Who's made their own cheese?

ecat8, Nov 21, 6:04pm
I tried the one with milk and lemon juice.

It dosn't tase like anything.

How can I make it taste like cheese?
Is there a better recipe, without rennet?

microlight1, Nov 21, 9:01pm
I use my Easi Yoyoghurt maker.Make up a batch of the greek yoghurt and when set, strain throughaclean chux cloth and a seive. I add chives or parsley. Yummy

harrislucinda, Nov 21, 10:14pm
lemonin themilk tomakecurdsisnotanicebesttousetherennetoncecurdshaveformedputinfineclothanddrainovernightaddcreamorleaveasisthisnevermakesahardcheeseneedothermethodforthat

uli, Nov 21, 11:12pm
You need to put some starter culture in the milk - depending on which type of cheese you want to make, then you need to add rennet and then let the curds drip off the whey and you have fresh cheese or quark which is the starting point to make hard cheese.

Milk with lemon juice will never turn into cheese unfortunately. If you do not want to use rennet then you can use lemon juice or vinegar to separate the whey out, but cheese it ain't.

ecat8, Nov 21, 11:30pm
Mmmm might look into some vegetarian rennet and yoghurt.

Not too worried about texture, but would be lovely to make something that actually tastes like cheese LOL.

What about the milk, is ordinary milk OK? Or should it be full cream?

ecat8, Nov 21, 11:34pm
Sorry, another question.
Where do you get starter culture from?

lindylambchops1, Nov 22, 12:30am
I saw this ad in the Bin Inn Magazine for home cheesemaking.Check out this sitewww.madmillie.comThey have various cheesemaking kits.

cookessentials, Nov 22, 12:48am
Soft cheeses can indeed be made without rennet. #1 if you are not wanting to use animal rennet ( which is basically made from the stomach enzymes of certain animals) you can get what is classed as a vegetarian rennet. You can find it here:
http://www.cheesemaker.co.nz/coagulant-rennet.-xidg14933.html

uli, Nov 22, 2:14am
Time to repeat myself: vegetarian rennet is made from a fungus engineered to "make" rennet - or what you's like to call its "waste products" ...

Wikipedia says it better than myself:
"...With the development of genetic engineering, it became possible to use cow genes to modify some bacteria, fungi or yeasts to make them produce chymosin.
Chymosin produced by genetically modified organisms was the first artificially produced enzyme to be registered and allowed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration..."

... and this is what you have in your "vegetarian" cheese: a GE'd organism (most likely a fungus) that pee's rennet...

Bon appetit!

ecat8, Nov 22, 2:23am
Thanks for all the links, awesome help.

uli, I'm pretty sure I read years ago, taken me that long to actually try cheese making LOL, that the GE rennet isn't allowed to be used in NZ because it's GE. A plant based one is used here instead.
Bug excriment is still preferable to calf stomach lining, for me anyway.

uli, Nov 22, 2:29am
Yes it is here alright. You can even get it from Affco (who also sells the calf stomach stuff) - as well as from Hansens.

It is NOT plant based (except if you call a GE'd fungus a plant)

We all wish to ahve something 'else" I guess - but the reality is either you have the clear one - which comes from calf stomachs - or you have the brown one which is the GE'd fungus!

If you really feel GE'd fungus stuff is preferable to a natural occuring enzyme in a calf's stomach - then I am lost for words for once :)

Good luck in your world!

cookessentials, Nov 22, 2:31am
You are correct ecat.
"This is made using a fermentation process with a specific bacteria. 100% for Vegetarian/Vegan Cheese production. No use of any GE material is involved. Use approx. 3 ml for 10 litres of milk. May vary depending on recipe, milk type and quality and temperature. Comes with a handy 3ml syringe for easy measurement." taken directly from the cottage crqafts site

cookessentials, Nov 22, 2:39am
This is where I am buying mine from. It's a great store. I am after a couple of their cheese frames as well.
http://www.mapuacountrytrading.co.nz/harvest/main-harvest.html

bisloy, Nov 22, 5:37pm
I agree microlight1, this is how I make mine too. Lovely with crackers. Can make into a cheese ball, if you are careful!

gadcl, Nov 29, 11:56pm
That is Indian cheese called paneer (assuming you drained the curds and pressed them).It is somewhat bland because there is no culture or aging process.The cheese is used much like tofu.The simplest firm cheeses to make are Feta (pretty much pickled) and Mozzarella (lightly cooked curds and kneaded/stretched) - again, no aging is really needed.The easiest way to get the culture is using a dried yoghurt sachet.One of them (Ezio Yo or Yogit) has a bacteria that can make the cheese slimy.Veg rennet is more difficult to source but not impossible.

ashanti, Dec 4, 2:09am
New world often sells rennet, or, if you are going to make a lot of cheese, you can buy 1 litre bottles of rennet, both vegetarian and non vegetarian, from affco.
I believe but I could be wrong that some people on tm are buying from affco and then just repackaging into smaller bottles.

uli, Dec 4, 5:57pm
Well - yes ... to a degree ... cause what you get is "surprise" - a yoghurt culture - and not a feta, gouda or whatever else cheese you'd like to make ... culture....

wahinetoa62, Dec 4, 6:33pm
im getting my in laws the cheesemaking kit from bin inn...looks so good and treat myself too...

uli, Dec 4, 6:39pm
Bin Inn???

noonesgirl, Dec 4, 7:16pm
Friend bought one & says the cheese is lovely. Think there are 3 flavours - Camembert & & (can't remember)!

noonesgirl, Dec 4, 7:19pm
Shop in Christchurch where you can bulk or buy in small amounts. Baking ingredients, cleaners, cordials etc.

dezzie, Dec 5, 12:38am
ohh, that does look good, and is very local to here, I'm going to have to go for a look now!!

bryanli, Sep 28, 10:02pm
for those in auckland, Brewers Coop in harris road ellerslie has all your Mad Millies cheesemaking products and equipment