# Which is best for making cheeses?



## NyGoatMom (Jan 26, 2013)

Do you recommend ACV, Lemons or rennet? What type of rennet do you use?

I am looking at all the ingredients and supplies...it takes a while to acquire all that!! The cheese presses and SS pots are pricey! It'd be np if I was still working outside the home but this may take a while :/

Know any cheaper places to get this stuff? I've tried CL....no luck


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

Everything depends on what cheese you are making. Start out with the simple cheeses. Then you are slowly adding your cheese making supplies.


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## NyGoatMom (Jan 26, 2013)

I am planning on eventually trying quite a lot...I thought I'd start with the chevre, ricotta and mozzarella...then I wanna try my hand at some hard cheeses...I had a woman let me try some Gouda she made from her ND's and I liked it  I also wanna try making cottage cheese,yogurt and ice cream. I love the idea of making food from my own backyard!

We already raise almost all our own meats, and of course we have eggs (I sell poultry)...so now we are on to dairy


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## TDG-Farms (Jul 12, 2013)

I just make mozzarella so rennet and citric acid are all i need. I can also do a ricotta with the whey left over in which case apple cider vinegar. Oh and some course salt. I do a tone of different things with the mozzarella. Can add different spices and seasoning mixed in or on top. Can add flavored syrups, say hazel nut and make a hazel nut tasting mozzarella. I once put code red mt dew in and it drew out all the artificial cherry flavor from the pop. Granted, it was freaking nasty but it worked  Lots of the other cheeses take a number of different things to make.

Id doe liquid rennet if I could find it locale. Just use the tables for now.

Oh and with the ricotta I add sugar and vanilla. Makes it taste kinda like rice pudding.


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## NyGoatMom (Jan 26, 2013)

Why not have it shipped? I was thinking the calf rennet because it lasts longer in the fridge, but may do veggie rennet. 

LOL @ Code red!! Nasty! LOL


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## NubianFan (Jun 3, 2013)

Man I was just thinking how nice it would be to have some of you as neighbors...


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## NyGoatMom (Jan 26, 2013)

LOL...you don't wanna make your own?


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## NubianFan (Jun 3, 2013)

Actually that wasn't what I was thinking and it is something I have been thinking a while. There is just so much knowledge. I would like to be able to run next door and ask advice. I know I can come on here but just think if we all lived in the same community what a weird but wonderful community that would be!


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## NyGoatMom (Jan 26, 2013)

Lol...and LOUD! But your Dad can't feed my animals!!


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## NubianFan (Jun 3, 2013)

Well to be honest I have thought of moving from here, because of things like that. I just am not sure the bad outweighs the good. It is annoying living across from your parents but they also help out a lot too. Like today when my refrigerator quit on me mom loaned me a huge ice chest to use. 
There are horse communities where everyone that moves in has horses and they have built in trails and arenas for people to use to ride. We could start a goat community. With milking stands and disbudding stations. LOL just kidding.


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## NyGoatMom (Jan 26, 2013)

Hahahaha... 

I know how it is living near your parents...I purposely bought a house with an in-law apt. I have a 2 car detached garage that has a 2 bedroom apt over it. I parked my mom there because I know in the future, my siblings aren't going to help her, I am. So she now is retired and we don't charge her rent so she has just enough to get by on SS. But she does help run the kids here and there, and whenever I need something, she usually has it. She's a pack rat of sorts


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## Goat_in_Himmel (Jun 24, 2013)

Back to the original question...I bet you can make do with what you already have in the kitchen, or can get cheaply at dollar stores and such places. It might be only $2 to buy a dedicated strainer; you can use a (clean!) bandana for a cheesecloth; you can make your own moulds from cottage cheese/sour cream/yogurt etc. containers with holes punched in their bottoms and set on a cake rack to drain onto a plate; you can drain whey into any old mixing bowl, and you can probably find stainless steel salad/mixing bowls at "cheap stores". I did. Just because of low milk supply here I'm starting with vinegar cheeses which can cure on the counter or in the fridge; they're ready quickly and keep much longer than the book says. If you want to do cultured cheeses, well, I think you'll have to get the real mccoy cultures; you can try mail order from wholesalers who understand the concept of household quantities, so there's no need to fork out for vast quantities. The thing that I will need to wrap my head around is a cheese cave, because I don't have a room that is steadily the right ripening temperature. But I think that's something one could build, or perhaps one could remake a cast-off or Goodwill cabinet to serve as a ripening "cave". You _can_ save yourself a lot of bucks--just use your ingenuity!


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## NyGoatMom (Jan 26, 2013)

Wow...great thinking! I may wanna pick your brain for fixin' my house! LOL


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## aceofspades (Dec 26, 2012)

I get most of my supplies from 
/www.cheesemaking.com

The 30min mozzarella kit is great


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## RhinoWhite (Nov 17, 2013)

NyGoatMom said:


> Why not have it shipped? I was thinking the *calf rennet* because it lasts longer in the fridge, but may do veggie rennet.


Is it possible to make rennet from goats, instead of cattle calves?


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## NyGoatMom (Jan 26, 2013)

That's a good question, I'm not sure.


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## RhinoWhite (Nov 17, 2013)

NyGoatMom said:


> That's a good question, I'm not sure.


Since both are ruminants it should.

And goat rennet is actually offered online:
http://www.kaesereibedarf.at/php/bi..._goat-rennet-paste_en_128_1_6_1_akat_art.html


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## Ryann (May 29, 2013)

NyGoatMom said:


> I am planning on eventually trying quite a lot...I thought I'd start with the chevre, ricotta and mozzarella...then I wanna try my hand at some hard cheeses...I had a woman let me try some Gouda she made from her ND's and I liked it  I also wanna try making cottage cheese,yogurt and ice cream. I love the idea of making food from my own backyard!
> 
> We already raise almost all our own meats, and of course we have eggs (I sell poultry)...so now we are on to dairy


I started making cheeses with my ND milk last year... you can get a ss stock pot at walmart for like $8 its not a nice thick one but if you are careful not to burn the milk it works fine, i have also used an enamel stock pot I already had..I have made soft "farmers cheeses" and get the citric acid at local natural co-op type stores it is in the bulk section and sells by weight you only need 1 1/2 tsp per gallon of milk...after draining/hanging (i use tight weave thin dish towels) I spice it up a favorite around here is garlic bacon and chive! this cheese is kinda like pub dip...I also made feta, bought the ricki's kit off amazon for like $20 had the mold (basically a colander) and the cultures. I used a mason jar on top of a small saucer as my weight and it worked great! the feta is great as is and keeps in the fridge for a few weeks or you can cut it up and store it in a salt water brine or olive oil and it will keep for months. mozzarella is really easy too and only requires the citric acid and rennet. I hope this helps!


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## NyGoatMom (Jan 26, 2013)

Thanks Ryann. I am getting antsy waiting for this years kiddings so I can milk


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## Ryann (May 29, 2013)

I have been able to have goat cheese all year round too! tried freezing the spread in mason jars and it thaws with the same consistency and taste! we haven't run out yet! two of my nieces (3 and 5 years old) absolutely love it and call me all the time asking for more goat cheese! they would eat a whole jar if we let them!


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## RhinoWhite (Nov 17, 2013)

Ryann said:


> I have been able to have goat cheese all year round too! tried freezing the spread in mason jars and it thaws with the same ....


Depending on the cheese type it actually should last long. It also needs to ripen for a longer period. So one can actually plan to have cheese ready for any time of the year.


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