Homemade Farmhouse Cheddar I

This is the first in a three part series on how to make your own cheddar cheese. In this part we discuss the tools and ingredients needed, as well as to curdle the milk to make the cheese.

Blog post describing the process in detail:
http://www.tngun.com/?p=11

Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• Shepherd
• School
• DIY
• Cheese
• Cheddar
• Homemade
• tngun

[scottgeiger88]

the book says to do hard cheeses in a water bath, not on the stove top cause it wont heat the milk evenly. have you notice any problems doing it on the stove?

[TNGun]

@scottgeiger88 nope, you know I just followed the directions in the ricki carroll book the best I could with the camera running - if she is answering your questions she is the expert...

[jjagroop66]

If you don't have calcium chloride you can use alum or rock salt for substitutes. The purpose of calcium chloride in store-bought milk is to firm up the curds. Alum is used to crisp up pickles and rock salt is used in ice-cream machines. My cheddar came out perfect using alum in place of calcium chloride.

[TNGun]

@jjagroop66 Thanks for the info - Never would have thought about that - I wonder if thats why they sometimes use Alum to make tofu?

[jjagroop66]

David, can you make liverwurst (braunschweiger)? If so we need a recipe. I understand liverwurst may be canned for longer storage.

[TNGun]

@jjagroop66 I haven't tried it, nor do I have a recipe - but I will think about it and once I get some time I may since I do make some sausage on occasion, but its normally polish or summer sausage.

[TNGun]

@scottgeiger88 The Calcium Chloride helps firm the curds up (especially store bought milk), the starter is a bacteria that ferments the cheese to give its taste.

[DJKJSeph]

@TNGun Thanks TNGun for the clarification.