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Whether you are looking to learn new homesteading skills, or really just want better control over what goes into your family’s dairy products, this tutorial is for you!
First of all, if you haven’t seen the video that accompanies this tutorial, make sure you check that out first. This will give you a better idea of how everything is done, and then you can reference this blog post for the details, links, and a more precise timeline.
If you are just here looking for the timeline and quick steps, you can jump to it here.
If you are just here looking for links to the cultures and products I use, you can jump to it here.
Ok, let’s get started.
So today we will be making pumpkin spice creamer, yogurt, butter, cream cheese, sour cream, buttermilk, kefir, feta cheese, and gouda cheese, which is a quick-aging hard cheese that our family loves.
There are of course other dairy products that our family makes such as whipped cream, ice cream, and other cheeses.
For whipped cream, we just make more as needed using a whipped cream dispenser. You just add cream and whatever else you’d like to sweeten or flavor it. We like maple syrup and a little vanilla. And then it uses nitrous oxide to dispense the cream into whipped cream. The bummer is that you do have to keep buying the cartridges, but we don’t use it often so it has been worth it.
Ice cream is not a weekly treat, but I do have a video showing my favorite recipe and method. You can find that here.
And then as far as other cheeses, I’m making gouda today but next week it might be cheddar or something else. These all take a while to age, so I just like to be continuously making them so that we have a constant supply of aged and ready-to-go cheeses later.
Quick cheeses like mozzarella and ricotta are not something I like to make too far ahead of when I’m going to use them, so this is just something I would make during my dinner prep time. I do have a tutorial for making the easiest and best, in my opinion, mozzarella cheese, which you can find here.
One other disclaimer before we get started. I say it takes just a few hours, but of course, fermented dairy and cheeses are not quick processes. The time referenced here refers to the hands-on time to get everything going. There are some later steps, but these are not something I have to set aside in my schedule. For example, removing the yogurt from the heat the next day and chilling it takes just a few minutes and is something I can easily do as we are eating breakfast and getting ready for our day.
So please don’t be disappointed when you see that there are a few extra steps beyond the span of one afternoon that must be done to finish those dairy products you created.
Ok, let’s get to it.
I’m going to start by skimming the cream off of all but 5 gallons of milk, which you should leave as whole milk for the gouda and yogurt, leaving about a 1” cream line on the remaining milk.
If you are using store-bought milk I would use 2% for most of the recipes, whole milk for the gouda, and then add heavy whipping cream where the cream is called for.
Also, I should point out that the milk that we drink or use on a daily basis is not skimmed. We just drink that as it is, because contrary to what many believe, full-fat milk is actually the healthiest.
Ok, so now I’m going to split up the cream into a pint for cream cheese, a pint for creamer, a quart for sour cream, and the rest for butter.
Next, I’m going to get my milk warming for the gouda, feta, and cream cheeses in separate pots. I’m doing a gallon here for the feta and 4 gallons for the gouda, but I adjust these amounts depending on how much milk I have to work with. The recipes can easily be halved.
The smaller pot for cream cheese gets 2 cups of milk and 2 cups of cream.
I just put the temperature for each pot on medium and whisk occasionally, but the goal is to get the feta milk to 88 degrees Fahrenheit, the gouda milk to 90 degrees, and the cream cheese milk to 86.
A little side note here: I have sterilized all of my cheese-making equipment in hot water prior to this.
While that milk heats up I’m going to get my yogurt going in my instant pot. If you don’t have one, you can do this over the stove it’s just more hands-on. I’m making a gallon but adjust to your family’s needs. I have a friend who makes 3-4 gallons of yogurt at a time in a roaster pan. After dumping the milk into the instant pot all I have to do is put on the lid and hit yogurt until it says “boil.” This is going to bring it up to temperature, or at least get it close. We want to get it to 190 degrees, but I’ve found that the yogurt setting gets it to about 180, so I’ll show you how I deal with that in just a minute.
The cream for butter is just going to get put in my KitchenAid mixer and turned on med-low speed with the beater attachment on. It helps if the cream is allowed to sit at room temperature for about 20 minutes first.
At this point, I’m going to check on the pots of milk heating on the stove and my cream cheese milk should be about to temp.
Keep a close eye on it and whisk frequently so that it doesn’t scald at this point.
When the cream cheese milk gets to 86 F remove it from the heat.
Then add ¼ tsp. Calcium chloride solution to the milk if using pasteurized milk. Stir well.
