Any cheesemaking hobbyist amongst you?

Dr_Pain

I love learning new and interesting skills and also love to expanding my knowledge base, especially with things I enjoy eating. Quite a few years ago I started making cheese but really did not get into it because I did not have a “cheese cave”. Having built a curing chamber which hold the perfect temp and humidity I am now aging cheeses. It does take patience but that is part of the fun.

So far I have (aging):

A Cheddar
A Colby
A Pepperjack
A Gouda
A Baby Swiss

And I am about to entertain the idea of making a Parmesan. All the cheeses are in different stages of aging. Because I am a hobbyist and not a connoisseur you will see that my cheeses are vac sealed instead of cloth banded, waxed, or aged using a natural rind. Maybe as I expand the hobby I will venture to see if it is true that different methods offer different tastes but for the time being I am happy with just creating my cheeses.

If you enjoy the hobby, please feel free to post some pictures of your creation or cheese cave

YooperDog

Dr_Pain I was given a kit for a present and have done some. Like you I have been building a curing chamber. I haven’t proceeded much but I will as time and opportunity permits.

Dr_Pain

YooperDog said in Any cheesemaking hobbyist amongst you?:

Dr_Pain I was given a kit for a present and have done some. Like you I have been building a curing chamber. I haven’t proceeded much but I will as time and opportunity permits.

That is awesome! What kind of cheese have you made so far. Always looking to try my hand at different varieties. The cheeses I make most often are:

Basic white cheddar cheese curds to make poutine
Whey ricotta (from the left over whey from making cheese) to make ricotta gnocchi or just eat it plain
Fresh Mozzarella.

The cheeses in the opening posts were more recent (last 4 months or so) creations because I finally had my curing chamber dialed in.

RON PARRISH

Dr_Pain My grandsons love cheese curds so I got a kit and had them help me make some. They had a lot of fun doing it and gobbled them up in no time. I have often thought of trying other types but have enough projects already. Limburger would be fun to try!

Ridley Acres

Are the cheese fridge conditions similar to meat aging?

Dr_Pain

Ridley Acres said in Any cheesemaking hobbyist amongst you?:

Are the cheese fridge conditions similar to meat aging?

The “cheese cave” has the same conditions as a curing chamber (50-55F and 80% humidity). I have a couple of controllers on my conversion: One that controls the unit (and kicks the compressor on when the designated temp is reached) and another one that controls the humidifier and dehumidifier I have in the unit.

Dr_Pain

Not the best shot but……

Dr_Pain

I do have a couple of fans in there because with very minor programing I can convert the fridge in a dry aging chamber. Some nice ribeyes came out of this bad boy!

Dr_Pain

This is the current state of the unit. I have salamis, salumis and pepperonis in the meat locker along all the cheeses

Ridley Acres

Dr_Pain so I see you have some sausage in there, but if you only had cheese in there would the humidifier be needed since your cheese is vac sealed? Edit: I do see at least one cheese that isn’t vac sealed

Dr_Pain

Ridley Acres said in Any cheesemaking hobbyist amongst you?:

Dr_Pain so I see you have some sausage in there, but if you only had cheese in there would the humidifier be needed since your cheese is vac sealed?

Awesome question! I have all semi-hard cheeses in there so once they are finished drying you can wax them, cloth band them or in my case vac seal them. I do have a Baby Swiss exposed but as soon as the Proprionic Shermani is done doing its thing I will vac seal it also.

The humidity is only important if you do a natural rind (which I may do for my parmesan…upcoming) or if you so soft cheeses like brie, camembert etc… Those are basically put in a container that “breathes”. But I am not the expert on those because I have not made any. Just info from researching!

Dr_Pain

Most of the people that I see interested in cheese ONLY pick up a wine cooler from FB market. I wanted to do charcuteries and eventually soft cheeses so I had to go with absolute temp and humidity control.

samspade

Those look like a fun and interesting project. Might be on a list of things to try

Ridley Acres

Dr_Pain said in Any cheesemaking hobbyist amongst you?:

Most of the people that I see interested in cheese ONLY pick up a wine cooler from FB market. I wanted to do charcuteries and eventually soft cheeses so I had to go with absolute temp and humidity control.

We are hoping to get into dairy goats next year, and my wife is really into aged cheese so I will likely pick up a single door soda cooler and do the same as you. I’d like to be able to hang a whole pork leg and an assortment of charcuterie along with cheese.
(Note: I was born in Northern IL and yes I say soda)

Dr_Pain

Ridley Acres said in Any cheesemaking hobbyist amongst you?:

Dr_Pain said in Any cheesemaking hobbyist amongst you?:

Most of the people that I see interested in cheese ONLY pick up a wine cooler from FB market. I wanted to do charcuteries and eventually soft cheeses so I had to go with absolute temp and humidity control.

We are hoping to get into dairy goats next year, and my wife is really into aged cheese so I will likely pick up a single door soda cooler and do the same as you. I’d like to be able to hang a whole pork leg and an assortment of charcuterie along with cheese.
(Note: I was born in Northern IL and yes I say soda)

I’ll be doing a Prosciutto de Parma sooner than later and I will have enough space in my rig

Chef

Dr_Pain Prosciutto is my target on the bucket list. I’m so looking forward to doing it. You look like you have a head start, so plenty pictures please.

YooperDog

Dr_Pain my foray has been into making mozzarella

Dr_Pain

Chef said in Any cheesemaking hobbyist amongst you?:

Dr_Pain Prosciutto is my target on the bucket list. I’m so looking forward to doing it. You look like you have a head start, so plenty pictures please.
You know I will. Prosciutto is a year commitment. I have a slight mental block but I will get it done

Dr_Pain

YooperDog said in Any cheesemaking hobbyist amongst you?:

Dr_Pain my foray has been into making mozzarella

Mozzarella is so rewarding. Citric acid and 30 minutes of actual work and bam you have a product