I have a confession to make. My name is Gavin Webber and I am cheese crazy. You would class me as an amateur cheese maker or artisan if you will, who is mad about making his own cheese at home. In fact I like cheese making so much that I make at least 1 kg (2.2lbs) of cheese of various types every couple of weeks.
I started making cheese as a hobby back in March 2009 after attending a cheese making class at our local community house in Melton, Victoria, Australia. It was an exciting day indeed, and I will be posting about it later on in this blog.
How does it taste, I here you ask? Well, let me tell you that once you have made your own cheese, you will never buy store-bought stuff again. The only problem you will have is keeping up with demand!
So far I have had experience making the following cheese types;
Feta, Wensleydale, Farmhouse Cheddar, Emmental, Stilton, Camembert, Parmesan, Ricotta, Romano, Pepper Jack, Monterey Jack, Ossau-Iraty with green peppercorns, Caerphilly, Mozzarella and many others.
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| Farmhouse Cheddar drying before waxing |
While you are on the site checking out all the free recipes, don’t forget to check out the Little Green Cheese Podcast. It is full of advice and tips for newbie and advanced curd nerds alike. There are over 40 episodes to listen to and you can subscribe using your smart phone, tablet, or PC/Mac.
You can also find me on my YouTube channel Cheeseman.tv where there are dozens of cheese making video tutorials for you to watch. Many of those videos are embedded into posts on this site.
If you are into sustainable living, check out my other blog, The Greening of Gavin. There you can learn about organic food gardening, climate change, peak oil, backyard chickens, solar power, fruit trees, composting and worm-farming and all other topics that make up the sustainable living ethos.
Also, if you are in the market for cheese making supplies, equipment and ingredients, then pop over to my cheese kit page for more information.
So break out the crackers and stay put for an exciting cheesy adventure.
Hi Gavin, I’ve been watching your videos for a while, and like so many others I decided to give it a go, while we have some time to kill. I’m making the Havarti you have on your channel. I had a question that I can’t seem to find an answer to. What types of smells/aromas can I expect through the ripening process? What is considered a “bad smell”, indicating a cheese has spoiled and should be discarded?
Cheers, Corey
Hi Gavin, With covid restrictions, we turned to making our own cheese after watching hours and hours of your videos. Today, we taste our first cheese – Camembert. We are disappointed that the white mould didn’t form but it taste like goats cheese. Is this a normal mistake outcome and can anything else be done at this late stage to make it more Camembertish?
Cheers Vee
Hi Gavin,
Influenced/infected with the home made cheese virus by Herbert from Austria. He sent me to your website and youtube channel. My home location is Germany.
Question. Did you ever try to use fenugreek seeds in a gouda like cheese? This kind is a popular cheese made from goat or cow milk in Germany. I have seen the recipe and video for Romano Pepato which explains the process for pepper but this is a larger size ingredient. For example I am experimenting with different herbs where I would not add the water to the milk after simmering process unless the chees should be green finally.
The fenugreek seed itself is quite bitter, even after cooking. Do you have a hint for adding ingredients like herbs, seeds into the curd before giving it into the mould?
Kind regards
Ulrich
Hi Gavin,
I´m form Austria and started chees making a few weeks befor with recipes from your youtube channel – the saerano/pepper chees and a Stout cheddar with my own belgian trappist beer. It works well and so manyy thanks for all your work.
Have you tried to make the italian Taleggio chees.
Thanks
Herbert
Hi Gavin, I got in touch with wensleydale creamery. They told me they don’t add the cranberries during pressing. They said they mature the cheese and then add the cranberries so that the cranberries doesn’t absorb any salt or other flavour from the cheese. They said In a blender, break up the cheese, add the cranberries, put it through an extruder and press the cheese and the cranberries back into the desired shape.all videos on youtube show cranberries being put during pressing along with dry salting. So it would be really nice to know your view.
Hi Gaurav, Yes, I believe they are correct. After all, they are the originators of the recipe. My version was aimed at the home cheesemaker, specifically with a Wensleydale style cheese as this cheese has a more subtle flavour. I found that the cranberries did retain some of their sweet/tartness.
Hi gavin, I am from India. around the 18th of October I made a batch of gouda infused with dried cranberries. I pu it in a brine solution. After about a month I tasted it. The cranberry is not sweet. It’s a little salty and tarty. Just want to know when I put cranberry before pressing should I just add salt as in dry salting and not put the cheese in brine? Does it help the cranberry retain its sweet tarty flavour?. Regards gaurav
Hi Gavin,
I have had a request to make a salt free cheese. Salt is generally added at the end (flavour and preservative) but is it possible to skip this step and still have an edible cheese? Which cheese would you recommend for this experiment? 😁
I think that Schiz is your best bet. https://youtu.be/fWQYI3ktJQ4
Hi Gavin, In your Caerphilly recipe you suggest using a cloth dipped in brine solution to remove any
unwanted molds during the aging process. This technique didn’t seem to work very well for me as some
molds are quite tenacious.
