• About
  • Contact Me

Little Green Cheese

Cheese making at home with Gavin Webber the Cheeseman

  • Home
  • Blog
  • Cheese eBook
  • Podcast
  • Videos
  • Cheese Making Kits
  • Courses
  • Support Me!
  • Live!

What is the Best Cow’s Milk to use for Cheese Making?

28/08/2017 By Gavin Webber 5 Comments

Cow’s milk is processed in many ways, so what is the best cow’s milk to use for cheese making at home?  I get asked this question all the time on Ask the Cheeseman, my YouTube Q&A show.

No Access to a Farm?

Well, because many don’t have access to the farm gate for the ultimate in raw milk, I have produced a video tutorial explaining what cow’s milk is easily obtainable from major supermarkets and is okay for cheese making.


When in Doubt, Add Calcium Chloride

Don’t forget that if you know the milk has been pasteurised then please remember to add the equivalent amount of Calcium Chloride as you do Rennet to the milk.  This will encourage better coagulation of the milk into curds and whey.

So just to recap for cow’s milk;

  • Pasteurised/Homogenised milk with a fat content of at least 3.25% is okay.
  • Pasteurised/Unhomogenised milk is much better with a fat content of at least 3.25% or higher.
  • UHT or Ultra-pasteurised milk will not set a curd, and
  • Skimmed milk is useless for making cheese.
  • Lite milk Pasteurised/Homogenised with a fat content of about 1.5 to 2% fat is okay to augment your milk if your recipe calls for lower fat e.g. Parmesan.
  • Half and Half, which is usually about 10% fat is too high for cheese making.

For cream;

  • Thickened cream contains thickeners or gelatine which affects curd set
  • Double cream with ~51% fat is too thick and difficult to incorporate back into the milk
  • Single Pure cream that has about 45% fat and is pourable, should be perfect for cheese making if your recipe calls for additional cream.

I Can Get Access to Farm Milk!

Well, that’s fantastic.  Just make sure that you can trust the quality of the milk and that you can transport it home at 4°C/39.2°F.  Use it within 2 days from milking for the best result.  If you are not sure about the milk quality then be sure to pasteurise your own raw milk using the Low Temperature/Long Hold method which you can learn about at Dairy Technologist.

What do you think?

Let me know what you think is the best cow’s milk to use for cheese making at home.

Do you have a favourite brand or dairy that you source your milk from?

Filed Under: Ingredients, Milk, Video Tutorial Tagged With: Raw Milk

Choosing the Best Milk for Cheese Making

11/08/2015 By Gavin Webber 4 Comments

Would you believe that milk is one of the most discussed components in cheese making circles?  Being the most important ingredient, it ought to be!  Your final cheese depends heavily on it.

So what is the best milk for cheese making?

Milk used in the cheese making process should be of the highest quality, whether it be straight from the cow, sheep, goat, buffalo, or chicken (joking), or bought from the supermarket.  It must be hygienic and free from contamination.

Biodynamic Milk
Biodynamic Milk. If you can’t get raw, this is the next best thing!

You can make cheese from raw milk, as civilisations have done so for many thousands of years, however some countries have imposed food standards that mandate that the curds must be cooked at 48°C (118°F) or higher during the cheesemaking process, and the final cheese ripened at 10°C (50°F) for longer than 60 days to destroy harmful pathogens.

The pathogens are killed by the increased acidity produced during the aging process.  Hard cheeses like Parmesan and Romano fit this criteria.

For the normal home cheese making it is recommended that you either purchase pasteurized milk or pasteurize your own raw milk at home.  Pasteurisation is an important process that destroys harmful bacteria, capable of causing illness in humans.

Pasteurisation is easy and the slow method is better for milk quality when used in cheese making.  Using your stock pot, double boiler, and café thermometer you can follow these simple steps.

