Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Making cheese

Those are blue cheeses I made last Thursday and decided to age in the refrigerator. Apparently, they're going to be late bloomers.

See this?
A chunk of the very same blue cheese that I decided to age in the "cave." This hussy is already wearing a tube top and watermelon lip gloss. She smells like blue cheese dressing; I have a feeling she's growing up too fast.

This is the cheese cave:
The temperature reads 64 degrees on a hot day and in the low fifties on a cold day -- overall, just a bit too warm for optimal cheese ripening. But I have limited refrigerator space and some of the cheeses -- camembert, cheddar -- have come out of the cave in spectacular condition.

I started making cheese after taking a Davis Co-op camembert workshop back in April and it's my favorite thing ever. If you have any interest at all -- even a flicker of interest -- you should try it. Don't be intimidated. Buy this book and order supplies from this guy. Take a class, if you can. Improvise your cheese molds using soup cans and strawberry baskets. It's harder than baking bread, but easier than stuffing sausage or decorating a cake and far more gratifying, at least to me. Watching a pinch of powder and a few drops of rennet effect transformations on a gallon of supermarket milk is the closest I've ever come to performing magic. I've been about 50% successful with the cheeses, which is 100% more successful than I'd expected.

No verdict yet on either the blue cheese or the Taleggio.
You wash down the rind of a Taleggio every few days with salt water to control the mold, but these babies have still been growing an awful lot of fur.

Chocolate chip cookie update coming soon.

46 comments:

  1. Whoa. Those cheeses look crazy. I haven't even tried yogurt yet, even though my sister loves her yogurt.

    Do you just toss the bad cheeses? Is it scary to taste them?

    Yay for the Davis Co-op! My family lives in Davis, and it is a great place for food. My first farmer's market experiences were there in the 80's, I used to make my aunt buy apple cider and a fabulous bread.

    ReplyDelete
  2. TESTIFY! I wish more people would make cheese. It's so much easier than they realize.

    Which reminds me, I need to go flip my gouda.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Lindsay -- the Davis Co-op was almost enough to make me move to Davis. It puts Whole Foods to shame.
    Yeah, it was scary tasting the first camembert, but after that, not. However, I will definitely be scared to taste the blue cheese.
    Yogurt is the gateway. . .

    ReplyDelete
  4. I would consider mozzerella a gateway cheese. Easy, but hard to perfect. Still working at it, one gallon of milk at a time. :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. to me, this is the perfect tipsy post. the blue cheese that's growing up too fast is, uh, vintage.
    and then your obvious soul sister (layne) chiming in. you two should go on the road in the wheat belt. you would knock them dead. or the west village. either one.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Is there a point where the chemistry aspect of this process turns you off to the food aspect?

    ReplyDelete
  7. My gynecologist say only low-fat cheese because cholesterol. But cheese helps for calcium that women need.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I have recently discovered the marzolino soft cheese by renieri.net italian producer but do you have any ideas how to make it?

    ReplyDelete
  9. alprazolam price taking xanax high blood pressure - xanax pills addiction

    ReplyDelete
  10. xanax online side effects xanax overdose - xanax overdose how many mg

    ReplyDelete
  11. buy valium online valium induced depression - valium medication no prescription

    ReplyDelete
  12. buy diazepam anxicalm tabs 5mg diazepam side effects - diazepam xanax withdrawal

    ReplyDelete
  13. buy ativan online buy ativan online cheap - ativan withdrawal ringing ears

    ReplyDelete
  14. can you buy ambien online ambien cr vs ambien - ambien cr hallucinations

    ReplyDelete
  15. buy soma online buy soma cod overnight - soma drug test long does stay your system

    ReplyDelete
  16. brand valium buy valium online c.o.d - effects getting high valium

    ReplyDelete
  17. buy ambien online ambien cr stories - ambien for sale online no prescription

    ReplyDelete
  18. buy generic valium online no prescription buy valium online no prescription in australia - valium side effects depression

    ReplyDelete
  19. ambien without prescription ambien withdrawal help - buy xanax ambien online

    ReplyDelete
  20. buy valium online charlotte sometimes valium high lyrics - valium for dental anxiety dosage

    ReplyDelete
  21. ambien cheap generic ambien less effective - ambien cr generic vs brand

    ReplyDelete
  22. buy valium no prescription valium treat depression - what a valium pill looks like

    ReplyDelete
  23. Blogger: The Tipsy Baker - Post a Comment generic reductil - purchase meridia online http://www.meridiaordernow.com/#purchase-meridia-online

    ReplyDelete
  24. Blogger: The Tipsy Baker - Post a Comment acomplia 20mg pills - rimonabant online http://www.a6soft.com/#rimonabant-online

    ReplyDelete
  25. Blogger: The Tipsy Baker - Post a Comment ativan drug - purchase ativan online http://www.ativanonlineoffer.com/#purchase-ativan-online

    ReplyDelete
  26. Blogger: The Tipsy Baker - Post a Comment cheap acomplia - purchase acomplia http://www.a6soft.com/#purchase-acomplia

    ReplyDelete
  27. Hi, MoxoredapeTox buy cheap imitrex - order imitrex http://www.oparticular.net/#order-imitrex

    ReplyDelete
  28. Iverhart Medication For Dogs acomplia price - acomplia weight loss http://www.buydiscountedisotretinoin.net/#acomplia-weight-loss

    ReplyDelete
  29. War On Drugs Missionary Victims buy acomplia online - buy acomplia http://www.buydiscountedisotretinoin.net/#buy-acomplia

    ReplyDelete
  30. Hello, price of lipitor - buy generic lipitor http://www.costoflipitoronline.net/#buy-generic-lipitor

    ReplyDelete
  31. Veterinary Medicine Online Help topiramate 25mg - order topamax online http://www.topamaxdiscount.com/

    ReplyDelete
  32. dalsCleax cheap soma online no prescription - generic soma for sale http://www.recipesandfamily.com/#generic-soma-for-sale

    ReplyDelete
  33. tfv generic prozac - fluoxetine without prescription - prozac medication http://www.prozacbuynow.net/#buy-generic-prozac-online-no-prescription ,

    ReplyDelete
  34. tni generic zoloft without prescription - sertraline 50 mg http://www.zoloftonlinesales.net/#zoloft-price, order sertraline no prescription

    ReplyDelete
  35. buy tramadol online does tramadol 50 mg do you - tramadol hcl side effects humans

    ReplyDelete
  36. ooo!!! Topamax For Sale - generic topamax http://www.cheaptopamaxorder.net/#cheap-topamax, Topamax Online

    ReplyDelete
  37. ny, buy valium online no prescription - valium online no prescription http://www.diazepamhowtopurchase.com/#valium-online-no-prescription , valium no prescription

    ReplyDelete
  38. Hi, lasix for sale - buy lasix http://www.hcgxtremeweightloss.com/, [url=http://www.hcgxtremeweightloss.com/]lasix without prescription [/url]

    ReplyDelete
  39. 4, provigil online pharmacy - buy modafinil without prescription http://www.energyofprovigil.net/#cheap-modafinil, [url=http://www.energyofprovigil.net/#cheap-modafinil]provigil for sale[/url]

    ReplyDelete