In this article we will explain the burning question of what is cheese salt?
The best part?
Why it is a must for home cheese making and it’s purpose during the making and aging of cheese.
That’s not all…
Why is it different to kosher salt and normal table salt.
If you are making cheese regularly, you will have a lot of left over whey to deal with. You could pour it away down the drain, but it’s a very nutritious by-product and why not use it if you can. Continue reading for some uses for whey. Read more
But you find when you start to peel the cheese cloth away, the curd has stuck to it and no matter how cautiously you try to pull it away, the curd sticks and breaks away from the cheese mass. The cloths a mess, the cheese now has chunks out of it and you wonder what went wrong?
This post is Part 4 of the continued basic home cheese making instructions. See the Curd Nerd Beginner Page or the Basic Instructions category for previous parts.
You’ve waited patiently, letting the Rennet do it’s thing and now you have a lovely firm, set curd.
Most recipes will instruct you to cut the curd at this point. Read more
Cheese making is a constant opportunity for learning and improving.
With every cheese you make, there are a variety of changes that can occur naturally, be made purposefully or happen accidentally that will alter your end product subtly, or completely.
The variables are many which means there are plenty of learning curves to experience when you get into cheese making. Read more
When I first started making hard cheeses I fashioned a cheese press out of all sorts of items. Filled stock pots of water, cans of food, rocks, anything that would give me enough weight to press the curds in the mold.
Eventually I got frustrated with the balancing acts (and the anxiety caused everytime said balancing acts didn’t work) and went looking for a proper press to upgrade my cheese making process.
I bought a press made by a local engineering student whose father is a cheesemaker.
The press works well but I found the mold that comes built into it is too wide in diameter, resulting in a larger flat cheese rather than a short stout one. The problem with larger flat cheeses is you end up with a lot more rind than paste as the drying area is bigger. Read more
I have to say that I think Camembert is one of my favourite cheeses to make.
I thoroughly enjoy the ‘nurturing’ process that is required in the first few weeks of a Camembert make and I love playing with and testing the ripening process to see if I can capture that perfect point where the cheese has matured to soft and creamy, but not too runny and over ripe.
This post is Part 3 of the continued basic home cheese making instructions. See the Curd Nerd Beginner Page or the Basic Instructions category for previous parts.
We’ve talked milk, we’ve added the cultures. Now it’s time to set up a curd. Let’s add the Rennet.