cheese update.

In an effort to be a better participant in my family’s food preparation (see book review March 28), I scheduled today as Cheese Making Day. After hours in the kitchen, I’m not yet sure what I’ll have to show for it. My local grocer carries a new local brand of milk and cream which is hormone-free which I wanted to use in my first batch of cheese.

So, armed with the cheese kits for making a host of cheeses and a few gallons of hormone-free milk, I set out this morning to prepare farmhouse cheddar. The process took about five hours. Because the milk heats via a water bath, I had some difficulty keeping the temperature from cooling off too quickly. The curds took about twice as long to form as they should have. The next step is to press the curds 24 hours, then air dry for 3-5 days before waxing. The cheese has to age several months (ideally 6-14), so I won’t know for a while how this cheese turned out.

The 2nd cheese I had planned to make today was 30-minute mozzarella. After 90 minutes of not getting the milk to curd, I added more rennet. Another 30 minutes later–nothing. So, I was forced to dump the batch. The instructions note that some milk just doesn’t cooperate. Trying an alternate brand is recommended. I hope to give mozzarella another try in a week or so.