Little Green Cheese | Cheese Making at Home

Salts function in cheese making is this weeks topic.  I also talk about types of salt and what is the best to use in cheese making at home. This week’s news feature is from ABC Radio National titled “The push to use raw milk in cheese production”.  It is an audio clip that features Will Studd of Cheese Slices fame talking about the benefits of raw milk cheese. The rest of the clip can be found her...

Today we learn about Kosher cheese from Dovid Wheeler in Israel.  I first started corresponding with Dovid about a year or so ago, and he sent through the Tzafatit recipe that I posted back in January this year. During the episode, Dovid describes the cheeses that he makes at home, successes, challenges, and some issues that he has had with the milk that he sources. If you want more information ab...

During today’s show, we talk about milk to cheese yield. Listener questions covered were about the fat content in cheese, cheese fridges,  using blue cheese as a starter for new blue cheese, seepage during aging, and mixing non-homogenised milk before making cheese. Links mentioned during the show; Milk to Cheese Yield The fat content of popular cheeses I also mention a new eBook by Liz Beavis who...

Something I haven’t talked about on the podcast before has been pasteurization of milk, so this week I broach this subject in depth. I step through the main reasons for pasteurization, how to pasteurize milk at home using the home pasteurization method, and the three main commercial methods for heat treating milk for consumption. If you want to learn about ultra-pasteurization and ultra heat treat...

Welcome back curd nerds! I recently had a birthday party, and we purchased quite a few samples of cheese for our cheese board.  I talk about some of the varieties; which were good and which were passable.  It is an episode about my cheese tasting notes. The news segment was an article from Hospitality Magazine Australia titled Specialty cheese venues on the rise .  It is pleasing to hear that we a...

A bit of a deviation from the normal format.  I took the opportunity to capture a bit of history and interviewed my father, John Webber.  It is about life on a dairy farm 1970s. He used to run a dairy farm in the 1970s, so I thought it would be great to ask him a few questions about dairy operations and how he processed the raw milk. Join me in listening to his insight into running a small dairy w...

A cracker of a show this week.  I talk about the recent event where mozzarella hits mainstream TV in the show My Kitchen Rules, which has big ratings here in  Australia. I then go on to talk about how I make mozzarella, which is a bit easier than the method featured on telly. We have listener questions via SpeakPipe from three keen listeners about UHT milk, thermostat settings, and how much cultur...

This weeks episode focuses on making and maintaining your brine, which is an essential step in making some hard cheeses.  I have even seen brine used to salt Camembert. The good news is that you do not have to throw away your brine each time you make cheese.  You can simply clean it and rebuild the brine before you use it again. Just note that the table above is at standard conditions of 15.6°C/60...

This episode is all about maturing your cheese.  How to do it, what to mature it in, when to wax and when to vacuum pack, and how to keep the humidity high. Also just a minor correction.  When I mention external thermometer, I really meant to say thermostat. The news is from the New York times and is about a lovely train trip in the Swiss Alps.  Here is the link; http://intransit.blogs.nytimes.com...

Starting the year off with a bang by listing my three cheese making goals for 2014. The goals are as follows; Perfect at least two mould ripened cheeses in 2014 Teach a new cheesemaking course other than Ricotta/Mozzarella Make bigger wheels of cheese Cheese making news this episode is about “Chinese start saying Cheese!”, sourced from the Sydney Morning Herald: http://www.smh.com.au/business/chin...

Today I had the pleasure of talking to an experienced home cheesemaker, Ian Treuer.  He lives in Edmonton, Alberta Canada. Ian has a successful cheesemaking blog called Much To Do About Cheese , and it what I really like about it is that he documents not only his excellent successes, but he also shows everyone what can and does go wrong.  Just brilliant. During the podcast we mentioned a few links...

During this episode, we learn about air drying and turning cheese after it has been pressed or brined. These important processes can make or break your cheese, and I find that most cheese books pay scant attention to the topic. I bust all misconceptions and help you to prepare your cheese for ageing. The news comes from Geekquinox; http://ca.news.yahoo.com/blogs/geekquinox/scientists-cheese-arm-pi...

