reading

“This cheese is delicious! Where did you get it?” Imagine being able to answer, “I made it.” People who love to prepare food take great pleasure in sharing what they have made with others. This book will help you add some incredible new dishes to your repertoire.

Chances are if you are reading this book, you like to work and play in the kitchen. Whether you enjoy baking breads, preparing desserts, or creating gourmet dishes, making cheese, butter, and yogurt can complement just about any of your favorite foods.

If you enjoy preparing food, you know how satisfying it can be to cut into a freshly baked loaf of bread or open a bottle of homemade wine. Making your own cheese, butter, and yogurt delivers the same wonderful satisfaction.

The mission of this book is to be a complete guide to making cheese, butter, and yogurt at home. It is everything you need to know about making cheese, butter, and yogurt — explained simply.

To explain the process of preparing these creamery items in your home, it is best to start with the simple process of making butter, and that is how this book will begin. This book will take you from the surprising simplicity of butter to the complexity of making your own aged bacteria- and mold-ripened cheeses.

Making creamery items is a culinary skill the whole family can enjoy. Making butter, yogurt, and cheese can be a fun and educational experience for kids as well as adults. The recipes for butter and easy Mozzarella are great for chefs of all ages and skill levels. Get the kids involved as you learn about how cream and milk change with shaking and heating. You will be fascinated by understanding how milk separates into curds and whey. (The curd is the solid mass that results from the heating and ripening of milk, and whey is the liquid that separates from the solids in the milk.) This curd can be cut, stretched, strained, drained, broiled, and baked, while the whey can be used to make cheese, bake bread, soften pizza crust, and much more. There is no limit as to what can be done with a gallon of milk.

In this book, you will learn about all of the ingredients and utensils you will need to make a wide range of homemade creamery items. You will learn how to clean and care for your equipment, making sure everything remains sanitary so your dairy products are always safe to eat. You will learn many of the basic techniques necessary to transform simple milk and cream into butter, yogurt, and many kinds of cheeses. There are many recipes for making butter, yogurt, and cheese, as well as recipes for foods that can be prepared with butter, yogurt, cheese, and the by-products of these items.

Though making butter, yogurt, and cheese can be rewarding in many ways, be careful about going into this as a money-saving proposition. For the most part, you are not going to save any money making your own butter and cheese unless you have a good source of inexpensive milk and cream. However, you can save money when making your own yogurt because once you have a good yogurt starter going, the only cost is the quart of milk you will use, which is less expensive than a quart of store-bought yogurt.

All things considered, the biggest advantages to making your own cheese, butter, and yogurt are their taste and the fact you know exactly what went into the production of each and every item. Once you have a bowl of fresh, homemade yogurt with fresh cherries or any of your favorite fruit, you may never go back to store-bought yogurt. The same is true of homemade butter, buttermilk, cream cheese, or any of the products described in this book.

This book is divided into four parts to easily explore step-by-step the processes of making wonderful creamery products in your home kitchen. The book is designed to get you established with the equipment and ingredients you will need and then to take you from the easiest process through the more complex and time-consuming process of advanced cheese making.

The first part of the book looks at your kitchen and describes the equipment you will need to get started. The first part will also discuss some of the ingredients basic to making cheese, butter, and yogurt and where you can procure some of the harder-to-find items, such as real buttermilk, raw milk (farm-fresh, unprocessed milk), and cheese starters.

The second part looks at all things butter. Here, we will take a fun look at the history of butter and will then learn a variety of ways you can make and store butter in your kitchen. This part will also examine butter variations and by-products. Part Two will conclude with recipes using butter and related products, such as a butter piecrust, buttermilk pancakes, and buttermilk quark. Many Americans are not familiar with quark, but as you will learn in this book, quark is a delicious cream cheese-like substance that is easy to make — and quite addictive.

