Who wants to make some cheese? (ARE YOU GOODA WITH GOUDA?)

[Queen Mum]

Heavy cream is best. It makes the smoothest sour cream. If money is an issue, you can go with just a cup of cream. But then how are you going to have enough for the whole family? Or make the cheesecake recipe that will be posted at the end of the class?

Did I mention, that I'll post a recipe at the end of each class? You can't have cheese without a recipe for something yummy to use it on.

 

[daisychick]

I'm raising my hand! I want to make cheese!!!!!!!! I can't milk my goats yet, because their cute little baby girl teats don't work yet. :/ But when they are old enough to be bred and have babies I will be over the moon excited to milk them. So for lessons, I guess I will go to the store.......sigh......

 

[jodief100]

ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME!!!!!!

I have frozen goats milk, will that work? What other supplies do I need? I haven't milked Jazzie this season yet but I can steal some fresh. She still has her babies on her.

 

[daisychick]

So if I had a chance to get some fresh goats milk, do I want it pasturized or raw??? If I go beg the lady down the street for a bucket of milk I think she pasturizes her milk so I would need to tell her ahead of time if I need it to be raw.

 

[Queen Mum]

Milk for cheese can be pasteurized or raw, but it can't be ultrapasteurized. Ultrapasteurized milk has the protein denatured and so the curds won't form properly.
For sour cream, obviously, you need cream but for everything else, just regular milk.


For those of you who are uncomfortable with using raw milk products - the steps to pasteurize milk for cheese making are as follows:

Procedure
Heat the milk slowly - over a 30 minute period in a sterile stainless steel pot to one of two temperatures:

145 - 150 degrees Fahrenheit (63 - 66 degrees Celsius) for 30 minutes

or

161 - 166 degrees Fahrenheit (72 - 77 degrees Celsius) for 30 seconds

Cool the milk in an ice water bath to the desired culture temperature for cheese making. Or pour it into sterile Canning jars immediately, put clean canning lids and rings on the jars and screw them down. Place them in the refrigerator until ready to use.

For long term storage of pasteurized milk
You can also put the clean fresh raw milk in sterile canning jars, place them in a water bath canner, bring the water bath to a boil until the milk is at the correct temperature for pasteurization, put lids and remove the jars from the water bath, immediately put lids and rings on the jars and lightly tighten the rings. When the jars seal and are cool, the milk will be pasturized, sealed and can be stored in the refrigerator or freezer until you are ready to make cheese.

 

[Queen Mum]

Hopefully...

You have a quart jar or a thermos hanging around your house somewhere. And maybe a meat thermometer. Or one of these two kinds of thermometers.

Glass thermometer you can get online http://www.cheesemaking.com/store/c/11-Thermometers-Acid-Testing-Equipment.html

Or stainless steel thermometer you can get at the same place or at the hardware or home supply store.

A towel helps too.


Sour cream is so easy to make, you will think I'm kidding about it. But really the key is that you need to get used to the idea that everything has to be CLEAN, very CLEAN and that milk and cream have to be SLOWLY heated. It's all about cultures and getting them to make the right level of acidity.

This is done by heating to the right temperature, adding a culture and then keeping the milk or cream at the right temperature for long enough that the bacteria can do it's work.

The specific bacteria in this case is lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis, (LLC) lactococcus lactis subsp. cremoris, (LLD) lactococcus lactis subsp. biovar diacetylactis, (LMC) leuconostoc mesenteroides subsp. cremoris.

Then it's important to be patient. Lots of cheese takes hours, days, weeks and even months of waiting for things to:

1. heat up
2. cool down
3. become acid enough
4. solidify
5. ripen
6. cure
7. mold Yes, we like mold if it's white, green, or blue. We don't like mold if it's black, grey or slimy.


So here is the recipe for the day.

Sour Cream

1 quart heavy cream
1/3 cup fresh cultured buttermilk.

Put the cream in a very clean quart mason jar (a sterile mayonnaise jar will do)
Set it in a pan of warm water and set the water to boil.
Slowly bring the temperature of the cream (over 15 minutes) to 180 degrees.
Immediately remove from the water and cool to lukewarm. (about 80 degrees.)
Add buttermilk and stir well.
Cover the jar, wrap it in a towel and put it in a warm place on the counter overnight (12 - 24 hours).