During this episode, I describe fifteen uses for whey that you may be wondering what to do with after cheese making. One of the uses I mentioned was to make whey ricotta; http://youtu.be/1fdYZ8T45JE The cheese of the episode is Halloumi, which I have created a video tutorial and recipe for; https://www.littlegreencheese.com/2013/10/how-to-make-halloumi.html Cheese news is about making biogas from...

This episode is all about my favourite soft cheese, and how simple they are to make. I step through the process of making your first few soft kinds of cheese, and what type of milk you should use. Remember that I have many free soft cheese recipes right here on the Little Green Cheese blog , as well as more comprehensive descriptions and methodologies within my eBook , “ Keep Calm and Make Cheese...

Our guest this episode is Mark Brown from Purple Pear Farm at Maitland, NSW Australia. He makes cheese on their organic 14-acre farm to feed the WWOOFers  (Willing Workers on Organic Farms) who regularly visit and work on the property. We chatted about where he sources his milk, what cheeses he makes each week, and what he does with it. He also goes on to talk about his successes and challenges re...

Hey curd nerds, ready for another great episode?  Our guest this week is Nigel  Laubsch from Perth in Western Australia. Nigel makes his own cheese at home, and also talks us through his process of making Chorizo sausage! Listener questions include information about the types of whey that you can make whey ricotta with, determining starter culture types from different suppliers, and selling or bar...

My guest on the show this week is Debra Allard from Burringbar, New South Wales. She is a keen cheese maker, once started a cheese making business, but now teaches cheesemaking classes in her area. You can find Debra and all her cheesy exploits on her Facebook page “ Cheeses Loves You “.  Don’t forget to “Like” the page whilst you are there! https://www.facebook.com/CheeseMakingClasses It was a wo...

Our guest this episode is Sue Roberts from Flowerdale in Northwest Tasmania. Sue has made over 20 different cheeses at home, and writes at http://thepreservingpatch.blogspot.com.au .  It is a great blog and Sue has so much to share about her cheese and massive vegetable garden. We also have lots of listener questions and comments during the show including a follow up from Jean Michele in Nice who...

A great interview with a passionate home cheesemaker who lives in NSW, Australia.  Carole Castles has made over 150 kinds of cheese from the milk produced by her two very own Jersey Cows. We have a great chat about how she began her cheese obsession and the methods she uses to make some of her favourite cheese.  We also touch on how she gets the best milk from her two girls and what she does with...

Today I talk all about milk, how it is processed, and its composition.  I also cover off the best milk for cheese making, and what types of milk that you should  avoid. The episode also includes a news item about Bruny Island Cheese Co which you can find at this link; http://www.foodmag.com.au/news/bruny-island-cheese-co-named-business-of-the-year .  You may have seen this company featured on the...

My guest this week is Sharon Bailey from South Australia. She is up to her 39th cheese made right in her very own kitchen, so we catch up and have a great chat about all things cheese! The listener questions are about PVA coatings, cutting cheese before maturity, and the difference between full cream and non-homogenised milk. ASK A QUESTION FOR THE PODCAST Don’t forget that you can leave a voicema...

 This episode is all about starter cultures.  There are two main types, Mesophilic and Thermophilic.  But did you know that there are many different properties to these cultures? I attempt to explain these properties during the show. For more information, you can check more information at http://www.artisancheesemakingathome.com/pdfs/cultures.pdf The cheese news for this episode is titled Cheese b...

In this episode of the podcast, I give 10 tips for successful cheese making at home. The news feature this week can be found at The Globe and Mail http://tinyurl.com/ktn7mut .  It features Adam Blanchard who is Newfoundlands only Artisan cheesemaker.  A man after my own heart. This week’s listener questions include ageing temperatures, liquid under cheese wax, and making a mild blue cheese by intr...

This week’s episode includes a great interview with my friend David Dawson who lives in Manitoba, Canada. We had a great chat about cheesemaking in general, including his many wonderful kinds of cheese and where he stores them. During the interview, David mentioned that he got the confidence to make cheese after watching my cheese making tutorials on YouTube. You can find them all here; http://www...

A great show this week. I interview Gürkan Yeniçeri who has a cheese and deli blog: artizanpeynirci.blogspot.com . His blog is in Turkish, so you may need to use Google Translate. You can also find Gürkan on his Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/HomeCheeseMakers?ref=mf The news segment is from The Sun newspaper published in the UK. http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/4939592/Police-stop...