I’ve just begun my cheese making adventure and am looking forward to getting stuck in.

I’ve been reading Artisan Cheese Making at Home by Mary Carlin which is great.

On Friday I made a Queso Blanco which came out well and was very exciting. I’m looking forward to getting some cultures and trying some other soft cheeses.

It seems a good amount of cheeses require a low, steady temperature for the culture to take effect - 80-90F. My idea was to get my milk up to temperature on the hob, then put my milk pan in a water bath where I use an aquarium heater and small pump to circulate the water. The heaters usually go up to 90F.

This way I have a (hopefully) foolproof/low effort way of maintaining the right temperature!

For the higher temperatures, I have a device called a Ninja Block which is an Internet of Things device. I can use this to monitor the temperature of my milk/water bath and use a rule to turn on/off a single electric hob to keep the temperature stable. It’s basically an arduino and a beaglebone with a really easy to use interface to build rules and monitor/control over the internet from anywhere.

Outside the cheese world, I also run a small smokehouse business and I use my Ninja Block to control heating and fans etc. It would be great to get it controlling the cheese making & aging process too!

Anyway, sorry for the long intro, think I got over excited.

Sam.

Welcome aboard, Sam.  It’s always good to hear of a new convert to cheese making.  Hopefully as you learn your way into the craft, we can benefit from your experience as well.  Sounds like you have some interesting ideas.  I’ll look forward to seeing how it all works out for you.  I predict that you will be moving into hard cheese before too long.  That is where the real action is as far as I can see.  Keep us posted.

Thanks Rich.

Yes, I did contemplate going straight in to the hard cheeses but my book and various other sources advised to start soft.

Actually, while deciding on cheeses to try, I realised that some of my favourite cheeses are semi-soft so I’m happy for now.

Also, it seems you need to buy more kit for hard cheeses so I’m likely to build up slowly. On my near future shopping list is:

- counter top fridge for maturing (controlled by my Ninja Block of course )
- Equipment to make a press & moulds
- Humidifier - so that I no longer need to vac-pac for aging (Ninja Block controlled in fridge)

Look forwards to tasting my cheese!

S.

Here’s something to think about for your “list.”

If you get into making cheese, you’re going to be quite limited with a counter top fridge.  It just won’t be able to handle very many wheels - especially if you keep a humidifying unit in it as well.  What has worked well for me is an old, used refrigerator (a freezer would also work), with an external thermostat to control temperature.  In this way, you have plenty of space to stash your treasures.  And if you come out like I did, you might even be able to find someone who is offloading an old unit for an upgrade, and your fridge will be “free for the hauling.”

Another thought:  when you do get around to procuring a mold and press, go with the Dutch type press.  The lever arm allows you to press with considerable weight while not using so many actual pounds.  The longer the arm, the greater the mechanical advantage.  And they are not really all that difficult to construct either.

Thanks for the tips Rich.

Good point with the fridge. I guess if I want to start aging for long periods I will run out quickly.

Yes I had looked at the Dutch presses, they look like the way forward. A nice little construction process I think!

Sam.

Welcome !!
Good to hear your well into it