Milk for cheesemaking

[pg]

I fancy having a go at making my own cheese. As it takes 1gallon of milk to make a pound of cheese (so the recipes tell me) I'm wondering what is the best way to get my hands on large quantities of milk. I don't have a cow or a milkman, but I do have a supermarket - but this seems an expensive way to buy large quantities of milk. Any suggestions for alternative sources.

[pg]

[Jeannine]

It is a long time since we made any cheese, and there may be regulations about buying unpasturised milk which is the easiest way.

We made quite a lot of soft cheeses but the hard ones needed a bit of practise to get a good taste.

I used to use 5 gallons on milk which gave 3-4 pounds of finished hard cheese.

I was going to suggest some book titles but on looking I could only find one left on my shelf.. The Art of Home Cheesemaking by  Ann  Nilson.

I would look for a friendly farmer who might sell it in 5 gallon lots, we used unpasturised milk but I know you can use supermarket milk, I think you have to add a culture to replace something lost in the pasturisation but I can't remember clearly.

Good Luck, it is interesting to do, be prepared to eat some strange tasting cheese in the beginning!!

XX Jeannine

[littlebabybird]

you can get a very good vegetarian rennet from a guy on ebay, we use the one in the dropper bottle
he does a real rennet as well but i have never tried that.   my kids can make cheese so i'm sure you will be able to

you can use milk powder,   (well we use powdered goats milk for goats cheese)

[katynewbie]

I live in an area with a large Asian population, in any supermarket you can see lots of people with 6+ 4 litre cartons of whole milk in their trolley. I suspect HUGE quantities of paneer are being made! So why would ordinary milk not work for other cheeses?

As you can see, I know very little about cheese making! Would love to learn tho, will be watching this thread closely!

;)

[Baccy Man]

Moorlands Cheesemakers will stock everything you could possibly need except for the milk.

Raw milk is ideal, pasteurized or homogenized can be used but may need calcium chloride added & ultra pasteurized just doesn't work for cheesmaking.

[Deb P]

I love the idea of trying this, but isn't it illegal for farmers to sell raw milk now? My friend lived next door to a farm in Dorset, where they would get a mini churn of fresh milk every day; then some new regulations came in and he wasn't allowed to do it anymore (nanny state stuff methinks?)?

[pg]

Thanks for all the useful tips and advice.

If anyone else has had a bash at making their own cheese then please pass on any what to do and what not to do tips - I'd like to learn from your experiences!

[Baccy Man]

You can still buy raw milk direct from a farm but not from a shop. I think there is fairly strict standards set by the FSA that the milk has to meet though.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/wine/main.jhtml?xml=/wine/2008/01/18/edmilk118.xml

[Deb P]

That was an interesting read, seems raw milk has become the latest 'must have' foodstuff!  ::)

[ACE]

Look out for a herd of goats and then ask the owner if he can supply you, I used to have the one milking goat and that was enough milk for a family of 4 . Too often a few gallons use to accumalate so I used to make cottage cheese to get rid of it. A nice, creamy milk and no regulations. The babies were brought up on it instead of using milk 'formula' and they did very well on it.

[grannyjanny]

Sorry I can't resist.
"Blessed are the cheese makers."
Janet.

[albacore1854]

I make my own cheese from supermarket milk, and it turns out perfectly ok.Its not economical mind.

[PurpleHeather]

I love the idea of trying this, but isn't it illegal for farmers to sell raw milk now? My friend lived next door to a farm in Dorset, where they would get a mini churn of fresh milk every day; then some new regulations came in and he wasn't allowed to do it anymore (nanny state stuff methinks?)?

[PurpleHeather]

In answer to the narrow small minded who have nothing to offer but critical -try to catch them out=caustic responses and accusations

No raw milk is not illegal.

Provided the supplier has the required status