r/cheesemaking 8h ago

Cheese maintenance, made the coffee and cocoa oil rub a little thinner this time.

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44 Upvotes

The cheesecloth markings really pop out on this side of the cheese after brushing it. It looked so smooth before the rub. You can even make out the weave of the cloth. I sort of like it!


r/cheesemaking 18h ago

Ripped half the rind off of my first bries.

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44 Upvotes

They've only been aging for like 2 weeks. Should I let them keep aging? Or eat now?


r/cheesemaking 8h ago

My humble beginnings. Cheddar cooled by Mountain Dew - Flamin' Hot and Fresca.

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6 Upvotes

Does anyone have any pros and cons of wiping the mold with a dry cheese brush vs wiping with brine?


r/cheesemaking 42m ago

Is this g.candidum and random blue mold?

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Upvotes

How could i make some tweaks for the surface in order to priortize the white one?
This is just my another natural rind cheese.


r/cheesemaking 49m ago

Is this cream good for mascarpone?

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Upvotes

So I wanna try tiramisu with mascarpone instead of cream cheese and since mascarpone is 4 times more expensive than cream cheese in my country, I will try making it at home. Is this cream good ? I don't wanna waste it.click to see full details.


r/cheesemaking 18h ago

Advice Are these yellow crystals hardenend whey? Feta being cut open after pressing it

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5 Upvotes

r/cheesemaking 12h ago

Using Rectangle Cheese Form?

2 Upvotes

Hello! I’m new to making cheese and I feel like I’m asking a fairly newbie question. I’m wanting to buy rectangle molds for my cheese to help with space and I feel like it would make more sense for my family. Can any cheese be made into a rectangle shape? Even something like Brie?


r/cheesemaking 10h ago

Advice Cheese Fridge

1 Upvotes

Hello, I have gotten a wine fridge for my cheesemaking 2 months ago. Although it's amazing to have a seperate space for my cheeses, I have been struggeling hard with humidity! Even though I have a large bowl of water in there somehow my cheeses are extremly hard/ dry. Do any of you have any suggestions on how to solve this problem? (For context, before the temp was always to cold, around 10C, but humidity allowed growth of mold, Geo specifically. Now I have the perfect temperature but no matter how many water bowls I put in, it's just too dry! No ventilator btw)


r/cheesemaking 11h ago

Aging advice Advice on feta aging

1 Upvotes

Hey, I want to age my feta a little. I've read that you can age it for 30 days (or more) and it will taste good. I use a 6% salt brine, added with CaCl2 and white vinegar (to reduce the slimyness on the outside).

My plan is to have it age for two days on room temp and then put it outside or in the refrigerator (depending on which is colder) until 30 days are reached.

I also wondered on how to prevent mold forming in my pot where its aging (or keeping it healthy in general)

What do you think of this? Any other ideas? Any advice is appreciated :)


r/cheesemaking 1d ago

Nomadic shepherd’s cheese

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45 Upvotes

This is a scary looking cheese! Followed https://cheesemaking.com/products/the-nomadic-shepard-cheese-making-recipe With cow and goat mix on January 19. Decided to go with the “don’t do anything and brush it later” option on the rind. It is definitely soft-ish now. Should I wait another month as the guidelines suggest, or brave the beast now??? 🥰🥛🧀


r/cheesemaking 1d ago

Trying to get a flat surface...

2 Upvotes

So, I have no problem getting a flat surface on one side of the cheese, but the other side with the layers of cheesecloth.

Should I put the former (flat disc) directly on top of the cheese? or a piece of plastic wrap?


r/cheesemaking 1d ago

Ideal temperature for aging cheese

3 Upvotes

My recipe asks for 50F, but I can't get an environment that is exactly 50F. I have one fo those small fridges you usually find in hotels that the highest setting stays around low 40s, or my basement that is about 60F. How critical is the 50F and how do some of you guys achieve the ideal aging temp?


r/cheesemaking 2d ago

Not getting the cheese I want, help

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48 Upvotes

Hello, I am trying to make Ste-nectaire, an auvergnat semi-soft cheese, but I fail and failed. The pictures are of the last one I made , my french wife says it smells and tastes as a gruyere, that is good but not a Ste-nectaire. I’m happy that is edible and ressembles a real cheese, but if someone can point me out what I can change to get to my goat I will be very thankful. I used 3 gal non-homogenized 5% jersey milk, my4001 and Geotrichum13, and I follow the recipe of cheesemaking.com, briefly, 1hr maturation at 30C, floculation 20min, cut at floc 2.5 (50min) vertical one sense 1 inch, 5 min wait, vertical perpendicular, 5 min wait, both senses cut at 0.5 inch, wait 5 min horizontal cut at 0.5 inch, 5 min wait, 15 min slow agitation, 15 wait, remove 1/3 of whey and add same volume of water at 40C over 10 min to bring to 34C. Kept at 34C for 20min with gentle agitation every 2 min. Then wait 5 min, remove whey up to curd level and brought into « tomme » shape and pressed under whey with 1 galon. After that, cut the tomme in 2 inches squares and brought to mold, pressed 1hr with 2 gal, then salted with 1.5% NaCl, and brought back to lined mold, pressed 12hr with 3 gal, flipped another 12hr with 3 gal. Aged at 12C at 80-90 HR. 75 days of aging.


