Tag Archive for 'making cheese'

YouTube: How to Make Paneer

ShowMeTheCurry.com offers this video (via YouTube) showing how to make paneer, a fresh Indian-style cheese that’s much like ricotta. It’s easy! For a cloth, we use “flour sack cloth” that they sell at the local 99 Cent store.
They also suggest using the leftover whey as a vegetarian stock instead of chicken or beef.  [...]

85 Degrees

Last week, a 3 hour test of the vat resulted in a 16 degree rise in vat temperature, and I learned we had it hooked up wrong and needed more water flow.
This past week, I corrected the plumbing and installed a faster pump.  Yesterday, I learned that our tankless hot water heater is the choke point. [...]

The saga of the vat continues…

(The plumbing to the vat pasteurizer.)
Our “new” vat pasteurizer was made decades ago by Creamery Package in Wisconsin.  The problem is, it’s hard to find anyone who knows how it works.  The used equipment dealer I bought it from has been very nice, but has no technical knowledge.  He did, however, call the manufacturer for [...]

Hooking up the vat

I’ve been trying for two weeks to hook up the new cheese vat/pasteurizer. I hadn’t realized that the pump wouldn’t pull water from the tank to the vat, it would only push. So I had to re-plumb and re-wire the pump in the other room. Then it didn’t pump, and when I [...]

How does this thing work?

We bought our new (used) pasteurizer last fall, never thinking that it didn’t come with a manual.  After weeks of internet searches, emails, and phone calls, we finally found someone who knows how it works.
It turns out the hot water (yes, thankfully it’s designed for hot water, not steam) is delivered under pressure, sprays against [...]

Home Cheesemaking Resources

Here are two more resources for those making (or wanting to make) cheese at home:
The Joy of Home Cheesemaking Podcast: Offers two episodes so far, beginning with a recipe for Meunster cheese.
Facebook: Home Cheese Makers: Fans of home cheesemaking sharing resources and recipes.

How to make Paneer

In India, they use a fresh cheese called “paneer.” It’s very similar to ricotta, however it’s pressed into a semisoft block instead of a loose cheese. Making it is also similar– and easy!  You’ll need:
1 gallon milk
4 Tbs lemon juice
In a heavy pot (I recommend non-stick), bring the milk to a full boil. Watch it [...]

Make Ricotta at home

(CBertel photo.)
Ricotta is a fresh cheese, and is often made from the whey left over from the cheesemaking process.  It captures a protein called albumin from the milk, which is left behind when making
Ricotta can also be made with milk. In fact, you can make it easily with just the ingredients you’re likely to have in [...]

Cow or Goat: Which Milk is Better?

A lot of my customers say they like my cheese because “goat’s milk is so much better for you than cow’s milk.”  I love to hear that, because we raise goats.  But is it true?
Here are some common beliefs about goat milk as compared with cow milk:

It contains less fat
It contains less lactose
It’s lower in [...]

Getting the Pasteurizer

Snow or no snow, life goes on.  Our pasteurizer arrived by truck from Wisconsin on Tuesday.  We had it delivered to the local hardware store since they have a loading dock and forklift (and we have neither).  
Since it was snowing Tuesday, they suggested we come pick it up Wednesday instead.  And of course Wednesday snowed [...]