Hello! I have some questions
Posted: 11 August 2011 10:55 AM   [ Ignore ]
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Hello! I think cheese is a great food. I don’t know how much the animals mind when people take their milk, but they are not harmed much (unless they’re forced in industrial captivity all their lives) and the milk is very nourishing for us humans, and can taste very good. Cheese is great because it is versatile, nutritious, and tastes good. I have some questions.

Is it possible to take curds made with either lemon juice or bacteria, and treat them so that they will last for weeks or months? For example, pressing the curds with salt and drying it to make a non-rennet hard or semi-hard cheese? I’m basically looking for a way to make a long shelf-life cheese that doesn’t require rennet.

What is the best way of obtaining fine, “microscopic” curds with minimal whey, to make something like cream cheese that can be spread, is not grainy, and is basically concentrated milk that is semi-solid? like “yogurt cheese” or “quark”. Is there some method of making yogurt that produces microscopic curds that can be drained of the whey? Or even with lemon juice?

Also, I tired making cheese about half a year ago, but it was done very poorly. The rennet didn’t set the curds so I let the milk sit until the lactic acid bacteria curdled it into tiny curds. I drained the whey, added salt and little bits of blue-cheese mold, pressed it, and let it dry in a non-controlled environment. it has molds on the outside, where a little part of the peel came off you can see the inside looks yellowish and dry. Is there some way to find out if this cheese is safe to eat?

Thanks for any answers! I’ll look around the forum and see what I learn.

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Posted: 11 August 2011 12:27 PM   [ Ignore ]   [ # 1 ]
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Well, to start with: I don’t think a “modern” cow, even when she is living free in the meadow, doesn’t mind to be milked. A calf won’t drink all the milk a “modern” cow is producing IMHO. Euhh, ever heard a flock of cows when the farmer is half an hour late with milking? They really make a lot of noise….
Second: About rennet, I know a lot of people don’t want to use animal rennet because of it’s origin, but there is also vegetarian rennet. I started making cheese with the use of that, works well, but can give some bitter flavor in older cheeses.
Third: Buy or borrow a good beginners book on making cheese, read the descriptions Rick made on this site, see the video’s, read the recipes and enjoy the cheese making.
Be welcome!  grin

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Posted: 11 August 2011 02:22 PM   [ Ignore ]   [ # 2 ]
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Welcome aboard Diego Hemken !! smile

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The Cheese Hole

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Posted: 12 August 2011 02:33 PM   [ Ignore ]   [ # 3 ]
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If you are avoiding rennet because it is the stomach lining of a calf, just buy vegetable rennet. It works just fine, and no cow has to die for it.

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Herbs, Sausage, Beer and Cheese
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Posted: 12 August 2011 04:37 PM   [ Ignore ]   [ # 4 ]
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I know it won’t make you feel better, but the cow is not killed for its rennet.  It’s killed for its beef, and the rennet is a by product that would otherwise be wasted.

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Posted: 12 August 2011 08:33 PM   [ Ignore ]   [ # 5 ]
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I want to avoid rennet not because it requires killing (I wouldn’t use rennet that required killing, but there’s vegetable rennet and I’m fine with that), I don’t want to use rennet because it’s not readily available to someone that is self-sustaining. If I could learn some way to make rennet myself, then I would not be looking for ways to make cheese without rennet.I don’t think modern culture is going to last much longer, so I like to learn ways that will work without all the infrastructure that is used today.

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Posted: 13 August 2011 08:45 AM   [ Ignore ]   [ # 6 ]
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Vegetarian rennet is cheap, 1$/100L. Get a box of envelopes and put it in the freezer and it will last for many years.

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Posted: 14 August 2011 02:30 AM   [ Ignore ]   [ # 7 ]
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You can read more information about making rennet here:
http://biology.clc.uc.edu/fankhauser/cheese/rennet/rennet.html
It’s an interesting site anyway…

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