Little Green Cheese

Cheese making at home with Gavin Webber the Cheeseman

Blue Cheese Rescue

By 4 Comments

As you know, I am not shy in trying new cheese making recipes.  Blue cheese is no exception.

I have Stilton down to a tee, but as for other blues you could call me a baby curd nerd.  I have tried a few, but with little success.

So over the weekend, I tried another blue cheese recipe that I modified slightly to increase the yield.  I won’t post it yet, because all did not go according to plan.

It was all going fine and dandy until I took the blue (that I named Le Petit Bleu) out of the hoops early this morning.  This is what I came home to this afternoon.  It was in desperate need of a blue cheese rescue!

blue cheese rescue

Instead of blue cheese, I had created blue pancakes!  So what to do?  Well I posted my disaster on my facebook page and someone came to the rescue with a brilliant suggestion.  Debra Allard from podcast episode 12 fame, suggested I mill the pancakes into thumbnail sized pieces, add 2.5% salt which I topped up with a teaspoon of salt.

Then using my tallest hoop, added the curds and will be turning, turning, turning, each hour until it forms a top and bottom.

I have turned it once since this photo was taken and the bottom has formed nicely.  Debra suggested that I keep it in the hoop turning often for the next 4 days until the blue mould starts to form, then put in my ripening box wrapped in foil into the cheese fridge at 10C.  She recommends unwrapping and piercing the holes at day 15 and 30.  The recipe said should be ripe in 90 days.

I have videoed the entire process, so have kept the footage aside for now in the hope it all works out.

I think I might just be able to rescue this blue cheese yet!

Addendum: If you are wondering why there haven’t been any podcasts of late, I lost my voice again and am slowly recovering!

Queso Fresco

By 11 Comments

This cheese, Queso Fresco, stems from Spain and Latin American roots.  Translated it means Fresh Cheese.  This cheese shouldn’t be confused with Queso Blanco, which is essentially Ricotta Salata.  Queso Fresco uses rennet, whereas Queso Blanco only uses lemon juice to coagulate the milk.

It is a quick farmhouse cheese that can be made a variety of ways.  It involves a little bit of mesophilic culture, a little liquid rennet, and some salt.  Not too much to making it really, but well worth the effort.

Queso Fresco

Here is the recipe that I adapted for a lower yield as most of the recipes that I found asked for 8 litres (2 gallons) of milk, which I believe was too much.

Queso Fresco

 Ingredients
  • 4 litres of full cream milk
  • 1/16th of a teaspoon of Mesolphillic direct set culture (MO30)
  • 1/8th of a teaspoon of liquid rennet diluted in 30ml (2 Tbspn) of unchlorinated water
  • 1 Tablespoon of Cheese Salt
  • 1/8th teaspoon of Calcium Chloride diluted in 30ml (2 Tbspn) of unchlorinated water, if using pasteurised/homogenised milk.
Method
  1. Add milk to pot, heat to 32°C (90°F).  Add the
  2. Add the culture and mix the milk well.
  3. Add the Calcium chloride if using.
  4. Add the diluted rennet and stir for 1 minute only.  Cover.
  5. Allow milk to set for 45-60 minutes, or until you get a clean break.
  6. Cut the curd into 1/2 cm (1/4 inch) cubes.
  7. During the next 20 minutes, slowly increase the temperature to 35°C (95°F), stirring gently to keep the curds from matting.
  8. Cover and let the curds rest for 5 minutes.
  9. Drain off the whey by hand, return the curds to the pot.
  10. Add the salt and gently mix by hand.  Cover and allow curds to rest at 35°C (95°F) for 30 minutes.
  11. Line your mould with cheesecloth and fill with curds
  12. Fold one corner of the cheesecloth over the mould and top with a follower.  Press at 16kg (35lbs) for six hours.
  13. Remove from press and mould.
Queso Fresco
Your Queso Fresco can be eaten straight away or can be stored in a covered plastic container in the kitchen fridge for up to 2 weeks.
This delightful simple cheese is a fresh, tasty alternative to soft cheeses, and can be made and eaten on the same day.  We found that our batch had an amazing flavour for a cheese that was so young.
Great in salads instead of feta, even better grated over burritos, tacos, and enchiladas!  Just remember that this cheese doesn’t melt, so it’s not so good in toasted cheese unless you mix in some cheddar. All the ingredients can be found in one of our Soft Cheese making kits, which you can find over at Little Green Workshops.

There is a Queso Fresco video tutorial in the works for this cheese, which will be published in the next few days.

Enjoy this simple, yet worthwhile cheese.

LGC 040 – Interview with Colin Giddy from New Zealand

By Leave a Comment

Listen to the episode below... (00:33:48)
Apple PodcastsGoogle PodcastsPlayer EmbedShareLeave a ReviewListen in a New WindowDownloadSoundCloudStitcherSubscribe on AndroidSubscribe via RSSSpotifySubscribe via RSSiHeart Radio

Colin Giddy is a home cheese maker from Morrinsville, New Zealand. He describes his inspiration for making cheese, how he has made many different types of cheese, and some of the challenges that he has encountered along the way.

Here is a little bit about him in his own words;

“A Little History of Us

Linda and myself started making cheese after watching a program called Country Calendar on TV. A Lady called Biddy Fraser-Davies was showing us how she makes cheese everyday from just a couple of jersey cows.

I thought WE CAN DO THAT. We have the milk. In fact we tip out more milk each day on the farm than we can use. I work on my 1 of my sons share-milked farms. We have 2 farms side by side where we milked about 400 cows. I was milking in one cowshed and he in another.

So I looked for someone to teach me how and found a lady called Jean Mansfield who held cheese making classes from time to time in a small town called Katikati. So off I went and did a 1 day introduction to cheese. That was about 6 years ago. I started to collect the last milk of the day after the vat tap was turned off. Sometimes there was a bit of water in it and I quickly realised that watery milk does not make good cheese. I became very careful how I collected the milk after that. We started with Farmhouse Cheddar Cream cheese Mozzarella and things like that.

We had our failures and our successes and we grew in confidence as we learned new things
of what to do and what NOT to do. We are still learning. We now make all sorts of cheeses. And while some say that cheeses like Camembert are for more expert makers we find it to be one of the easiest cheeses to make.  And only 3 hrs from start to finish in the molds.

Colin’s Camembert fresh out of the brine

 

We made a stirred curd cheddar and when finished soaked it in Red wine for a few days then dried it and when it matured it was just delightful. (must do another)

We purchased Rikki Carroll’s Home Cheese Making and have used it as a Guide. Our conditions are a little different as are the cultures that we use and the conversion from Fahrenheit to Celsius. But it is a brilliant book for the beginner.

There is so much information available today on the internet (like this blog) that there is no reason that you can’t do or make anything that you want to. It is entirely up to your own will to want to.”

 As you can tell Colin is a knowledgeable bloke who gave away a lot of tips and tricks during the show.
Also, this podcast is now supported by listeners via Patreon. You can support my endeavours by pledging as little as US$1 a month to help with my work. There are also rewards available to you at different levels of support like shout outs in the podcast, or a free e-book bundle. You can help keep this podcast regular by adding your support at http://www.patreon.com/greeningofgavin. Thanks for your support.
Provide support via Patreon
Until next time curd nerds, Keep Calm & Make Cheese!
Little Green Workshops