HI Jaime, New England Cheesemaking Supply is a great resource. If you google "homemade cheeses" you will get lots of info.

May I ask what breed of cow you have, how much, milk you get, and what is your family size? I am really wanting to get a small jersey but have to get everything in place first. Also please let us know how the cheese making goes. I am very interested. Just not sure where I will find all the time. (c:

My mother used to make cottage cheese. Just let the skim milk curdle as if you were makimg buttermilk but don't churn it. Strain the curds out of the whey with a thin muslin cloth. Add salt to suit your taste.
I toured a cheese plant once and I remember them talking about adding different types of rennet to make different flavors of cheese. also I know ageing makes cheese stronger and sharper flavor.

our cow is a holstein herford cross. There is me and my husband and our three small children, the youngest is 18 months and drinks about 4-5 8oz bottles a day. The cow is giving a little under 1/2 a 2 gallon pail morining and night. We actually want a jersey but this girl came along at a good price. I am going to try making cottage cheese this morning, we'll see how it goes..jaime

Rennet is a substance that causes the milk to coagulate...I never heard of it adding any flavor or different flavors to milk...now I am not an expert but....

I believe it was perhaps different cultures (bacteria) to make different flavors.

The cheese I made the other day went good. I found a place that sells rennet and plenty of other cheese making supplys, hopefully my rennet is in later this week and I can make more cheese. It is time consuming but I must say that having plenty of milk and butter to experiment with is nice..jaime

Hi my name is sherrie, I was just wondering how your cheese making is going. I've got a few milk cows that I use for nurse cows and I'm starting to milk them for our use also. I'm trying my hand at making butter today. But was wondering if you can make like a cheese sauce for macaroni & veggies have you tried this yet. Also I have found a way to separate the cream easier. I use a tea glass jar with the spout at the bottom. I'd like to change the spout out to like one on a coffee pot. I'm looking for an old coffee pot at a yard sale or maybe one at a thrift store that will fit. Thanks Sherrie

Again, the way my momma use to do it.
She let the milk set overnight in glass jugs then poured off the cream that had risen to the top next morning. Of course she got some milk in with the cream and left some cream in the "sweet" milk. We were drinking between 1- and 2 % and had buttermilk for bakeing bisquits and cornbread. any excess buttermilk went to help feed the pigs. If she poured off too much cream my father would complain about the "blue john." I still don't like skim milk and love cornbread and buttermilk with many vegetable dishes.
How is the cheese making going? Can you make cheddar and parmesan now?

cheese making is going ok. I caught some sort of virus that took me about three weeks to get over so there wasn't much cheese making going on so Hubby was feeding most of the milk to the cats. So far all I have made is Mozzarella and ricotta and they have both turned out great! And it was pretty easy, I'll have to order a few more supplies before I try and tackle chedder but I can't wait to try it. We have an old hand crank cream seperator that is missing a part or two so until we fix that I just put the milk in a glass picture and skim off the cream later leaving some in the milk cause our kids are pretty little still and need the extra fat.

What did you do to make those different flavors? Was it a bacteria you added?
When you get that separator going you'll need to add some cream back to your skim milk for flavor as well as some fat for the kids.
Oh I remember that, that cheese factory said they added food coloring to their cheddar because people expected it and theirs was only pale yellow if un treated.

Have you ever tried making yogurt cheese? After making yogurt (from cow's milk), I hang the yogurt in a cheese bag overnight (letting the whey drip into a container to use later). The next morning (or 12 hours later), I have a creamy cheese that I can flavor sweet or savory.

Good luck!

jjsfamilyfarm, I think I may try this. How do you make your yogurt and what flavors do you add to it? My grandson loves yogurt and cheese. Thanks for any info.

I have beeen lurking here for about a week, This is a great forum.