Part Three explores yogurt and begins with a history of this simple yet complex food. This section will describe various methods of making and storing yogurt in your kitchen as well as describing ways to make several products related to yogurt, such as yogurt cheese and frozen yogurt. Like Part Two, Part Three will conclude with recipes you can make that use yogurt or products related to yogurt. Recipes from this section include yogurt biscuits, smoothies, and a wonderful yogurt dip called tzatziki.

In Part Four of this book, we will turn to cheese and begin by taking a look at the long history of cheese. We will continue by examining some of the basic processes you will need to know that are common to most cheese-making methods. We will review some of the cheese-specific ingredients and equipment that were not explored in chapters 1 and 2, and will discuss starters and rennets — ingredients particular to making different kinds of cheeses. The following chapters will take you through descriptions of making cheeses, starting with simple cheeses like cream cheese and then working your way to the more complicated processes for making Italian cheeses, hard cheeses, and mold- and bacteria-ripened cheeses such as blue cheese and Stilton.

Part Four, like the earlier sections, will conclude with a number of different recipes that will use some of the wonderful cheese you have made. Recipes here will include cheesecake, pizza, bread, macaroni and cheese, and more.

Throughout this book, you will read case studies of people with experience in the processes of making cheese, butter, and yogurt. Some of the case studies are about people who engage in this activity at home, and others are about those who do it professionally.

Enjoy the process of making your own cheese, butter, and yogurt, and enjoy the outcome. Share it with your family and friends; they will return your gifts with smiles and praise.

Table of Contents

As explained earlier, you do not need a lot of fancy, expensive paraphernalia to get started making cheese, butter, and yogurt. In fact, you can make do with about four or five basic household tools. A pot, colander, slotted spoon, cheesecloth, and thermometer are all you need to get started; remember, making cheese, butter, and yogurt dates back hundreds of years before instant-read thermometers, double boilers, and specialized curd knives were used. If you find that your kitchen is not equipped with some of these items, you can find alternative ways of doing the job.

An example of specialized equipment that is a luxury and not a necessity is a $500 yogurt maker. You can pay $500 and get a nice machine that will make good yogurt, or you can keep your culturing yogurt warm with a heating pad, a crock-pot, or in a sink full of warm water. Once you learn the basic items, you will find there are often a number of different ways to accomplish what it is you need to do to achieve your desired cooking result.

Here is some of the basic equipment you will need to get started making your own cheese, butter, and yogurt:

Pots – Although you can get away with one large, stainless-steel or unchipped enamel pot, you will probably find that having several pots is much easier. The important point to make about pots is to make sure you do not use cast iron or aluminum pots with dairy products because the acidity in dairy products will react with the iron and aluminum, causing the iron and aluminum to leach into your product. Leaching means there is a chemical reaction that causes iron or aluminum to transfer from the pot or utensil into your dairy product.

Another important factor in choosing a good pot is that it has a heavy bottom. Pots with heavy reinforced bottoms allow for a more even distribution of heat. It is more convenient if you have a large double boiler. Having the ability to heat your milk in an indirect manner is a good way to keep temperatures consistent over several hours.

Make sure your pots are large enough to hold 2 to 3 gallons of liquid. If you do not have a double boiler, have several 3-gallon pots and a larger one to set them in to serve as a double boiler. The larger pot of the double boiler should be able to hold the smaller pot and some water that will be heated. Ideally, the smaller pot can sit inside the larger pot while not touching the bottom of the larger pot. You want water to be moving all around the smaller pot to allow for an even distribution of heat.

Cheesecloth – You will probably want to have two kinds of cheesecloth on hand. For some cheeses and butter, you will be able to use the cheesecloth that is readily available at your neighborhood grocery store. You will find that for soft cheese, semi-soft cheese, and butter, you will be able to use standard cheesecloth. When you proceed to aged and ripened cheese, you will want to use the professional-grade cheesecloth available through cheese-making supply houses. The recipes in the book will let you know what kind of cheesecloth you should be using and how to use it.