  1. Pour the milk into the large stock pot and place it on top of the smaller pot that contains about 1 litre/quart of tap water.
  2. Slowly heat the milk to 63°C (145°F) and hold the temperature there for thirty minutes.  Stir the milk gently throughout to make sure that the heat is evenly distributed.
  3. Remove the milk from the heat and place it in a sink filled with iced water.  This is to bring the temperature down as quickly as possible.  When the milk has reached 4°C (40°F), it can be stored in the refrigerator for future use or used straight away for cheese making.

Alternatively, you can use raw milk, which if not treated carefully, can be harmful to your health.  For raw milk that may not have been handled at the correct temperature before you get a chance to use it, it is best to pasteurize it before making your cheese.

If you do not have access to raw milk, you can buy pasteurized non-homogenised milk at most milk outlets or supermarkets.  This type of milk is also known as cream-line milk.  It has great structure and sets a good curd when cheese making.

At a pinch you can use homogenized milk, but the fat in the milk has been passed through micro filters to break up the fat globules so they don’t float to the top as cream.  Some of the soluble calcium gets destroyed in this process and does effect curd set.  Add a small amount of Calcium Chloride to counteract the homogenization process.  Most of my recipes on this site have the option to add Calcium Chloride.  Ensure you use it, or a sloppy curd will occur and that just ends in tears!

Jersey Milk
Jersey Milk.  A high fat content milk which is a good alternative to unhomogenized milk.

Never, ever, use Ultra Heat Treated milk better known as UHT or for that matter Ultra-Pasteurised milk for making cheese.

Both preserving treatments damage the structure of the milk and kills all remaining bacteria, and it is the comment cause of curd set failure in home cheese making.  I know because I have been diagnosed the issue so many times from readers questions.

I also know that this milk is unusable from experience, and here is the reason why:  back in the very early days of my cheese making journey, and when I was a little less knowledgeable about the cheese making process, I attempted to use Ultra High Temperature (UHT) milk to make a semi-hard cheese.

I added the culture and then when time was up I added the rennet and waited another 45 minutes for the curds to set.

I checked the milk and expected to see a nicely set curd, but it was not to be. It was still plain milk!  That was very disappointing, so I added another lot of rennet and waited another 45 minutes.  To my surprise, it was still runny milk!  No curds had set.

Due to the very high temperatures used in manufacturing this shelf-stable product, all of the bacteria has been destroyed and the soluble calcium is transformed into insoluble.  It will not set a curd with rennet or acid.  So my advice is to double-check your milk before you purchase it to avoid ultra-heat treated milk.

Mozzarella-008

I highly recommend cream-line milk as it is perfect for the home cheese maker and forms a very good curd.  For the uninitiated, this is unhomogenized milk.

My final piece of advice for the home cheese making is to choose the freshest milk you can buy.

You and your cheese will thank you for it.

Filed Under: Ingredients Tagged With: Raw Milk

Reader Question – Parmesan Recipe

07/07/2013 By Gavin Webber 1 Comment

I received an interesting comment on my Greening of Gavin blog today about my Parmesan recipe.

Marianne asks;

Hi Gavin,
Did you realize the youtube video is different to your recipe. I have tried it both ways and the video is the best using light milk, I am though having a problem with the rennet after 45 min it’s still not set, any suggestions?

Well, interesting observation and question.  I watched the youtube video with the recipe in hand, and noticed that yes the milk quantities were different in the video, however the resulting milk fat content is the same.  When making Parmesan style cheese, you are looking for a fat content of around 2 to 2.5%.

I have experienced this problem of no curd set before with poor quality milk. Sometimes milk is
ultra heat treated which affects the structure of the caesin which even with the addition of calcium chloride will still not set. Find a really good source of non-homogenised milk and the 2.5ml of rennet should work better.

Liquid Vegetable Rennet

Additionally, I have just changed the recipe in each version of the ebook to reflect 1/2 teaspoon so the US measurement dosage is slightly higher. Those people who were using 2.5 ml will be fine.  This is to allow for dubious quality some commercially produced milk.   I am sorry if this has caused angst during anyones cheese making session.  Just remember though, try and source the best quality milk possible that has not been heat treated other than normal pasteurization.

