Little Green Cheese

Cheese making at home with Gavin Webber the Cheeseman

Quick Mozzarella Video Tutorial

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I have had so much feedback about my quick mozzarella video tutorial, that I decided to remaster it, and added a voiceover track.

The video was way too dark, and there was scant information about what to do if things go wrong.  So I fixed it all up, and changed the recipe slightly.

Over time, I found that because of inconsistent milk quality, the curd would often be sloppy and not set correctly.  To fix this issue, I had to increase the rennet dose to ensure a firm curd set.  Instead of adding a quarter of a teaspoon or quarter rennet tablet, I now add a half a teaspoon or half a tablet.

Since making this slight variation, I have had continuous success when making this cheese.

So, without further ado, here is the remastered Quick Mozzarella video tutorial.

Now if you wondering about the branding change, it is because I am trying to increase visibility of our online shop where we sell our cheese making kits here in Australia.

Mozzarella & Ricotta Kit

If you are interested, then pop on over to the cheese making section of our shop using the link below.

Little Green Workshops

www.littlegreenworkshops.com.au/shop/

 

Expanded Range of Cheese Making Kits

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Cheese making at home, and teaching cheese making courses are but a couple of my many talents.

You see my day job is in the IT Industry, and over the last two months, I have been hard at work during my spare time putting together an e-commerce website for my darling wife Kim.

She has always wanted a store of her own, so I thought to myself, here is an opportunity to make her dreams come true, and to use my IT skills as well.

So I did.  And the result is a brand new Little Green Workshops web site, with full e-commerce capabilities.

And guess what Curd Nerds?  The very first thing I did was to move the cheese making kits that I previously sold on here to the new site and then I expanded the range of items for sale.  Exciting stuff.

I have an expanded range of cheese making kits, a variety of equipment, and a small range of cultures, moulds, and other ingredients.  I’ve even produced a paperback version of Keep Calm and Make Cheese, converting it from eBook into a thermally bound book.

Kim took all the product pictures for the site.  Here are a few of the products that she photographed to whet your appetite!

Camembert Kit
Mini Measuring Spoons
Keep Calm and Make Cheese bound edition two
Feta Kit

These kits contain the same ingredients and equipment that you may have seen me using here on the Little Green Cheese, and in my YouTube video tutorials.  Yes folks, I believe that you shouldn’t recommend or sell something if you haven’t tried it yourself and know it intimately.

So there you have it.  If you are interested starting cheese making as a hobby, then what better place to get your gear than right here.  Click through to the store to check out my expanded range of cheese making kits, equipment, and ingredients.

Anyway, now that I have a bit more time on my hands, I will get the podcast up and running again.  I apologize for the extended break.  There will be more curd nerdy fun happening soon.

Who would have thought that when I started this blog, that I would have our very own shop?  I certainly didn’t.

Until next time curd nerds, Keep Calm and Make Cheese!

My New Cheese Cave

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The cheese drought has broken, and I am back in business!  I have a new cheese cave.

I mentioned this in my last podcast or two, but finally I saved up enough money to replace my ailing cheese fridge with a brand new small bar fridge with external thermostat.

To recap, this is the old cheese fridge.

It was just a wine fridge that worked using a thermoelectric system, which performs best in homes that are not kept much warmer than 24°C (75°F).  Unfortunately, my home get well about that, that the temperature of this unit would drift at least 10°C above what I had it set at.  This was not satisfactory for cheese making, and some cheeses even started to weep oil.

So I had to place the two cheeses I made in early December into the normal kitchen fridge, until I saved up for a replacement.

Thankfully, that day was today.  Last week I purchased a small bar fridge for a couple of hundred dollars, and found a suitable external thermostat for A$21.

New cheese cave aka bar fridge

The fridge has three racks inside and room for about 30 wheels of cheese.  More than enough, I think.

external thermostat for cheese cave

The thermostat is very basic.  Plug it into a power socket, then plug in the fridge.  Set it to cool by holding in the centre button for 4 seconds, then set your desired temperature with the SET button.  Pretty simple, although I have noticed that it sits about 1°C below its setting.

This shot shows the probe, which is the grey cable with a white probe on the end to the left.  I placed my normal hygrometer next to it to check if it was reading true.  This the display was still cooling down at the time.  I have just dangled the sensor probe through the fridge seal and tied gently to the middle rack.  Nothing too technical like drilling holes through the side of the fridge.  I wanted to keep it simple.

This method does not seem to be affecting the temperature, as it is sitting at a comfortable 13°C now, and has been for the last hour with the fridge turned off.

new cheese cave

Once the temperature had stabilised, I placed the two cheeses, a Romano Pepato and a Cotswold, that I had stored in the kitchen fridge.

Speaking of temperature, the weather cooled down sufficiently (24°C) on Sunday for me to make two wheels of cheese.

It was glorious.  I felt so, so, so refreshed.  It had been over six weeks since I made cheese, and it was starting to get withdrawal symptoms. 😉 More about the cheese I made in the next post, but suffice it to say, it was great fun running my fingers through curds and whey once again!

Have any of you recently set up a new cheese cave?  What did you use to control the temperature?

Little Green Workshops