Would you be concerned if, as an alternate method, I use a knife to physically scrape off the molds and/or
use vinegar to ‘wash’ the cheese and then dry it before returning it to the ripening box. Of course, I could
rub salt or brine onto the rind to reestablish the salt coating after each cleaning. Many Thanks. Mark
Hi Gavin, I am really enjoying your videos thank you. I have been making cheese properly for about 18 months now and loving it. However I only discovered your site about 6 months ago and have made the marbled cheddar, fourme d’ambert, manchego and several others, I have gained so much information from the videos. After a long very hot summer here in Greece I am desperate to make some cheese but need some advice please. I want to make a parmessan style cheese however in 3 months time we are going away, to NSW for 2 months, my question is can I vacuum pack my cheese after 3 months and leave it in my wine cooler “cave” whilst we are away. Hattie
Hi Hattie, yes that would probably be okay as long as the parmesan has been either waxed or vacuum packed before you go away.
Thank you for your swift response, I shall go in search of some nice fresh milk and get my cheese made.We are also visiting Melbourne on our travels. Hattie
Hi Gavin in your cheese curd video…you dont mention continuous temps? After each section of cheese making….do you return to temp 90 or temp 120?
hi gavin. please do you make edam cheese with different taste
Gavin, Thank you for all your good videos I been watching videos since I was living in Canada.
my question is I would like to make cheese and I will be able to get ROW milk close to my house, same people say that you have to PASTEURIZED it to 72.77 C for 15 second and others say to 63 C for 30 minutes, what is the correct answer to the question.
Thank you,
Jose Astete Aedo
Hi Jose. Both are correct, however, the lower temperature method is better for cheese makers.
Wanted to send a thank you for all of your YouTube videos. I recently retired and needed an additional hobby to occupy my time. Being partially disabled I chose cheese making as a second hobby (I’ve been painting landscapes since the 1980’s). My first attempt at making a cheese was a disaster. A local friend told me all milk is not created equal and she had problems with the milk source I used when she tried to make cheese. Even though the labels were identical, i.e. whole milk, pasteurized but not ultrapasteurizef etc, the milk I bought never produced a curd that would give a clean break. However the milk she recommended produced a nice curd break when I tried it Long story short I had success in making a Monterey Jack on my second attempt. At least it looks good, will have to wait a couple of months for a taste test. Thanks for the inspiration!
Ron Gitaitis
Tifton, Georgia
U.S.A.
After a two-year hiatus I am once again going to make cheese. I’ve had three successful Cheese’s out of six attempts. My goal is to gives wheels of waxed cheese for Christmas to my friends and family but I need to know that it’s good so I need to get better at it. I’m glad I found Gavin’s YouTube videos and podcasts. I do have a question I would like the address to anyone’s listening. Just before waxing my wheel of cheese is it okay to cut it into quarters so I would have four segments to age and enjoy at different times? It could be that I should cut it into quarters as soon as it’s finished pressing so the new cut faces dry and age equally with the rest. Or it may be a bad idea for a reason I’m unaware of. Hopefully somebody can set me straight. Thanks. Jim.
Hi Jim, I think I may have answered this on on the live stream this morning, but it is better to keep the cheese wheel intact for maturation, then once matured, cut into wedges and rewax for storage in the kitchen fridge. By keeping the cheese wheel intact, you get a better fat distribution and enzyme development during ageing.
Thanks, Gavin. Thanks for a personal response. You must be busy. Listened to the live chat today. Appreciate your tips and advice. I’ll cut and rewax a successful wheel for gifts. Will the relaxed portions continue to age well or should they be eaten?
My wife will be out of town next week so I’ll be making cheese!
I have a mini fridge with thermostat and hydrometer so a decent cave. How do I get good air circulation there?
Thanks! Jim
When I retire in a few years I may need to visit down under to taste your cheese.
Hi Gavin.
I’ve been watching your videos and getting ready to get back to cheesemaking. I viewed the milk heating video and I can replicate your ‘pot on a pot’ method. You have gas heat which is instant on and off. I have a stove with a glass top. Not so instant. Of course I can remove the pot on pot system if needed but am hoping for a better way.
My question is about the curd cooking step when the milk temperature must increase very particularly and slowly over time. Even with your pot on pot system, how do you get the precise and slow increase over a 30 minute period of time? Gas would give you better control but you must be glued to the stove turning the gas on and off constantly…am I right? Without gas I picture myself moving the pots off and on the burner or lugging them to the sink to cool off if temps rise too quickly. Your thoughts?
Also, I can’t find a nice ‘curd cutter’ tool except for $40 bucks. Consider making and marketing one. I envision an expandable (thin metal?) frame for width AND height with holes spaced for all the sizes needed. Then fishing line would string through it all for cutting and this could be replaced easily for sanitation and/or changing width, height, or spacing.
Thanks for helping the aspiring cheesemakers gain the confidence to ‘relax and make cheese’.
Jim in Oregon
I found this project Gutenberg book Hints for cheese making 1870. Maybe you even have it.
Maybe you find it Intriguing.
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/43323/43323-h/43323-h.htm
Many thanks to Kevin Scoles for the link he posted.The section on cheddaring was outstanding. A goldmine of hard-won old-school wisdom!
Hi Gavin I was going to make some cheese to enter the royal sydney show it appears from the eligibility criteria that u have to be a commercial producer do u have any experience in this area hoping u can help regards kerrie wade
Hi Kerrie, I only have limited experience in entering cheese competitions. There are some amature shows around (Red Hill Cheese Show), and the country ones are more likely to accept entries.