You can also heat the cream in a double boiler and pour it into a wide mouth thermos when it is lukewarm to keep overnight.

In case you are wondering:

The reason for heating the cream the first time is to kill any bacteria that is hanging around in the cream that you don't want messing up your sour cream. The cream is probably pasteurized, but sitting on the shelf it may have gotten some bacteria sneaking in there.

We want it around 80 degrees and kept that way because the bacteria in Buttermilk is called a Mesophyllic bacteria which means that it likes lukewarm temperatures to do it's reproduction. If it's too cold it won't reproduce. If it's too hot, it will die. A lot of cheeses are made with Mesophyllic cultures.

Yogurt, by the way, is Thermophyllic. It likes warm temperatures to reproduce.

Now for the special recipe:

My mom's best friend gave her this recipe. It is an authentic Kosher New York cheesecake. It is very rich. It will make your teeth hurt if you eat too much too fast. It is to die for. It REALLY, REALLY has to be beaten for 15 full minutes. Don't skimp.


Louise's New York Cheese Cake

Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.
1/2 cup Butter
3/4 Cup Graham Cracker Crumbs
4 Tablespoon Sugar

Mix thoroughly and press into a spring form pan

In Mixer bowl beat for 15 minutes:

24 oz. cream cheese
4 large eggs
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

Pour into spring form pan. Bake 40 minutes at 325 degrees Fahrenheit..
Cool for at least 35 minutes.

Whip together for 10 minutes:

3/4 cup sugar
1 pint sour cream

Pour over cheese cake.
Bake at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 10 minutes.
Cool thoroughly and then refrigerate at least 4 hours before serving.


Questions?

Tomorrow, I will have some information for you on building your cheese equipment supply stash ON THE CHEAP!

 

[Queen Mum]

Oh, I forgot to mention. I have some packets of sour cream culture that you's guys can have if you pm me. I will send one to each of you with which to make buttermilk or more sour cream. You can freeze it in ice cube trays and use it as a basic mesophyllic starter for lots of things. I accidentally order too many.

Cheese cultures are easy to share. It's like those old fashioned sourdough starter kits people used to give away called love bread or something like that where you pour flour and sugar and water in a bag and wait for it to bubble and then give it to a friend. Only in my case, I have some actual real live starter culture.

I believe in sharing.

 

[MrsDieselEngineer]

Me! I really want to make some cheeses! Cheddar is my favorite
I don't have cream (except what is on top of the goat milk right now) or buttermilk... I can go to the store tomorrow though!

 

[Queen Mum]

So you can find it, here is the sour cream recipe again...

Hopefully...


Sour Cream

1 quart heavy cream
1/3 cup fresh cultured buttermilk.

1. Put the cream in a very clean quart mason jar (a sterile mayonnaise jar will do)
2. Set it in a pan of warm water and set the water to boil.
3. Slowly bring the temperature of the cream (over 15 minutes) to 180 degrees.
4. Immediately remove from the water and cool to lukewarm. (about 80 degrees.)
5. Add buttermilk and stir well.
6. Cover the jar, wrap it in a towel and
7. Put it in a warm place on the counter overnight (12 - 24 hours).

You can also heat the cream in a double boiler and pour it into a wide mouth thermos when it is lukewarm to keep overnight.

 

[Queen Mum]

And the cheesecake recipe

Now for the special recipe:

My mom's best friend gave her this recipe. It is an authentic Kosher New York cheesecake. It is very rich. It will make your teeth hurt if you eat too much too fast. It is to die for. It REALLY, REALLY has to be beaten for 15 full minutes. Don't skimp.


Louise's New York Cheese Cake

Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.
1/2 cup Butter
3/4 Cup Graham Cracker Crumbs
4 Tablespoon Sugar

Mix thoroughly and press into a spring form pan

In Mixer bowl beat for 15 minutes:

24 oz. cream cheese
4 large eggs
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

Pour into spring form pan. Bake 40 minutes at 325 degrees Fahrenheit..
Cool for at least 35 minutes.

Whip together for 10 minutes:

3/4 cup sugar
1 pint sour cream

Pour over cheese cake.
Bake at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 10 minutes.
Cool thoroughly and then refrigerate at least 4 hours before serving.