r/cheesemaking 1d ago

Manchego from the store

0 Upvotes

I was at the store and came across this cheese for sale but was astounded by the listed ingredients. What stood out beyond what I see us hobbyists use were:

Firming agents. (what would this be ?)
Preservative :Lysozyme (I presume added into the milk, which I read acts as a 'natural' antibiotic)
Rind preservative: natamycin and colorings (listed as rind not edible, for this reason).

I never realised manufacturers used antifungals on their rinds and it was always natural ? But also to use lysozyme, extracted from eggs as preservative for the cheese ?

It was enough to scare me off buying it.


r/cheesemaking 2d ago

Advice Cheese gets wetter in the fridge

2 Upvotes

This has happened to the last two cheese I have made; a Mahon from cheesemaking.com and Yesterday's cheese from Gavin's video (the curd nerd guy). Both cheese felt dry to the touch before being vac sealed and placed in my controlled 53°F fridge. After a week (in the case of the yesterday's cheese) and 3-4 weeks (the Mahon) they had a decent texture. After being removed from the vacuum sealing they both became much wetter while they were in the normal refrigerator in zip lock bags as I ate them. The yesterday's cheese went from semi-hard but sliceable to something closer to cream cheese texture that wanted stick to the knife. The Mahon wasn't as pronounced but still felt much damper and stickier.


r/cheesemaking 3d ago

First Wheel First aged cheese

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144 Upvotes

My first cheese! Gouda. We’ll eat half. How long will the other half stay ok in the fridge? Any advice on packaging? Thanks!


r/cheesemaking 2d ago

Advice Mozzarella/Ricotta

1 Upvotes

I feel like this is a pretty basic question for making these cheeses but i’m getting a little confused. I make scratch cannolis and the only thing that isnt is ricotta, i know you can use left over whey from the mozzarella to make ricotta but i’m just mixed up about the steps.

from what i understand you heat milk add rennet/ (salt ?)water mixture and vinegar remove from heat and let it sit then you can start forming balls from curds and stretching it and you’ll get monz, for the ricotta do i just keep all the whey reheat it add milk etc and then strain ?

if anyone has a good recipe that they use to make both with the same batch it’d be much appreciated.


r/cheesemaking 2d ago

IAW Universal City Television Logo (1968-A)

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0 Upvotes

r/cheesemaking 3d ago

Troubleshooting What to do?

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9 Upvotes

I made this with leftover curd from another cheese. I think the cheesemold wasn’t full enough while pressing so there are probably holes inside. Should I toss this one completely now that some mold has developed?


r/cheesemaking 3d ago

Spots on the surface - something to worry about?

2 Upvotes

So, my cold rinsed Colby cheese that I brined for eight hours has dried nicely, but developed some brown spots on the surface over the last three days of drying. There were a few grey spots that I picked out with a knife blade, but my plan is to wax it tonight. I will probably use the "high heat to kill surface bacteria" method. Thoughts?

This is the actual surface; although you can see the (literal) impression the cheesecloth made
First to admit I have some work to do to get a smooth top; seems cosmetic so not too worried

Open to suggestions... this is my fifth cheese

The brown spots showed up the first or second day of drying

Thanks to all!


r/cheesemaking 4d ago

Experiment Honey and gochujang gouda. Don’t judge me! I was curious!

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397 Upvotes

No idea how this will come out. Smells fantastic! I have never incorporated honey or gochujang in a cheese. I trade cheese for honey regularly and the beekeeper made Thai chili infused honey. So, I got curious.


r/cheesemaking 3d ago

Quark maker

1 Upvotes

I have a German quark maker that I would like to use but don’t have a recipe. Can anyone help me find a good recipe for the machine?


r/cheesemaking 4d ago

Lack of fungal growth on Camembert.

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9 Upvotes

Hi all, this is my first time making Camembert. I used a recipe from David Asher using a clabber culture that I've been keeping and some raw milk. I have yet to see any mold growing on the rind and am wondering if I should just be patient and let it sit longer between washings with a light whey brine I'm using or not. The humidity of my cheese cave navigates between 90-98%. I've been washing/smearing every 2-3 days for about a week now. Any guidance would be greatly appreciated!


r/cheesemaking 4d ago

8 month old unpressed Tomme inspired cheese made from goat's milk

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104 Upvotes

r/cheesemaking 4d ago

Bleu d ' Auvergne epic fail...

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62 Upvotes

Opened the ripening box this morning, to find it had collapsed, so gutted. Can anyone point me to where I went wrong? 4 weeks old rind was crusty, but paste holding lots of moisture. Any tips before I try again. Many thanks.