Should I get a kit, or do I only need a few things to make cheese? I saw a kit on caprinesupply for $30.00.
The kits are simpler to start with, I got mine frome Hoeggars...came with cultures,rennet,. cheesecloth molds and an awesome cookbook. http://www.thegoatstore.com The one I got is called ...Cheesemakers Pantry
Depends on the cheese you are making. I have put together my cheesemaking supplies over the course of several years, none of which came from a traditional cheesemaking supply company except for the rennet and citric acid powder. My "cheesecloth" is muslin squares sold at WalMart on the kitchen towel aisle. They are huge and will hold two gallons worth of cheese for draining. I use natural colored rubberbands bought in a box at the office supply store to tie my bags of cheese for draining. Two nesting 1 gallon plastic serving bowls are my draining system. The plastic is the softer more flexible kind, not the hard rigid kind. I drilled holes in one bowl to work as a colander and the other bowl is the catch basin. I put the cheese in the muslin square, tie it up in a bag with a rubberband, then set the bag in the holey bowl nested into the regular bowl and stick it in the fridge. Once a day I pour the whey out of the bottom bowl until there is no more whey coming out, or the cheese has reached the consistency I want. If you can't find the nesting bowls I also use a Tupperware Thatsa Bowl (you can use any large plastic bowl) with a plastic colander that will nest inside the bowl but rest on the handles so it isn't sitting down on the bottom of the bowl. Whatever bowl you use make sure it will hold at least as much liquid as you use milk for your cheese recipe so you don't have whey overflowing it. If you want to make hard, aged cheeses you'll need some sort of cheese press, which you can either build yourself or buy one already made. But you can make lots of different types of cheeses without a press, so that purchase can wait until you have a little more experience and decide if you really want to make cheese or not. Oh, and one absolute necessity for cheesemaking that you shouldn't skimp on is an accurate food thermometer. You will need one that reads down as low as 80 degrees in two degree increments on up to about 200 degrees. Most cheese recipes are pretty detailed on the EXACT temp you need to heat your milk or curd to and you want to make sure you are accurate on that becuase it can and will affect your end result.
I want to start with soft cheese, like to have with crackers. (dont remember what it's called) and some cheddar eventually would be nice
It's called "Chevre"....soft molded or "bag cheese. You can use small plastic containers with holes in them to mold the curd orjust leave it in the cheesecloth for bag cheese...it is very good mixed with garlic and chives or just salted.
Sounds So wonderful. Just getting started w dairy goats in Sept. Looking forward to them. Thx for letting me in
Keep your eye out for big stainless steel pots. That is the big expense. Soft cheeses need a gallon of milk, hard cheeses 2-4 gallons. The hardest part in cheese making is waiting. The hard cheeses take 3-9 months.
Hard cheeses do take months if you want to let in age. I personally do not like goat cheese that has aged. We eat it after pressing for 24-48 hours. I like it fresh. It is purely a matter of personal taste. And yes, the big stainless steel pots are a must. I found mine for 1/2 price at Penney's years ago. This thread is quite old. There are a number of good cheesemaking threads on here somewhere.
My family loves the cheese anyway they can get it. Thats why I needed more goats. Its nice to break out the hard cheese when the milking season is deminishing. So far we have made 2 years without buying cheese or milk.
