follow instructions. You supply one gallon of any milk
type per batch. Equipment needed: stock pot, microwave safe bowl, slotted
spoon and measuring spoons.
DELUXE
CHEESE KIT $89.95
You can make cheese with store bought milk. With this kit you will make all the different
types of cheese including mozzarella and aged hard cheddar. Each
recipe is formulated to be easily made in any kitchen without investing
in expensive equipment. Your kit includes our detailed recipe book
Making
Your Own Cheese which teaches the basics of home cheese making.
You also get our professional quality culinary thermometer and the cheese
press.
Recipes Include: Mozzarella, Ricotta, Yogurt
Cream Cheese, Lemon Cheese Spread, Neufchatel, Queso Blanco, Large Curd
Cottage Cheese, Queso Fresco, Farmhouse Cheddar, Monterey Jack, Yellow
Colby, Traditional Cheddar
Simply put, cheese making is the
process of removing water from dairy milk. The first characteristic
of a cheese is based on how much water is removed. Soft cheeses like
cream cheese contain more water than a hard cheese like cheddar.
Very dry cheeses like parmesan contains all most no water.
Milk is mostly water. Cows
milk, for example, contains over 87% water by weight. What remains are
the components of cheese. Fat, protein, lactose and minerals.
The cheese maker begins removing water from milk in number of ways.
The simplest method is to add an
acid such as lemon juice or vinegar directly to the milk. A second
method uses bacteria to create an acid in the milk. This is the preferred
method because the bacteria also provides flavor and character to the finished
product. In both methods the acid causes the milk protein to coagulate
into curd which is the solid protein of milk.
The basic ingredients for making cheese are milk, starter
culture and or natural acids, and rennet.
The Composition of Milk
Fat
Protein
Lactose
Minerals
Water
3.5%
3.5%
4.9%
0.7%
87.4%
Cheese can be made from any dairy
animal milk. Fresh raw milk from cows or goats, store bought milk
from whole to skim and specialty milks from health food stores. One
rule of thumb regardless of the source of your milk is, the fresher the
better. When purchasing milk from the store be sure to check the
freshness dates.
Don't be afraid to ask your grocer for
milk from their latest delivery. If you explain what you are using
it for they should be very helpful. Milk should always be kept refrigerated
until ready for use.
PROS
& USES
CONS
& PROBLEMS
RAW
COW
Preferred
for making butter, hard and Italian cheeses
Regulated
in many States and not readily available
RAW
GOAT
Preferred
for feta, and goat's cheese. Works in
most cheese recipes.
Not
readily available.
WHOLE PROCESSED
Available
everywhere. Works well in all cheese recipes.
Homogenized
and may require adjustment with calcium chloride.
LOW
FAT PROCESSED
Produces
high quality low fat cheese, especially when used in cream and soft cheese
recipes.
Homogenized
and may require adjustment with calcium chloride. Will yield a drier more
crumbly curd of lesser weight.
FAT
FREE SKIM
MILK
Produces
quality no fat cheese, especially when used in cream and soft cheese recipes.
Excellent when combined with heavy cream to recreate raw milk consistency.
Homogenized
and may require adjustment with calcium chloride. Will yield a drier more
crumbly curd of lesser weight.
HEAVY CREAM
Used
to make butter and adjust the cream
content of skim milk for producing hard cheese from store bought milk.
LIGHT CREAM
Used
to make desert cheeses like Mascarpone.
Using Store
Bought Milk Store
bought milk is homogenized, which means that the cream particles (butter
fat) have been mechanically broken up into microscopic particles. This
is done to prevent the cream from separating from the milk. Homogenizing
milk also alters the protein. Unless the cheese maker compensates for this
the milk will not make a satisfactory curd for hard cheese. When making
cottage cheese or any hard cheeses with store bought milk you must prepare
a special mixture. The basic recipe is 1 part heavy cream to 7 parts skim
milk. All of the recipes given here are formulated to use store bought
milk and the instructions for preparing this mixture are given in each
recipe when necessary.
Calcium
Chloride (optional) Another step used to compensate
for the processing of store bought milk is the addition of calcium
chloride prior to adding rennet to the cheese mixture. The addition
of calcium chloride will help restore the altered milk protein and aid
in the development of a quality curd. Specific instructions for using calcium
chloride are given with each recipe.
Pasteurization All milk, regardless of its source
will contain bacteria. Pasteurizing is a simple process which will kill
any bacteria which may be in the milk. We have found that pasteurizing
any milk, including store bought, will improve the quality of the cheese.
To pasteurize your milk simply place the milk in a double boiler and heat
the milk to 161oF. Stirring often to avoid scorching. Once you
have reached 161oF place the pot of milk into a sink of cold
water and cool the milk to your cheese making temperature. Complete details
on pasteurizing are given in the step-by-step instructions later in this
document.
Starter Cultures The acidification of milk in cheese making
by means of bacteria is called
ripening. A variety of bacteria
cultures are available for making specific cheese types.
These bacteria, commonly called starters, are added to the milk
after pasteurization and at specific temperatures. They are allowed
to work for specific time periods depending on the type of cheese. During
this period the bacteria consumes the lactose which is milk sugar.
The biological process is the same as the fermentation of beer or wine.
As the bacteria eat, they produce lactic acid which in turn causes the
milk protein to develop into curd. Other byproducts of this ripening
stage provide flavor compounds which enhance the character of the finished
cheese.
For
Italian cheeses like parmesan, romano, provolone and mozzarella
These cheese starter cultures are
available in two forms. They are defined as culturable and direct-to-vat.
culturable starters are similar to sourdough starters in that they are
prepared in advanced and preserved for future use. Direct-to-vat
cultures are much more convenient for the home cheese maker. No preparation
of the culture is required. These freeze dried cultures are added
directly to the milk in the same way you would use bread yeast.
Rennet
Rennet
is an enzyme which acts on protein and causes it to coagulate. There
are two sources of rennet enzyme. Animal rennet is an enzyme which
is extracted from the fourth stomach of calves and vegetable based rennet.
Vegetable based rennet contains
no animal products and has the same coagulating ability as animal rennet
when used in milk that has been ripened (acidified) by a cheese starter
bacteria. This rennet is available in tablet and liquid form.
Rennet must be diluted with distilled water prior to adding to milk.
Rennet must be refrigerated.
NOTE: If your recipe calls for rennet tablets
use this conversion. ½ rennet tablet = 1/4 teaspoon liquid rennet.