Sprinkle ⅛ tsp. (mm100) mesophilic culture over the milk and let sit for 2 min. Then, stir up and down gently to combine well.
Add ⅛ tsp. Rennet diluted in ¼ cup water. Stir up and down gently to combine well.
Cover and let ripen for 4-6 hours. You will know when it is ready when pools of whey develop on the surface and the curd mass begins to pull away from the sides.
When your instant pot beeps to say it has reached temperature, it will say “yogurt” on the screen. Before you do anything else, skim off the film that has formed on the top and discard it. You don’t want that mixed into your yogurt.
Then, I would use a thermometer to verify that it has reached 190 F. I usually have to set it on saute for a few minutes to get it to that temperature. Once it is to temp, remove it from the heat and set it aside to let cool to 120 F which will take about an hour. If you have the time and like your yogurt thick, you can also let it sit at 190 by hitting “keep warm” and putting the lid back on for 20-30 minutes before moving on to the next step of cooling it to 120, but this is optional.
About this time your pots of milk for the feta and gouda should be about to temp. Now keep in mind that the first time you do this, the steps are going to take longer so you may find that you need to deal with one before the other. The order doesn’t matter, just make sure you aren’t losing track of the things that need your attention and you should be able to bounce around and get them all done.
When the milk for the feta gets to 88 degrees
Add 1/8 tsp. Mesophilic culture (mm100) and ¼ tsp. lipase.
Stir up and down to combine well.
Cover and let sit for 1 hour.
When the milk for the gouda gets to 90 degrees
Sprinkle ¼ tsp. freeze-dried mesophilic culture (m030) over the milk. Let sit for 2 minutes. Then stir well.
Add 1/4 tsp. Calf rennet diluted in ¼ cup water. Stir well using up and down motions to make sure it’s mixed well with all of the milk. Let sit 30 minutes. Set timers for these. It’s not a huge deal if you are over by a few minutes, but the timers will help you gauge when to check on them better than guessing.
Once the yogurt has cooled to 120 F, go ahead and skim that hardened layer off again and discard it. Then scoop 2 cups of the milk into a bowl and mix in 6 oz. of a previous batch of yogurt or 6 oz. of plain storebought Greek yogurt (that has live and active cultures). Whisk well, then whisk that mixture into the larger pot of yogurt.
Put a lid on your pot. Then wrap the whole thing in a big bath towel and place it in your oven with the light on for 10-12 hours.
I have tried many different ways to incubate yogurt. I’ve kept it in the instant pot on yogurt mode, and I’ve put it in a cooler. They all get the job done, but this method is pretty easy and consistent.
Ok, everything is now in a waiting period.
As your butter churns you will see it go from cream to whipped cream to butter. It takes a bit, so be patient and be glad that the mixer can do the hard work for you. If your cream has to be separated into butter and whey, it’s time to finish that project.
Strain it under cold water, massaging it to remove all of the whey. The whey can be fed to chickens or pigs, or used in other projects. Contrary to popular belief, the whey that comes from making butter is not anything like store-bought buttermilk. It can be cultured and used as such, which is what was traditionally done, but we generally like using regular milk rather than just whey. This is a personal preference.
Mix in some salt to taste. The salt also helps keep the butter fresh longer. Then roll the butter into balls and place in an airtight container in the fridge or freezer. There are also butter molds available on Amazon. I will put all of the links below. You can leave it out at room temperature to keep it soft, but I will say that it develops a pretty strong taste pretty quickly, so I’d recommend using something like a butterbell if you go that route.
My gouda has not sat for 30 minutes.
So at this point, you should check for what’s called a clean break. If not, let it sit 5-10 min. More.
Cut the curds horizontally, then vertically in ½” strips. I then attempt to cut the curds in layers under the surface. This isn’t a perfect process, so don’t worry about that. Just shoot for ½” cubes and try to be gentle. Then cover the pot and let it sit for 5 min. So that the curds can firm up a bit before the next step.
Gouda is a somewhat “needy” cheese, so we are going to continue with the following steps, finishing the other dairy products as we have time. So for example, while you are in a period of letting the gouda sit, you might notice that your butter is ready for the next step. When your timer for your Feta goes off, finish the final steps during a break from stirring the gouda. You don’t have to worry about things going a few minutes over. If your gouda sits for 10 minutes instead of 5, it’s not going to change a thing. This flexibility allows you the ability to do all of these projects simultaneously without stress.
I’m going to show the rest of the steps for the gouda in order now just so that this tutorial doesn’t get confusing, but know that in real time I was doing the remaining projects simultaneously.
