Hi.  My name is Jessica.  I live in NE TN, and am relatively new to home cheesemaking, almost a year, making maybe a hard cheese a month after 6 months or so of making 30 minute mozz.  My avitar is a picture of Bailey, our current milk source, a small Jersey cow.  We also have a 3/4 mini-Jersey 1/4 Dexter heifer that we are trying to get bred.  I have made mostly cheddar, colby, and a couple of Swiss cheeses.  The Swiss is probably my favorite, which is a surprise to me because I am not a fan of commercial Swiss cheese, and I made it mostly for my husband.  I am thinking of trying to move on to mold ripened cheeses soon, but am a bit intimidated.  I am reading all your posts on mold ripened cheeses with much interest.

We also have a small herd of Nigerian Dwarf goats, which is a miniature milk goat breed.  We have none milking at the moment, but we have two does due to kid in the fall.  Which reminds me that I need to get on the ball making a website for the herd so we can stop collecting baby goats!

I have been getting most of my cultures at New England Cheesemaking, but would love to hear about any other sources y’all use for supplies, cultures, etc.  I’d also love to hear about any books or online sources you use to learn more about cheesemaking.  There is a local goat dairy here who sells cheese at our farmer’s market who makes a lovely mold ripened cheese.  The owner she says she makes with only natural cultures (just the stuff that lands on it) and no added rennet, and she mentioned a book about French cheeses that got her started making it.  Unfortunately, I have not been able to get back to the Farmer’s market to talk to her about it… any ideas?  It may be the best goat cheese I have ever tasted.

Welcome aboard !!!
Nice cow yes mold cheese can be scary because of our phobia of it, but it was my first cheese and my greatest fear. I decided to do it because the mold is a penicillin strain and if done right will protect. I never used to eat the skin but my home versions i do. Its a hell of a dif the cheese that is commercial and home cheese dont know why but home cheese does def tastes better when it turns out. I would not rely on stray bacteria like some people may do unless u know exactly what kind of mold is flying around your place (any land fills nearby ?)
Ricky carols book is a good start but I would ( and have) collect as many as u can from the net that are posted and look whats appealing and try them out and then u can sort the ones u like and dont like. danlac.com has commercial cultures and he will provide instructions for free for his customers.

Good Luck

Hello Jessica and its good to have you aboard.  You say you’re new at cheesemaking, but I’m newer still - just since May, although I do try to make a cheese a week.  You already have a big advantage over most.  You have access to fresh farm milk.  It took me a while to locate a source; but its made a tremendous difference in my cheeses.  I have now located a source for fresh goat milk and will soon be trying that as well.

Sounds like you didn’t have much trouble with Swiss.  There has been a lot of traffic on Swiss difficulties lately and its got me a bit reluctant to try it.  So what is your secret?

Not sure.  I just kinda followed the directions for Emmental in Tim Smith’s book, “Making Artisan Cheese”.  I honestly wasn’t even that careful about following things exactly - I think I got interrupted several times that day and things sat longer than directed a couple times.  It also aged in an area a little warmer than recommended to age (coolest room in basement, low 60’s) because I haven’t gotten around to rigging up an old fridge yet.  It puffed up like it was supposed to and the flavor is like a mild Swiss.  Nutty but not overwhelming, and full of holes.  I am usually not a fan of Swiss but I really like this stuff.  Just lucky, I guess, LOL.  I really need to start keeping notes but I have been sort of lazy about it to date.

Welcome aboard Jessica, beautiful cow.  I have made a couple of swiss, but have had trouble getting them to swell up.  Swiss is a time consuming cheese to make, holding temps for so long.  I am going to try the Emmental very soon, and see if that one works better for me than the swiss in Ricki’s book.

Anyway, welcome.