I make yogurt every week. I have a small yogurt maker, but have made it in my little broiler oven. I use powdered milk, and buy a cup of Breyers or Dannon plain yogurt as a starter. The water is heated to about 150-175 degrees, then the powdered milk is added. I cool it in the sink filled with cold water to 112-115 degrees, and add the yogurt starter.I use 2-3 Tablespoons of the plain yogurt as the starter. I use a candy maker to get the temps right. If you have it too hot when you add the stater it will kill the starter. Then I fill my yogurt cups, place them in the "maker" and cover them. It takes 3-1/2- 4 hours for the yogurt to make. If I use the broiler oven, I heat it to warm and turn it off and add the little cups without the covers. I turn the oven back on about every 30-45 min for about 1-2 minutes, and then turn it back off again. When the yogurt is as solid as you want it, I take the containers out and cover them and place them in the fridge. You can use any little glass jars to make it. I have some very small jelly canning jars that hold about 3/4 cups that I use in the broiler oven. I even have one that minced garlic came in that I use...since it is glass the smell is washed out.

You can use fresh milk, that has been heated to about 150-175 degrees and then cooled...I did that years ago when we had milking cows...but since we no longer have them, I use powered milk...

Hope this helps...

Jan

Jan_Hobbs, Thanks for the tips on making yogurt. I bought my yogurt machine this week and I'm planning to make yogurt next week. Thanks again.

Sherrie

Sherrie let us know how your first batch of yogurt comes out...

Jan

Glad someone suggested yogurt. The little yogurt makers are pretty easy to find at flea markets, etc., and are very easy to use. If you have wheat available, try cooking some of it to add with nuts and coconut and bits of fruit to flavor your yogurt.
Daughter used to have a goat, and we tried everything to use up the milk. Just couldn't manage to pour it in a glass and drink it! Our favorite was probably ice cream. She had ducks, too, and the ice cream was fantastic and rich.

If you make lots of butter, remember to wash it in clear water after it's done. I didn't, and it soured quickly. Our cheese was mostly just goat cheese curds, very practical. We tried cheddar once or twice, but it took too long and was more involved than I wanted. I remember making a cheesecake once from scratch with my own cream cheese. It was the most wonderful tihng I'd ever tasted. We liked cottage cheese too.
Different animals' milk will produce different flavors, also the recipes. Remember my recipes are for goat's milk, so your flavor will be a bit different, but remember too that rennet is from goat stomachs, so it may even out. Don't know
Goat cheese
1 gallon day old goat milk
2 Tbsp buttermilk
1/4 rennet tablet
1/4 cup lukewarm water
1 Tbsp salt
Mix milk, buttermilk and salt in enameled kettle. Mix rennet in lukewarm water, dissolving completely. Mix thoroughly with milk in stainless steel or glass kettle. Set aside (covered) for 12-18 hours. When you get a "clean break", dump in colander lined with cheesecloth. Rinse, then work in salt (pepper too if you like). Bring corners of cheesecloth together and "roll" back and forth to strain out whey. Tie and hang to drip several hours. Place in a press (or a colander with HEAVY weight), turn once. Season with caraway or any of your favorite herbs or seeds. I sometimes rolled in sesame or poppy. Keep in fridge (after curing one day) best after about 5 days.

There's a wonderful book in our public library called "stillroom Cookery" that has lots of easy basic recipes, including the one I used for cottage cheese:
2 quarts pasteurized milk (bring to 85 degrees in double boiler. Stir in gently 1/2 cup sour milk (or buttermilk - use interchangeably) and 1/2 dissolved rennet tablet. Cover and hold at room temp for 12 hours. Cut curd into 1/2" cubes and heat with doible boiler slowly to 110 degrees F, stirring gently. Hold 10 minutes. Then increase heat to 120 degrees F for another ten minutes. Line colander with cheesecloth (I often used a very clean, thin pillowcase) and pour through. Rinse bag of curd in cold water a couple of times, then drain 20 minutes or so. Salt and season as desired.

I have a couple of other cheesey recipes but don't want to fill the forum. This is my first time here! It's great! I usually frequent the Harvest forum, but ran across this one today.

Well, I got my milk cow!!! so I am looking forward to trying some of these recipes when she freshens probably in September or October.

My cow is a jersey/guernsey cross. So I should get lots of great cream and rich milk. I only plan on milking her once a day and leaving the calf on her the rest of the time.