For a better idea of how to juggle things during this time, see the simplified timeline below.
Stir for 5 min, breaking up any bigger chunks with your spoon. Be gentle because you don’t want them to all mesh together.
Then repeat the process, letting sit for 5 minutes.
Then stir for 5 min.
Then let sit for 5 min more.
Next, you are going to Remove 6 cups of whey, then replace the whey by adding in 6 cups of hot tap water. I just use a mason jar to do this.
Stir for 10 min while bringing the temp. to 98-100 F.
Then let sit for 5 min.
Do the same thing, this time Taking out about 5 quarts of whey. You should get down to where the tops of the curds are showing. Then, replace the whey with hot water the same as you did before.
Next stir for about 20 more minutes, or until curds gently cling together and have some firmness (they shouldn’t feel like poached egg whites or slip through your fingers when you squeeze them, but they should still crumble apart when you want them to). You do not have to stir continuously, but about 60-70% of the time so I’m back and forth with other things during this time.
When you get to where you feel they are done, make sure the finished temperature is about 105 F. Continue stirring if they are not hot enough, then turn off the heat and let it sit for 10 min.
Drain off the curds, and yes, I’m dumping this down the sink. Feel free to give it to animals or use it, I just have to pick where to spend my time at times and today saving this whey was not worth it.
Then you can add in flavorings if you’d like by mixing spices with the curds. You can do 2 T whole cumin seed and/or red pepper flakes.
Finally, scoop the curds into a cheesecloth lined press and press with light pressure for 30 minutes. This cheese press has worked so well and I’m glad I made the investment, but there are DIY cheese press tutorials online.
How you work the press is going to vary based on what press you have so I’ll show you here how mine works, but adjusting the cheese molds and the pressure might be different for yours. Some of the DIY ones literally just hang heavy things from the top. Either way, it does take a little time to figure out what works best, so be prepared to experiment a bit the first few times.
After the 30 minutes is up flip the wheel of cheese and then you are going to press it under medium pressure for 8-10 hours. At this point when you flip it, the cheese should hold together pretty well. You will still see the outline of the curds, but it shouldn’t fall apart at all when you flip it. Also, make sure you plan for a lot of whey to come out so you don’t come back to a mess.
I’m usually finishing this up in the evening, so I just let it sit overnight.
The next morning, or when that 8-10 hours is up, Weigh out 300 grams of non-iodized salt into a container larger than the cheese wheel. I like using this juice pitcher but use whatever you have.
Add 1000 grams of hot water and whisk well to dissolve the salt. Add 500 grams of cold water and whisk well again.
Put the pressed wheel in the brine and then let sit for 10 hours. It will probably float up a bit. That’s fine, just make sure you bob it under the surface of the bring a bit so that there is salt sitting on top. This is one reason why I like using pink salt for this because I can see where it’s at. I just use Redmond’s real salt, but any salt will do.
After that time is up you will flip it in the brine and then let it sit for 10 more hours.
So for me this usually looks like putting the cheese wheel in the brine in the morning, flipping it before bed, and then taking it out to dry the next morning.
To dry it, take the cheese wheel out of the brine and put it on a plate or pan to air dry, flipping 2x/day until the rind feels mostly dry (but still a bit clammy). You may have to drain off the liquid every once in a while so that this drying process can happen.
When it gets to this point you can vacuum seal and refrigerate it or put it in a cheese cave. We actually have a wine cooler for this purpose, but before we had that we just used the fridge. I will say that it won’t age as fast or become as flavorful at colder temperatures, so keep that in mind. Ideally, you want gouda aged at 50 F for the first month and 40 F after that.
Alright, I’m going to go through the remaining steps for the feta in the same way, but again, this was done alongside the other projects and then finished up over the next few days in little pockets of time.
So after the feta has sat for an hour add ½ cup cool water with a tsp rennet mixed in.
Stir well.
Cover and let sit for 40 minutes.
When the time is up check for a clean break. If not, wait 5-10 min. more.
Then you are going to cut it into a grid just like we did with the gouda. Let it sit for 5 min to firm up a bit.
Next, stir off and on for 40 min. I also use my cheese ladle to chop up any bigger pieces. Use your timers so you can juggle your other projects successfully. I am usually going back and forth between whatever other cheese I’m doing at the same time here.
After the 40 minutes are up, drain off the whey from the curds using a large piece of cheesecloth.
Then, tie the cloth and let hang over a pot to drip for 24 hours.
