Being asked to teach someone else to make cheese led to me doing a bit more research about ingredients. I was surprised to discover that my previous batch of cheese had inadvertently been made with homogenised milk… it was no wonder the curds didn’t form properly. So, I decided to source some minimally processed milk for my session with Kate.
We used to have raw milk delivered to the door, in bottles, but the farmer retired and no one locally seems to sell it any more, so I sought some by mail order. I was delighted to discover a farm that sells milk from their Jersey herd and who do next day delivery. It’s not cheap, but it is very high fat and just what I was looking for. I ordered 12 litres and we used three for the cheese and one for some yoghurt*, so I now have 8l remaining in the freezer and I’m going to use this to make some hard cheese in the next few days.
Lovely curds ready to go into the moulds
The unpasturised, unhomogenised Jersey milk was a delight to work with – it made beautiful curds that were easy to handle and there were lots of them. Of course because I was teaching someone else, it made me think much more about what I was doing, and I realise how gently everything needs to be treated, and how much like magic it is that simply cutting the curds into pieces allows the whey to be released. Unless you are making hard cheese, there is no pressing or squishing and a reasonably firm cheese forms in the moulds with only the lightest handling and a few turns.
Fresh curds in the moulds
We made a very simple soft cheese that had a texture a bit like a cross between feta and Caerphilly! I am planning to get some Geotrichum candidum culture to allow me to make a mould-ripened version of this sort of cheese. This would give it a white surface a bit like brie and would allow it to mature for longer and thus develop more flavour. Interestingly, we tried making ricotta from the whey, but there were relatively few solids left. I’m not too bothered about this, as the whey is great for all sorts of other uses.
So, I will be buying creamy raw milk again for cheese making. Kate is on the case to see if we can get some locally (she has a promising lead), but if not I will keep ordering it from the supplier I used for this batch. I find working with living cultures very interesting – they are so sensitive to the environment and the raw materials they are working on. So, now I need to master a good hard cheese….
-oOo-
* Not a success – far too creamy.
The Snail of Happiness 
Kitty
/ January 31, 2016The whole process sounds exciting and to be able to experiment too with unpasteurised milk. I’m assuming it is??
Years ago we had Jersey cow and we always drank the unpasteurised milk. I think I’d find it too rich now. The pigs had the excess.
I hope the new source proves successful. 😉
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The Snail of Happiness
/ January 31, 2016Yes, it is unpasteurised – perfect for cheese making… too creamy for tea!
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katechiconi
/ January 31, 2016When I was making cheese, I’d occasionally find it impossible to get a supply of unpasteurised, unhomogenised milk. You *can* make a perfectly adequate (but not nearly as delicious!) cheese using ordinary supermarket full fat milk. Although nothing can be done about the pasteurisation, you can resolve some of the problems caused by homogenisation by using calcium chloride solution to help firm the curd. It’s also occasionally useful with raw milk where seasonal grazing conditions can lead to a weak curd set. If you’re going to be making a lot of cheese from one large batch of milk, it’s worth doing an advance test to ensure you get a firm curd before committing the lot! There’s a good post here about the science (I know you’ll want to know!): http://curd-nerd.com/calcium-chloride
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The Snail of Happiness
/ February 1, 2016Thank you… I did not know that about calcium chloride. Off to read that link now…
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The Snail of Happiness
/ February 1, 2016Oh, just visited…. brilliant site… I may be there some time… thank you again
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katechiconi
/ February 1, 2016No worries, always good to find new information that helps you perfect your results 🙂
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thecontentedcrafter
/ January 31, 2016Sounds like you may have made Greek Yoghurt? I am all for untampered with products and use full organic milk myself I am shocked when I taste the stuff that is sold as ordinary milk in the supermarkets not to mention the lack of any nutritional value……….. Your cheese making experiments seem to be going from success to success 🙂
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The Snail of Happiness
/ February 1, 2016The yoghurt was quite thin with a thick layer of cream separated out on the top… it turns our that homogenisation is good for some things!!
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thecontentedcrafter
/ February 1, 2016🙂 Who knew!!
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emmazocco
/ February 1, 2016I would love to know how to make cheese! I looking forward to a future post on hard cheeses (they are my favs!)
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The Snail of Happiness
/ February 1, 2016It’s not too difficult, just a bit of a fiddle and time-consuming. Yesterday I sat down and wrote out all the steps in making hard cheese with the associated timings… I’m hoping to manage to start it off this week, but it rather depends on what work arrives (I hate it when work gets in the way of things I like!!).
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alookatthelittlethings
/ February 1, 2016I have cheese making on my resolution list for this year. I’m hoping to find some raw milk, but may have to learn on regular market milk.
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The Snail of Happiness
/ February 1, 2016Good luck in your hunt – I have discovered it seems to be much easier with the raw milk, but that might be because of the high fat content too!
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insearchofitall
/ February 1, 2016I always learn things here. Never tried my hand at cheese but will never take it for granted again. I don’t do much dairy. It has never liked me so aged cheese is about all I can manage. I love learning about how it’s made though.
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