You will have to use a double layer of the basic cheesecloth that you buy in your grocery store. This basic cheesecloth is serviceable for butter, cream cheese, ricotta, and a number of other products. The cheesecloth you buy in the grocery store has a very loose weave, meaning that the holes in the fabric are larger than tightly woven cloth and you will lose some of the curd when you drain your product — but it is still a usable cloth. Ideally, when you strain your product, you want to separate the curd from the whey, and if the cheesecloth you use allows some of the solid curd to flow through with the whey, you need tighter-woven cheesecloth, or you need to double- or triple-layer the cloth you are using. You can purchase tighter-woven cheesecloth at cheese-making supply houses, and this product is preferable, as it catches more curd. There is a list of supply houses in the Appendix of this book that can direct you to cheese-making suppliers.

Butter muslin is a more tightly woven fabric than cheesecloth. The benefit to using butter muslin is that it is stronger and reusable. Also, because butter muslin is more tightly woven than cheesecloth, you will not lose curds as you drain your product.

Whether you are using cheesecloth or butter muslin, you can reuse these cloths if you first thoroughly rinse the cloth in cold water, and then wash them with bleach and hot, soapy water. You can also go the extra mile by washing them in boiling water.

Colander – A large, stainless-steel or food-grade plastic colander is preferable, but because you will be lining it with cheesecloth or butter muslin, you can use just about any kind of sturdy colander. If your colander is strong enough to strain a pound of pasta, you can use it to drain curds and whey.

Curd knife – This is not necessarily a specialized utensil but is a long, flat-bladed knife that has a rounded or flat end, as opposed to a sharp point. Make sure the blade is long enough to reach into the bottom of your large pot of milk without the handle’s getting wet. The reason that curd knives do not have sharp points is because they do not need them; they are used to cut the soft curds. You can use a long knife of any kind, or even a long, flat spatula instead of purchasing this item.

Ladles – You will find two different types of ladles will come in handy. The first kind is a large, perforated ladle known as a skimmer. This is a flat, perforated tool, as opposed to a soup ladle, and it is primarily used to scoop curds from the pot and leave the whey behind. This skimmer is also good for stirring liquids such as milk and whey in your large pots. The other kind of ladle you should use is a large soup ladle. Soup ladles generally hold a ¼ to ½ cup of liquid and are good for transferring liquids from one pot to another. Both of these utensils should be stainless steel.

Measuring cup – A good 2-cup glass measuring cup is preferable, but any good quality measuring cup will work.

Measuring spoons – Again, you will want these to be stainless steel.

Thermometer – An instant-read food thermometer that ranges from 0 to 220°F and can be inserted at least a couple of inches into the milk is desirable. “Instant read” means it indicates the temperature very quickly, which is important when you are increasing the heat of milk and you need to know exactly what the temperature is in an instant. You will find that two thermometers will come in handy, as it is good to know the temperature of your milk and the temperature of water. Often, you will find that one of your thermometers might not be clean when you need it, so having a second thermometer will be useful. Also, you will find it useful if you have the kind of thermometers that can clip onto the edge of a pot. To test to see if your thermometers are accurate, boil some water and check the reading of the thermometer. If you get a reading of 212°, your tool is working properly. Note that all recipes and directions in this book refer to temperatures using the Fahrenheit scale.

In addition, you may want to have a notebook handy to note your successes and failures. Make note of what works, what does not work, and what you think you might be able to do differently next time. Also, once you get into making aged cheeses, it is good to note the specifics of dates you started to age a particular cheese, temperatures you aged the cheese at, or how much weight you used to press whey from the curd. There is a lot of specific information you will want to track as you learn to make cheese. You will learn more about pressing, aging, and temperature control later in Chapter 10 and beyond.