To finish the feta after it has been allowed to drip for 24 hours, sprinkle salt in the bottom of a baking pan. Slice the cheese into ½” to ¾” slices and put slices in the pan, stacking to allow for air circulation. Salt between each layer as you stack them.
Let it sit like that for a few days, draining off the whey and flipping the pieces.
When slightly hardened on all sides, place in a container filled with a brine solution of 3 quarts water to 7 oz. salt. Make sure no cheese is sticking up from the brine. Refrigerate, or place in a cheese fridge if available (45-55F is ideal). The cheese will improve in flavor over the next few weeks but can be eaten at any time. If it’s too salty, rinse it before serving.
Next up is kefir. Kefir is a cultured milk that our family loves and once you have activated your milk kefir grains, it’s as easy as straining them out of your previous batch and adding it to some fresh milk. So, here I’m doing that and then just covering the milk with a coffee filter and a rubberband and leaving it on the counter to culture. It is really that easy! In a few days, it will be ready to drink and at that point, I’ll start a new batch in the same way and sweeten it by blending it up with some strawberries and maple syrup and then refrigerating it. If this is your first time making kefir, follow the directions that came with your starter culture to activate them. Kefir is great added to smoothies or we just drink it plain too and it is so good for you due to all of the natural probiotic strains.
I’ll link my favorite cultures below.
Cultured sour cream can be made using an heirloom buttermilk culture or a direct set sour cream culture. I prefer the latter so that I can use my sour cream as a starter indefinitely. The direct set requires a newly purchased starter every time. I have already started mine, so I just created a new batch of sour cream by adding 1 T of my previous batch per cup of cream to my fresh jar. (You can also use cultured buttermilk as your culture at the same ratio.) Mix well. Cover with cheesecloth and a rubberband until set, about 2 days at room temperature. Then, refrigerate.
Buttermilk is made in the same way as sour cream, but using milk instead of cream. Follow the directions on your starter, or if it’s already going, simply add 3 cups of milk to a clean jar, and add ¼ cup of your previous batch of buttermilk. Mix well. Cover with cheesecloth and a rubberband until set, 12-18 hours at room temperature. Then, refrigerate.
Making homemade creamer is as simple as blending cream with your preference of sweeteners and flavorings. For my pumpkin spice recipe, I add to a blender: 3 cups cream, ¼ cup pumpkin puree, 1 tsp. vanilla, 1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice, and ¼ cup maple syrup.
You could also do some chilled hot chocolate and a dash of peppermint for a peppermint mocha flavor. It’s fun to get creative with the flavors depending on what you are craving.
If you aren’t opposed to using it, sweetened condensed milk and a bit of vanilla are great too!
After you have all of your ingredients simply blend it up, pour the creamer into an easy-to-pour bottle, and refrigerate. I like using repurposed bottles for this. The one that I use for this is an old lemon juice bottle and it works great.
When the yogurt is done it should be firm and starting to pull away from the sides. Simply scoop it out of the pot into your jars and flavor as desired. We like maple syrup and vanilla or just mix it with jam.
After the cream cheese is done, it should also be strained in cheesecloth. I like to just set it in a colander on top of a pot in the fridge for a few hours to do this and then as soon as it’s to your preferred consistency it is done.
So the bulk of this was done over the course of an afternoon, but obviously, there are tasks that were finished over the next few days. Don’t let this overwhelm you. After these things become a part of your daily routine they don’t add any more time or effort than grabbing them from the store.
It not only feels really good to make all of your dairy at home, especially if it’s from milk from your family dairy cow, but it is also so much healthier than what you can get at your local store. I hope this has inspired you to make some or all of your dairy products.
Step-by-Step Dairy Making Timeline
We are making:
- Butter
- Yogurt
- Cultured Sour Cream
- Cultured Buttermilk
- Cream Cheese
- Kefir
- Gouda cheese
- Feta cheese
- Pumpkin Spice Creamer
Example start time: noon
Step 1: Skim the cream off of all but 4 gallons of milk, which you should leave as whole milk, leaving about a 1” cream line on the rest.
Step 2, start Gouda:
Add 4 gallons of whole milk to a large pot. Warm to 90 degrees.
Step 3, start Feta:
Add 2 gallons of the partly skimmed milk to a large pot. Warm the milk to 88 F.
Step 4: start cream cheese:
Add 1 pint of skimmed milk + 1 pint of cream to a pot and warm to 86 F.
