Psyching Myself to Try Making Cheese; When a Movie Celeb Gets Behind the Buy-Direct Food Movement

I am definitely becoming tempted to try making cheese. I have a recipe for cottage cheese I’ve wanted to try for a while. I think I’m a little intimidated by the cheese-making process, since I’ve never done it before, and it involves some utensils and techniques I'm not familiar with. (Some of the discussion on my Wednesday post sounds a little foreign to me.) I'm finally getting comfortable making kefir, and enjoy it (the making and the kefir), so it's probably time to move on to something new.  

Beth Corbett, the goat farm owner, suggested New England Cheesemaking as a place to get instruction for doing it myself, which a couple of people refer to.  My search for raw milk, and now the cheese place, is certainly helping me with my Massachusetts geography. I keep hearing of towns I never knew existed. New England Cheesemaking is in Ashfield, which turns out to be the northwest corner of Massachusetts, a good two hours from Boston. (I was interested in possibly taking one of their courses.) But maybe that's another bonus of buying direct and learning new food-making skills--getting in touch with rural areas I didn't know much about.

The only thing that concerns me about New England Cheesemaking comes in its FAQ—while they understandably warn against using ultrapasteurized milk for making cheese, because the calcium has been rendered unsuitable, they also make a strange statement about raw milk:

“Raw cow's milk works quite well as long as you have complete faith in its purity (if you would gladly drink it).
Be very careful here. The milk needs to come from tested animals and be kept as clean as possible. That means from the milking to the cheese vat. Also it should not be stored for longer than 24 hrs ... 36 max.”

It’s the part about the short storage time (added to the alarmist tone), suggesting you should dispose of the milk if you don’t use it nearly immediately. As many have noted here, raw milk can often be kept for two weeks or longer, and then used for kefir (and I presume cheese).

Anyway, Linda Diane Feldt’s recipe sounds like it’s about my speed at this point, so I may give it a shot.

***

Our country is greatly influenced by what movie actors and actresses do or say or want. Most of the time, their influence is channeled toward fashion or failed marriages. But every once in a while, a celebrity comes up with something positive, and last evening on “Nightline” was one of those times.

Actor Paul Newman was featured in a segment promoting buying organic food directly from farmers. Newman has backed a restaurant in Connecticut that specializes in serving locally grown produce and meat. The ABC interviewer was obviously ga-ga over Newman, and let him go on and on about how his daughter influenced him to realize the importance of locally-based food.

What was even more amazing to me was that the segment aired his chef explaining why it's so beneficial to buy meat direct from farmers--that most cattle are sick, and barely survive because of the widespread use of antibiotics. Take a look, it’s pretty interesting--about 8-10 minutes. The buy-direct movement just got a big boost.

Actually, Newman is pretty impressive, especially for a celebrity. His “Newman’s Own” products have raised about $250 million for charity, and that’s just part of what he’s accomplished in dedicating his post-acting life to helping the needy. The only thing I didn't get is that he makes product available to McDonald's, to raise $4 million a year. I'm not sure it's worth being in bed with the king of fast food.

Comments

[Jean]

My reading of the New England Cheesemaking caution is that one should use only very fresh raw milk for making cheese, not that it shouldn't be used for any purpose. I have read elsewhere that milk should be less than 3 days old for cheesemaking. My understanding is that older milk is likely to have more bacteria growing in it that is beneficial or at least harmless, but will interfere with the growth of the cheese culture. If I have older milk that needs to be used, I make panir, which is not cultured.

Jean

[Anna]

I most often use the book written by the owner of the New England Cheesemaking co. I think they are covering their bases with the raw milk cautions. But my goat milk source also says to use the freshest raw milk for cheesemaking, for the same reason that Jean states, avoiding the culture clash.

I called NE Cheesemaking to ask about their recipes which specify just milk or specifically pasteurized milk. I noticed that any cheese recipes that only heat to 86°F specifically called for pasteurized milk. She said that was only for pathogen safety, not because it would make a difference in the cheese culture or process. If I wanted to use raw milk and was secure in its safety she said go ahead. I kind of figured that would be the case.

There is definitely a difference between their cheesecloth and the flimsy, loose-woven cheesecloth that one typically finds in houseware and kitchen dept.

Whole milk ricotta is definitely quite fast & easy if you want to try that first. If you don't have fine cheesecloth (butter muslin) a clean flour sack type towel will work, too. The cheese makes awesome cheesecake, if there is any left over after you taste it warm after straining. :-)

Keep us posted on your cheese.

[David Gumpert]

Thanks for the clarifications about raw milk. As usual, it's never wise to make assumptions (such as about importance of milk freshness). And also the tips about cheesecloth. I'm looking forward to getting started.

[Susan]

I'm getting ready try my hand at making hard cheeses again. I've made some soft cheeses with success, but I have a taste preference for hard cheeses. I don't know why :) What's hard is if you are a bread maker as well. You are not supposed to make yeast bread and cheese in the same day as the yeast from the bread can contaminate the cheese (NOT GOOD). Instead of purchasing a cheese press I built one. It's uses springs, not counter-weight. It was pretty simple to build once I figured out all the parts and a lot cheaper too. It can press up to 90 lbs. On top of that, I built two presses on one board! I'm going to try stainless steel coffee cans for my molds, that should be interesting... if they don't work I'll splurge and buy real stainless steel molds, probably from Hoegger Goat Supply.

Raw milk. I love raw milk! I purchased the book done by NE Cheesemaking and was intimidated by their statements about raw milk as well. All the same I knew raw milk cheeses were made. I too called them, but they didn't give me the reassurance about raw milk they gave Anne. I was rather disappointed. However, I did know that cheese was generally made right after the milk came from the cow/goat, no cooling before hand no pasteurizing either. So I just ignore the pasteurized milk statement and make my raw milk cheese. Now that I have my press, I should have much better results with my hard cheeses.

Good luck with your cheesemaking!