Congratulations on your cow Lesli8. I must Admit we wimped out with the cow, We bought a calf to put on her. We are just too busy to keep milking her. heck our computer has been down for almost 2 months and we just got it going again! I think we still may steal milk once in a while we were getting used to the homemade cheese, althought with the heat here I'm in no hurry to do anything! Better go hubby wants to harness the team and cut hay this evening..jaime

What do you mean by "gettng used to the homemade cheese"? Is it so different that you have to get used to it? Which ones did you make? what did you like or dislike about them? I can't wait. I am hoping to make some soap too. Maybe you will have to tweek your recipe a little. I always heard that it is more wonderful and you will never want to go back. I am looking forward to being able to milk. My boys, 15 and 10, can easily go through a gallon a day if you let them. And they are quite skinny, hoping to fatten them up a little. The older one is over 6'1" so he needs some meat on his bones.

when I said "getting used to it" I ment, The taste, availability and the enjoyment of making it! I made white cheeese, ricotta and mozzerella. I'm sure my recipe needs no tweeking since friends and family seemed to have no complaints..Jaime

Oh,(c; I'm sorry, misunderstood-LOL!! just couldn't imagine why you all would not just love it. Bet it is totally awesome! I am just getting more and more excited everyday about our impending arrival. Daisy(cow) got to eat a little honeydew melon today, she loved it and followed me around like a puppy dog begging to even suck on my fingers! It is SOOOOOO hot here, 100', I just don't know why anyone lives down here in South Texas. I can totally see why immigrants perferred staying further north and depended on the cold winters for survival! Gosh its a killer out there today. My husband is putting up hot fence (electric- I mean it would be hot with out the juice turned on! LOL) Husband is working my poor babies (15 and 10 Y.O. boys) to death in this heat. Trying to make things better for my cow, with out loosing the training we already have done with her. Our small (almost 10 acres)place has loads of winter grass and clover all winter and spring. But in the heat there just isn't that much out there. We have been irrigating and it just is not enough with this heat! Already feeding a lot of hay. It is so dry here too. MY dad just had his hay cut on his 25 acres, well, not all of the 25 was cut, but he only got 3 big bales!!

Hope you find more time to milk with the options out there, not much at the super market worth much after the quality you had from your cow! Oh, a big icecream freezer full of home made icecream sounds wonderful right now!!

Jaime and Lesli - (how opposite can you get? Oregon and Texas) - I'm enjoying your cow tales. Didn't you really kinda "get used to " the cheese? Ours had a bit of a "squeak" to it, and it was certainly different from any I could buy. I really liked it and missed it much when it was gone. We loved the ice cream too. We made it so often we had to put it in cottage cheese cartons and freeze for later. Wasn't the same as fresh, though. Eat it NOW, I say.

gran2, I would love any more recipes you have for using up goat milk, especially cheese recipes. I want to get a pair of dwarf dairy goats, but I'm not sure I could use all of the milk - it's just me & hubby. But we do eat a lot of cheese! Thanks -beth

My pleasure - haven't done this in quite a while and it brings a smile just to think about it. We made a good bit of yogurt too. The yogurt makers are really cheap in Salvation Army stores and garage sales and they are so great. We have two.

Cottage cheese (this is from the Stillroom Cookery book, and I made it a few times)
2 qts pasteurized milk (bring to 85 degrees in a double boiler
1/2 cup sour milk
1/2 dissolved rennet tablet
Stir this together gently. Cover and hold at room tep for 12 hours. Cut curd into 1/2" cubes and heat in double boiler slowly to 110 degrees F, stirring gently Hold 10 minutes. Then increase heat to 120 for another ten mins. Line colander with cheesecloth (or an old tea towel or pillowcase) and pour through. Rinse bag of curd in cold water (rinsing VERY important) then drain 20 mins. or so. Salt and season as desired, or add a bit of cream or sour cream.