Step 5: start yogurt:
Pour 1 gallon whole milk into the instant pot, cover, and hit the yogurt button until it says “boil”
Step 6: start butter
Pour the cream set aside for butter into a stand mixer with the whisk attachment on and turn on med-low speed.
Elapsed time: about 20 minutes. Example time: 12:20
Step 7: Stir and check the pots of heating milk. The cream cheese milk should be about to temperature. Keep a close eye on it and whisk frequently so that it doesn’t scald at this point.
When the cream cheese milk gets to 86 F remove it from the heat.
Add ¼ tsp. Calcium chloride solution to the milk if using pasteurized milk. Stir well.
Sprinkle ⅛ tsp. (mm100) mesophilic culture over the milk and let sit 2 min. Then, stir up and down gently to combine well.
Add ⅛ tsp. Rennet diluted in ¼ cup water. Stir up and down gently to combine well.
Cover and let ripen for 4-6 hours. You will know when it is ready when pools of whey develop on the surface and the curd mass begins to pull away from the sides.
The following steps can be completed in whichever order makes sense.
Yogurt continued: When your instant pot beeps to say it has reached temperature, it will say “yogurt” on the screen. I would use a thermometer to verify that it has reached 190 F. I sometimes have to set it on saute for a few minutes to get it to that temperature. Once it is to temp, remove it from the heat and set aside to let cool to 120 F which will take about an hour.
Feta continued (when it gets to 88 F):
Add 1/8 tsp. Mesophilic culture (mm100) and ¼ tsp. lipase.
Stir up and down to combine well.
Cover and let sit 1 hour.
Gouda continued (when it gets to 90 F):
Sprinkle ¼ tsp. freeze dried mesophilic culture (m030) over the milk. Let sit 2 minutes. Then stir well.
Add 1/4 tsp. rennet diluted in ¼ cup water. Stir well. Let sit 30 minutes.
Yogurt continued:
Once the yogurt has cooled to 120 F, go ahead and skim that hardened layer off again and discard it. Then scoop 2 cups of the milk into a bowl and mix in 6 oz. of a previous batch of yogurt or 6 oz. of plain storebought greek yogurt (that has live and active cultures). Whisk well, then whisk that mixture into the the larger pot of yogurt.
Put a lid on your pot. Then wrap the whole thing in a big bath towel and place it in your oven with the light on for 10-12 hours.
Elapsed time: 55 minutes Exmaple time: 12:55
Finishing the butter:
After the cream has become butter, strain it under cold water, massaging to remove all of the whey. Mix in some salt to taste. Then roll it in balls, or use a butter mold, and place it in an airtight container in the fridge or freezer.
Gouda continued:
Gouda is a somewhat “needy” cheese, so we are going to continue with the following steps, finishing the other dairy products as we have time. So for example, while you are in a period of letting the gouda sit, you might notice that your butter is ready for the next step. When your timer for your Feta goes off, finish the final steps during a break from stirring the gouda. You don’t have to worry about things going a few minutes over. If your gouda sits for 10 minutes instead of 5, it’s not going to change a thing. This flexibility allows you this ability to do all of these projects simultaneously without stress.
Check for a clean break. If not, let sit 5-10 min. More.
Cut curds horizontally, then vertically in ½” strips. Let sit 5 min.
Stir 5 min.
Let sit 5 min.
Stir 5 min.
Let sit 5 min.
Remove 6 cups of whey, add in 6 cups of hot tap water.
Stir 10 min while bringing the temp. To 98-100 F.
Let sit 5 min.
Take out about 5 quarts of whey and replace with hot water.
Stir for about 20 more minutes, or until curds gently cling together and have some firmness (not like poached egg whites). You do not have to stir continuously, but about 60-70% of the time.
Make sure the finished temperature is about 105 F. Continue stirring if not hot enough.
Turn off heat and let sit 10 min.
Drain off the curds, add in flavorings (can do 2 T whole cumin seed and/or red pepper flakes)
Scoop curds into cheeselcoth lined press. Press with light pressure for 30 minutes.
Flip and press under medium pressure for 8-10 hours.
Finish the following projects during periods of letting the gouda sit or during the 30 minutes when it is in the cheese press for the first time.
Feta continued:
Add ½ cup cool water with a tsp rennet. Stir well.
Cover and let sit 40 minutes.
Check for a clean break. If not, wait 5-10 min. More.
Cut into a grid. Let sit 5 min.
Stir off and on for 40 min.
Drain off the whey from the curds.