As you progress from making butter, yogurt, and a few of the simpler items to more advanced cheese making, you will need more specialized items. As you learn the craft and research what end result is needed, you can improvise and come up with some of your own specialized tools. Here is a list of tools that are specific to cheese making:

Molds and baskets – These hold the curds together, drain the whey, and form the cheese when it is pressed. Cheese molds and baskets should be made from stainless steel or a food-grade plastic. You can make these items out of empty plastic food containers, like sour cream, cottage cheese, or yogurt containers, by punching holes in a regular pattern to allow the whey to drain evenly as the cheese is pressed.

Draining pans – This is simply a pan that catches the whey draining off from the cheese press, basket, or mold. You can use a glass pie plate, a baking sheet, or a specialized draining pan purchased from a cheese-making supply house.

Cheese boards – Boards are also used to drain cheese. Be sure to use a good, hardwood board such as maple or birch. Hardwood is denser and allows for minimal moisture so the bad, harmful bacteria are less likely to exist on these boards and transfer from the wood to the cheese.

Cheese mats – They are made from food-grade plastic, bamboo, or reeds, and are used to drain and dry cheese.

Cheese press – This is an item you can spend $300 dollars on — or you can use bricks, dumbbells, or a pile of old books. The press is used to expel moisture from the curds. Cheese presses are used, for the most part, when making hard cheeses such as Parmesan or cheddar. The presses apply pressure on the curds to shape them in a mold and press out the whey. In many of the cheese recipes, you will note that specific weights are used for specific amounts of time, as different cheeses have different amounts of moisture and are varied in their consistency. Drier cheese will call for more weight to press out more liquid than softer cheese, which has more moisture in it.

The cheese press consists of a basket or mold (see above); a follower that fits tightly on top of the curds and allows for even pressure to be put on them; and a method of applying weight. You need to be sure the follower fits tightly into the mold so the curd does not seep out from around the edges as pressure is applied. A follower is simply a flat disk that fits snugly inside a cheese mold to apply even pressure to the curd, like a coffee press.

There are many different kinds of cheese presses. Do a Web search of the words “cheese press” and you will find many brands and even some diagrams to make your own. Or, you can simply make your own press out of a basket, a follower you cut from food-grade plastic, and some bricks. To accomplish this, use a food-grade plastic container (a yogurt container works well), and punch a series of evenly distributed holes in it that will allow for even drainage. Find or cut a round disk that will fit snugly in the open top of the container. You do not want the disk to sit on top of the container, but to slide into the top like a piston would. Finally, you need a weight that you will place on top of the disk to press the cheese. A brick works well, as does a filled soda bottle. You place your cheesecloth-wrapped cheese curd into the container, set the follower (disk) on top of the cheese, and put the weight atop the follower.

Atomizer – You will need a spray bottle that sprays liquid as a fine mist when you get to the advanced cheese making of mold-ripened cheeses. For making mold-ripened cheese, you will use the atomizer spray bottle to lightly spray mold solution on the surface of your cheese.

Cheese wax – Wax is used to put a protective cover on aging cheese. The wax protects against unwanted bacteria and prevents the cheese from drying out during its aging process. Cheese wax is not paraffin, which is easily cracked; cheese wax is tougher, much more pliant than paraffin, and reusable.

Wax brush – This is used to brush cheese wax onto your cheese. Select a natural-bristle, 2-inch brush rather than a nylon brush, which would melt.

Wax pot – Used for melting cheese wax. Your best choice is to choose a pot that can be used as a double boiler because you will want to melt wax using this indirect method. You can choose a quart pan/pot for a 1-pound wax block or a gallon pan/pot for a 5-pound block. If you choose the larger pot, you might consider dipping your cheese in the wax as opposed to using a brush. Waxing cheese will be discussed in greater detail later in Chapter 10.

pH tester – Making some kinds of cheese will require you to test the acidity levels of your product. To do this, you can use a pH tester or test paper strips. When you buy pH test strips, make sure they have the pH range you will need, which should be between a 5 and a 7. If you buy test strips meant to test swimming pool water, they may not test below 6.