Cream Cheese (made this too - as in THE cheesecake)
Heat 2 qts whole milk and 1/2 cup sour milk starter slowly to 85 degrees in double boiler. Hold at 85 for 30 mins. Cover and set in oven overnight. The following morning warm again to 85, add 1/2 rennet tablet dissolved, stir briefly aqnd allow to stand until a firm curd forms -- couple of hours. Dip off most of whey with a cup.
Heat in another pan an equal volume of water to 180 degrees. Pour in curd, stirring gently. As soon as mixture reaches 130, pour through cheesecloth. Hang to drain. (Hanging is SOO easy. We hung a wire clothes hanger upside down on a nail on a ceiling beam in the basement, then it was easy to hang the ties if the cheese bag - we used clean shoelaces to tie up - on the "hook" of the hanger ) DO NOT WASH. After about 20 mins, empty into bowl. Add 1/4 tsp salt. Form into a cube to refrigerate.

Mock Sour cream
Heat 2 qts whole milk to 85 degrees (see a pattern here?)
Add 4 Tbsp sour cream and 1/2 cup sour milk. Cover and let stand 8 hrs. Heat oven to 400 and allow clabber to set in oven for 3 mins. Turn off oven and let stand to separate. Drain off whey by pouring through cheesecloth. Do not drain dry or wash. Put immediately in covered container and let stand at room temp for 4 days. Fine for cooking.

Cheddar cheese
Warm 2 qts milk indouble boiler to 85 degrees. Add 1/2 cup sourh milk. Hold at 85 for 1 hour, stirring sometimes. Mix in 1/2 dissolved rennet table tand let stand at room temp (covered) overnight to form curd. Cut into cubes and agitate with a slotted spoon. Heat slowly to 100. (take about 30 minutes it's so slow). Drain by pouring off whey. Curd will be packed on one side of te pan. Tilt the pan on a knife handle so rest of whey will drain away - take about 15 minutes. Remove curd with a cup and make a mound on the counter, turning to express the rest of whey. Chop curd to size of rice and mix in 1 tsp salt. Cover with a towel and allow to weep. Transfer to a cheesecloth-lined coffee can with holes in the bottom. Insert lid and weights (4 bricks do nicely) and stand overnight. The next day remove cheese and rub with 1 tsp salt and return to press. Press again overnight. Remove cheese, rub again surfaces with 1 tsp salt and ry for 4 days at 60 degrees. Dip in paraffin to seal. Cure sealed cheese in crisper drawer of fridge for 6 mos. Makes 1/2 lb.

Whew! Try those. Have fun!

Thanks gran2,
I think I'm going to try that cream cheese first. Made with the rich goats milk, it should make an out-of-this-world cheesecake. Is it OK to substitute goats milk for all of those recipes?
Where in Indiana are you? My father grew up in little ol' Bean Blossom, Indiana!

Definitely. Goat's milk was the only kind I had to work with. We milked a Nubian, the self-homogenizing kind, and she seemed pretty productive to me, a city girl.

We're from Johnson County, not too far from Bean Blossom. Matter of fact, I'm going there for a retreat soon. Small world, isn't it?

Have you considered preserving milk with sugar?

I'm trying to find a recipe for making condensed milk. Most of the recipes I've found use powdered milk as the base for making condensed milk. It may require some kind of vacuum evaporation equipment.

Perhaps it's like a milk caramel recipe, but just add more milk than sugar.
http://foodgeeks.com/recipes/recipe/494,milk_caramel.phtml

This article about Borden's process gives you an idea of the temperatures used, but not an actual recipe:
http://www.milk.com/wall-o-shame/nutrition/Condensed_Milk.html

Here's a site from Mother Earth News for canning the milk so it can be used up to six months later.
http://www.motherearthnews.com/library/1984_May_June/Home_Canned_Milk

I think there is an indian recipe for sweetened milk that they use in their desserts which was probably a predecessor to condensed milk. It uses molasses or something like that.

I'm really leery about any method of canning milk. That's one of the big no-no's on the acceptable list of products. Is it one of those "I-haven't-died-yet" approaches?

See my recipe for cheese in the Cheese makers thread. It is a simple and easy way to use extra milk and the cheese is good on crackers and melts well in recipes.

I read your process,Cheese making is a complicated process which varies extensively with the different types of cheeses available. The basic principle behind all natural cheese production is the curdling and coagulation of milk .