If anyone with an older PDF version would like a newer version, please send me an email with proof of purchase and I will gladly send a coupon code so you can download a replacement free of charge via my shopping cart.  If you purchased via Smashwords, you will be able to download the updated version right now without additional cost.

Sincerely,

Gavin

Filed Under: Ingredients Tagged With: eBook, Parmesan

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • Next Page »

Follow Us via Social

FacebooktwitterpinterestrssyoutubeinstagramFacebooktwitterpinterestrssyoutubeinstagram

Cheese Making Kits

Cheeseman.tv Merchandise

Cheeseman.tv Merchandise
Cool Cheesy T-shirts, sweatshirts, mugs, stickers, and more
0:00
54:12
  • LGC097 - Interview with Tutu Saad Artisan Cheesemaker Bangladesh
Subscribe on Apple Podcasts

Archives

Tags

Aging Blue Brine Caerphilly Camembert Cheese Cave Cheese Press Colby Cream Cheese Curd Cutter Curds Drunken Cow eBook Emmentaler Equipment Farmhouse Cheddar Feta Gavin Halloumi Jarlsberg Kits Monterey Jack Mould Ripened Cheese Moulds Mozzarella Parmesan Parmigiano Reggiano Podcast Queso Fresco Raw Milk Rennet Ricotta Romano Romano Pepato Salt Sanitisation Starter Cultures Stilton Storage Technique Tzafatit Video Tutorial Waxing Whey Ricotta Workshops

Subscribe to Cheese Podcast

Apple PodcastsGoogle PodcastsAndroidby EmailRSS

Subscribe to Cheeseman.TV

Podcast Reviews

  • Love it. Keep it up!
    February 12, 2022 by Corknip from Denmark

    Excellent podcast. Started the home making adventure last month and have been catching up on all the past episodes and YouTube videos. it is a gold mine of shared knowledge. Thank you!

  • So funny!!!!
    June 15, 2020 by purple quaqamale from United States

    Little green cheese is so funny

  • Great podcasts
    June 14, 2020 by Chrissy Curd Nurd from Australia

    I’ve just started cheese making at home,Gavin ‘s podcasts are so informative. I also watch his you tube tutorials. Thanks for your great work!!

  • An excellent guide to artisan cheese!
    January 14, 2020 by N.K.13 from Australia

    I recently became aware of Gavin’s lovely YouTube channel and podcast and it’s been incredible. His competence and comprehensive explanations leave you craving more. Much like a good cheese! Cheers Gavin!

  • Perfect for Cheesemakers of all levels!
    December 3, 2018 by Viki Leeasa from Thailand

    I love that this podcast does not just have helpful tips and tricks on cheese making, but also stories and news from the cheese world, as well as nice little anecdotes from the host. A big fan from Thailand!

  • If you think you want to make cheese, listen to this!
    November 30, 2018 by paulsaw from United States

    Gavin Webber’s Little Green Cheese is By Far the best podcast I have ever heard! A truly informative and quality production!

  • Great program
    October 9, 2018 by p37dg9q14 from United States

    Very informative and enjoyable podcast. I started at episode 1 and currently listening to 25. I’ll be giving cheesemaking a go in the next week. Mike J from Oceanside CA

  • Great podcast
    September 13, 2018 by nicole_elias from Australia

    I have a long commute to and from work and have worked my way through the back catalogue of these podcasts. Enjoyed every one of them and hope for many more to come. Thanks Gavin! Keep up the great work. Cheers, Nicole

  • Excellent!
    September 3, 2018 by emeldridge from United States

    Looking to take up cheesemaking sometime soon and this channel has provided all the information necessary to get started!

  • Great Resource!
    August 28, 2018 by olivestones from United States

    I have been learning to make cheese for the past year. Gavin's podcast and video series has been a tremendous resource for me. His love for the cheese-making craft is evident in the amount of research he will perform in order to answer a listener's cheese question. All thumbs up for the amount of time and energy he puts into his quality podcast! ...And he cracks me up with his attempts at pronunciation!

Little Green Workshops

Copyright © 2023 · Gavin Webber