Tie the cloth and let hang over a pot to drip. Let hang 24 hours.
Make kefir:
Kefir is a cultured milk that our family really loves and once you have activated your milk kefir grains, it’s as easy as straining them out of your previous batch and adding it to some fresh milk. So, here I’m doing that and then just covering the milk with a coffee filter and a rubberband and leaving it on the counter to culture. It is really that easy! In a few days it will be ready to drink and at that point I’ll start a new batch in the same way and sweeten it by blending it up with some strawberries and maple syrup and then refrigerating it. If this is your first time making kefir, follow the directions that came with your starter culture to activate them. Kefir is great added to smoothies or we just drink it plain too and it is so good for you due to the all of the natural probiotic strains.
Make cultured sour cream:
Cultured sour cream can be made using an heirloom buttermilk culture or a direct set sour cream culture. I prefer the latter so that I can use my sour cream as a starter indefinitely. Direct set requires a new purchased starter every time. I have already started mine, so I just create a new batch of sour cream by adding 1 T of my previous batch per cup of cream to my fresh jar. (You can also use cultured buttermilk as your culture at the same ratio.) Mix well. Cover with cheesecloth and a rubberband until set, about 2 days at room temperature. Then, refrigerate.
Make cultured buttermilk:
Buttermilk is made in the same way as sour cream, but using milk instead of cream. Follow the directions on your starter, or if it’s already going, simply add 3 cups of milk to a clean jar, add ¼ cup of your previous batch of buttermilk. Mix well. Cover with cheesecloth and a rubberband until set, 12-18 hours at room temperature. Refrigerate.
Creamer:
Making homemade creamer is as simple blending cream with your preference of sweeteners and flavorings. For my pumpkin spice recipe I add to a blender: 3 cups cream, ¼ cup pumpkin puree, 1 tsp. Vanilla, 1 tsp. Pumpkin pie spice, and ¼ cup maple syrup. Blend, pour into an easy-to-pour bottle, and refrigerate.
Elapsed time: 4 hours 15 min.
Steps to be done over the next day or two…
Finishing the cream cheese:
After the cream cheese is done, scoop it into a square of cheesecloth. Hang it for 1-3 hours to drain off the whey, and then as soon as it’s to your preferred consistency it is done.
Finishing the yogurt:
When the yogurt is done it should be firm and starting to pull away from the sides. Simply scoop it out of the pot into your jars and flavor as desired. We like maple syrup and vanilla or just mix it with jam.
Finishing the Feta:
Sprinkle salt in a baking pan. Slice the cheese and put slices in the pan, stacking to allow for air circulation. Salt between each layer.
Let sit for a few days, draining off the why and flipping the pieces.
When slightly hardened on all sides, place in a container filled with a brine solution of 3 quarts water to 7 oz. salt. Make sure no cheese is sticking up from the brine. Refrigerate, or place in a cheese fridge if available (45-55F is ideal). The cheese will improve in flavor over the next few weeks but can be eaten at any time. If too salty, rinse before serving.
Finishing the gouda:
Weigh out 300 grams of non-iodized salt. Add 1000 grams of hot water and whisk well to dissolve. Add 500 grams of cold water and whisk well.
Put the pressed wheel in the brine. Let sit 10 hours.
Flip, then let sit 10 more hours.
Take the cheese wheel out of the brine and put it on a plate or pan to air dry, flipping 2x/day unti the rind feels mostly dry (but still a bit clammy).
Vacuum seal and refrigerate or put in a cheese cave (50 F for the first month and 40 F after that are idea.)
Cheese-Making Supplies and Cultures
Mesophilic Culture (0m30) – I was unable find the one I have available. I will link a good alternative soon!
I am new to cheese making and this summary is incredibly helpful. As I was looking for ingrediants to get started with some of these projects, I got confused. You mention both mesophilic Culture (mm100) and mesophilic Culture (0m30). You link to mm100, but couldn’t link to the mm30. I have been searching everywhere but can find no other references to mm30. I have found mm100/101 products as well as products just labeled “mesophilic culture” with no numbers attached. So – what is the difference? Can I use mm100 or general no-number mesophilic cultures in place of the mm30? Thank you!
I’m glad you found the summary helpful! The mm100 and mm30 are different strains of mesophilic cultures, but they both serve a similar purpose in cheese making. MM100 is more commonly available and can be used as a substitute for MM30. If you can’t find MM30, using MM100 or a general mesophilic culture should work just fine for your cheese projects. Happy cheese making!