There are plenty of cheese making books on the market but if you want to take a shortcut to making delicious cheese at home then consider attending a cheese making course run by Melbourne cheese authority Carol Willman.
Carol runs Cheeselinks a mail order business that supplies cheese making enthusiasts all over the world with the ingredients to produce anything from fetta and soft cheeses to camembert style cheeses and blue vein. Her workshops are extremely popular and held on a regular basis.
Cheese Making Workshop For Goat Feta
At a recent workshop held at Red Hill Cheese on the Mornington Peninsula Carol took sixteen cheese-making hopefuls through the process of making their own goat milk fetta and farmhouse cheeses.
At the end of the six hour workshop all participants took home a fully formed round of farmhouse cheese (approx. 120g) and a round of fetta (approx. 400g). After further preparation at home - draining, turning and drying of the farmhouse cheese and preparation of brine for the fetta - both cheeses were ready for consumption within 24 hours although they could have been stored for longer.
Why Hygiene Is So Critical To Making Good Cheese
Carol began the workshop by explaining that cheese relies on bacteria for preservation. As you want to control the type of bacteria that lives in the cheese it is vital to ensure you have sound hygiene practices in place.
Every utensil that is used for cheese making needs to be sanitised in either a solution that you would use to sterilize baby bottles (tablets in water) or by immersion in boiling water. And it isn't enough to just wash your hands. You need to use an anti-bacterial wash which is readily available from the pharmacy.
What Type Of Milk To Use For Cheese Making
In this workshop Carol focused on making cheese from goat milk, but of course the majority of cheese available in supermarkets is made from cows' milk. Cheese is also made from sheep milk.
Whatever type of milk you use for making cheese it should be pasteurized to avoid harmful bacteria.
Once the milk is prepared you need to add a starter which is used for acid production to help form the curd. This is where cheese making meets science and why the workshop is a great way to get your head around the more complex elements.
Vegetarian Cheese And Rennet
The whole subject of rennet is a touchy one. In traditional cheese making animal rennet is used to separate the milk into curds and whey - in fact hard cheese can't be made without rennet.
There are vegetarian supplements on the market, but the true vegetarian rennet can taint the taste of the cheese giving it a bitter edge. There is genetically engineered vegetarian rennet, but its DNA origins are from animal rennet - this is where the science gets even more complicated and those who are concerned about the creation of this vegetarian rennet known as FPC are advised to do their homework.
Applying What You've Learned At Home
You can purchase a starter kit at the workshop, or from Carol's company Cheeselinks. This kit will provide everything you need to recreate your workshop masterpiece. There is also a book available.
Not only is making cheese fun. It also helps you control what you feed your family keeping preservatives and other additives to a minimum.
Visit www.cheeselinks.com.au
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