First THANK YOU ALL!! This is as cool as the guinea fowl forum. My cheese looks like cheese! I made the Farmhouse Chedder from Ricki Carrol’s book. It’s so cute!!! It’s air drying at room temperature…the room temperature in my house varies quite a bit, especially in the middle of the night. Is that a problem? Should it be covered? After all the caution about clean utensils etc. I feel funny about just leaving it sit there naked. Also, I read in the book that the curds should be 70 degrees or less before pressing…what if it’s 80 in your kitchen?
I’m thinking about trying the gouda today. It says kosher salt is OK for the brine. For the gouda it says to age at 50 degrees. There is no indication of temperature for the Farmhouse cheddar. Can they both be 50 degrees? I am buying one of those small refrigerators. I have no basement and no spot where the temperature would stay consistent and I assume consistent is important.  Also, I’m going to Florida in February for 2 weeks. Do I need to have my sister turn my cheese over? She has to come to feed the goats and birds anyway.
Thanks!!

LOL, when it comes to home cheese making, regulating is near impossible. I get a 10c variation day/night and the bottom of my fridge is still a few deg cooler then it should. What do you thingk the homesteaders did, pluged their covered wagons into the nearest outlet ? u do the best u can with what u have, thats what makes things so interesting, 30 people could make cheese from the same recipe and u end up with 30 variants of the same type of cheese. So unless u have a deep cave or some fancy fridge, dont stress about the temp. I made my first cheese in 5 months, this month because its too hot and even my fridge will vary 10c during the day. So now its cooler then it should be but better then too hot.
Your best friend is salt, make sure the cheese is totally covered, that way it does not get moldy. Iuse sea and pickling rock salt, not what is recommended but works well for what I have.
If u haven’t turned your cheese in too weeks I dont thingk it will go on strike (unless u made it a week before u do).
Hope this helps in some way.

Yes, your info does help. I’ll do the best I can and keep track of what I did and hope for the best!

Also, I want to try making the gouda next and the recipe says soak it in a salt brine 12 hours…but the book also says cheese made from store bought milk does not always stand up to brine solution and may dissolve. Store milk is all I have at the moment (although I am already searching for fresh milk sources), and it seems a lot of work only to have your cheese dissolve. Any options or should I try it and again hope for the best?

Also, any suggestions on where to get cheesemaking supplies??? Wax, salt, a different press etc?

Thanks!

Were do u live?
This has been talked about recently, would be a good idea to read all the posts in the last month at least.
reason it dissolves is the acid, thats why its best to use the whey as brine.
If your in Canada then I suggest Danlac, US their are several that have been posted on the threads.

I’d say, yes, it would be good to have someone turn the cheese for you while you are gone.  If its left too long without turning, the moisture will settle to the bottom and become mushy - yuck.  As for salt, I use standard supermarket pickling salt.  Its cheap and readily available.  Any non-iodized salt will work.  As for leaving your cheese to air dry and the possibility of contamination, just wipe it down with brine before you wax it and you will be fine.

For ordering supplies, I like New England Cheesemaking.  They are super quick in shipping and that’s important to me.  But you can Google cheese making supplies and find one that suits you.

Hi again…I just searched this sight for whey brine info and I found some but it got really technical. Maybe someone could simplify it since this is only my 3rd cheese. I want to make the gouda. Using the whey as brine was not covered in my book….do I just save the whey from the cheese and what, add the same amount salt to it? My recipe says 2 lbs to a gallon of water.  Do I refrigerate it? (the whey until I am ready to use it?) Or boil it? Do I need just enough to cover the cheese? Do I still soak it 12 hours? My first instinct is to just follow the original recipe but I’d hate for my cheese to disolve!

BTW, I’m in Virginia on The Eastern Shore.

THANKS!

just add the salt as u would the water and keep it in the fridge, at least I do, just in case.