Cave – If you do not have a real cave in your backyard or under your house, you can consider having a dedicated refrigerator. The cave is a place where you can age your cheese at a controlled temperature and humidity level. Some cheeses do not require this, but most of the cheeses that need to be aged for several weeks to months will need to age in a cool place (usually at 50° to 55°).

Jars – You should plan on having a good supply of quart jars and tops on supply, so purchase a case of 12 jars to start with. The jars are handy to have if you plan on saving your whey, which is an excellent liquid to use in baking. They are also great to have handy for buttermilk, butter making, kefir (a cultured milk much like cultured buttermilk), or many other purposes. Also, be sure that the jars you purchase are canning-quality jars because these jars are made to stand up to heat.

Many of the items described above will be reviewed again in the coming chapters as they are called for. Also, many of their uses will become clearer. As you continue to learn more about the processes and techniques of making creamery items, you will adapt your utensils and tools for your own use. Remember, the processes described in the following chapters are centuries-old. Instant-read thermometers were not used to make cheese in the olden days; people adapted and used what they had at hand. The same will be true of many of the ingredients you will read about in the next chapter.

Now that you have your tools, you can move on to Chapter 2 for a discussion of the ingredients you will need to get started. Get your shopping list out.

Case Study: Michael and Ed Lobaugh

The Old Windmill Dairy
www.theoldwindmilldairy.com

Michael Lobaugh is involved in the dairy operations of running the dairy, which includes milking the goats in the morning, making cheese, packaging, marketing, handling sales, and delivering the product. Ed Lobaugh, his business partner, is mainly involved in outside direct sales and product development. While Ed does the research and development of crafting new flavors and cheese, Michael implements the recipes and puts them into production.

Ed was strongly influenced by his grandparents, who had a small goat dairy when he was child, and Michael truly wanted to leave corporate life and become a farmer. Together, they started with what they knew about goats and milk handling. From there, Ed consulted with his grandmother. Both Michael and Ed consulted with the New Mexico Department of Agriculture, other cheese makers, and professional dairyman consultants to design their dairy and product line.

The Lobaughs always had a passion for making cheese and sharing their products with friends and family. They invested $250,000 into their new business venture and started with only two goats and a dream. Their dairy started small but grew to a herd of 40 within five years. During that time, they began making cheese in their kitchen, sometimes working from 5 a.m. to midnight. In July 2007, six years after they started, they opened their Grade A dairy. They have been a commercial dairy for nearly three years and make more than seven different cheese, including fresh and aged cheeses.

“We enjoy seeing the success of our labor. Mostly we enjoy seeing how happy people are when they eat our cheese. We get the pleasure of seeing people’s eyes light up and sparkle with excitement when they taste our cheese at a local farmers’ market. We also enjoy eating our own cheese. It something we always bring to a party,” Michael said.

Michael said time management is the most difficult thing about making cheese. In a commercial dairy, there are many projects going on besides making cheese, such as training employees, dealing with equipment failures, and tending to your herd. As a beginner, it is a challenge to understand the steps, the linguistics, and what each ingredient does to make the end product of making cheese.

“We like to eat a finely ripened cheese. We made Romano cheese, which came out spectacularly. It has a nice, salty, dry, complex flavor that works well with tomato-based dishes. There are two other cheeses that we are very proud of, as they have both taken national blue ribbons. Our ‘Chili n Hot Chèvre™’ (chèvre made with New Mexico green chile, jalapeno, and garlic) and our ‘Manzano Blue Moon’ (a goat’s milk blue cheese that is creamy on the outside and crumbly on the inside).

“We encourage beginners to take a cheese-making class from a professional. It is in this setting beginners will understand what the term ‘clean break’ means, how to perform a texture test, and how to salt cheese. Initially when making feta and other more advanced cheese such as Mozzarella; a cheese maker needs to understand how culture ripening affects the acidity of cheese. Developing the perfect acidity is quintessential when making feta, Mozzarella, cheddar, and Gouda. Having this basic understanding is essential to making good cheese.”

Table of Contents