The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Say cheese!

Doc Tracy's picture
Doc Tracy

Say cheese!

Took a cheese making class this week. Learned to make fresh mozarella, ricotta, creme fraise, mascarpone and queso blanco. I couldn't believe the difference between fresh made cheese and store bought. I know I will be using these recipes a lot in the future. I can hardly wait to make my blueberry braid bread with mascarpone cheese, using the fresh version. I might make it with ricotta this time too. One of each, just to compare.

The cheeses were so easy. The only one that was the least bit fussy at all was mozarella and that is only because you have to stretch it. That was so easy after making bread. The others were stir, strain and go.

I also bought a nutrimill today. Now I'm looking for grain bins for the 50lbs of hard red spring wheat and 25lbs of rye that I picked up at the baking store this morning. Man, can hardly wait to get back into the house and have a real kitchen!!! I was looking at all those bags of kamut, spelt, soft wheat, durum, etc. I'm going to be dangerous when I have a full sized house!

Comments

inlovewbread's picture
inlovewbread

Seems like if you have an interest in one fermented food, it spreads to other types of fermented foods as well.

Cheese is really interesting and fun to make. I'd love to make mascarpone, but I probably shouldn't, as I would spread it on everything.

You may already know this, but when you make cheese,(mozarella for instance) save the whey. You may be surprised at all the things you can do with it. I had a ton left over and used it to feed my starter for a while, and use it in whey muffins, in lieu of milk, in addition to milk, as the acidic medium when soaking whole wheat overnight, etc. I just froze the access in glass jars.

 

Sedlmaierin's picture
Sedlmaierin

That sounds great, Tracy! I currently have some Kefir based cheese ripening-it smells amazing already and I feel that I might not be able to wait another month before cutting into it. It is addictive!

Lookign forward to hearing all about your nutrimill experiences-I haven't gone down that road yet.Just got a shipment of fresh flour, though and can't wait to make my Horst Bandel Pumpernickel! Yay!

Christina

Doc Tracy's picture
Doc Tracy

Has anyone made feta? Or brie/camembert? We only learned about fresh cheeses but I was reading that these are not too difficult either, especially the feta.

My bread making actually came along when I started to get interested in fermenting pickles last fall. It got me interested in sourdough cultures.

How'd your pumpernickel come out?

arlo's picture
arlo

Cheese making is rather fun, especially those soft cheeses! It can be rather simple, hence why I like to make my own goat cheese because it is like you said, strain it and go!

Have fun with the nutrimill as well, can't wait to see the breads you bake from your own freshly ground flour.

tananaBrian's picture
tananaBrian

Hi Tracy,

  We buy our grain in bulk as well and store it in 6-gallon food-grade buckets.  To keep critters out (moths), we use Gamma Seal bucket lids:

Gamma Seal Lids

  These lids pop on like a regular bucket lid but have a large (full diameter) center section with a seal that spins on/off.  It's a quality lid that seals well, e.g. around the bucket rim and around the spin-on lid.  We use scoops like you see in the bulk foods section at the grocery store for scooping the grain out.

  If you think you'll be storing the grain for a long time, stop by a welder's shop or fire & safety type shop and buy 3-oz dry ice for each bucket.  Drop that in first, then a paper towel, then your grain, then let it sit with a loose lid until the bottom of the bucket is warm (the dry ice 'evaporated').  Keep the lid on (slightly loose) for a couple of days ...the CO2 kills moths and moth eggs.  As long as you close up the lid after each use, you should never seen anything 'bad' in your grain after that ...no wiggly webby surprises.

Brian