Making cheese at home is easy, after all every milkmaid worth her salt could do it not so very long ago.
But home cheesemaking is a bit of a lost art these days.
No longer here at Smith Towers!!
I treated myself to a one day soft cheese workshop recently, and absolutely loved it. It was a totally novel way to spend a school day and I got home laden with the feta, mascarpone, ricotta, quark and Greek yoghurt we’d been taught how to make.
But I left my ready-to-grow-mould camembert behind, knowing I could never give it the few weeks of TLC it’d need to reach its fuzzy best. Boo hoo.
The other attendees took theirs home though and I imagine they are maturing nicely.
Each of the cheeses we made has it’s own very specific method. But here’s a very brief and general visual overview of how feta and camembert are made.
First milk is heated and then a starter is added. The milk is put into a large container which is in a styrofoam box to keep it warm. The milk then splits into curds and whey.
The curds are sliced through to release more whey, then gently turned over a few hours.
Then the whey is gently placed into cheese hoops and inverted several times over a few hours.
The very soft cheeses are made in a different way, by using a special starters to make a sort of thick yoghurt which is then drained through muslin.
All this happened at The Cheesemaking Workshop in Northbridge, Sydney. The soft cheeses workshop is held over 6 hours, during which a delicious lunch is made and eaten.
This was a special treat for me, I actually signed up during the Sydney Good Food Show when the workshop cost was on special for $150. Well worth it for me, I love a new experience, love to learn new stuff and this was certainly new.
This would make such a great Christmas present!!
The Cheesemaking Workshop sells beginners’ packs so you can leave the course and start making cheese at home straight away.
I’ve made cream cheese so far. Next I will post a simple ‘how to make ricotta‘ post and Kitchenware Direct will be offering a giveaway of a few bits of equipment that make it easier.
Stay tuned for that.
Have you ever made cheese at home?
Would you like to try?
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
I would love to make cheese at home! What an awesome course and you’re so clever! I’ll have to see who offers them here in Melbourne. I love cheese
Laney recently posted..Why I failed a parenting course
I did do a wee Google search for cheesemaking courses and could only find 2-day courses that cost heaps more in Melbourne. But might ask around some more and try to add some resources to that post. Have a jolly day today.