Homemade Cheese...

...is just the best.

It's something I never thought I'd make,

and here I am learning this new skill of 

cheese making.

No, I don't have it perfected yet,

but I'm learning something new

with each lesson.

I just love it!

Fresh, raw milk.

Raw cheese!

(maybe someday from our own milking animal)

Can you see the ribbons of ricotta starting to
gather together there?

With ricotta you have to use something
like a tea towel, or a pillowcase (as I have here)
or it just leaks through.
Normally the 90 count cheesecloth works
for everything else.

The cheese above is actually made
from leftover whey from other cheeses.

Fascinating.

No waste.
(and if you don't have time to make ricotta,
the chickens LOVE whey!)

You just heat up your whey to 200 degrees and

watch the protein 'glob' together to make little

ricotta.

You drain it, and, voila~cheese.

So far I've made a 'wheel' cheese of queso fresco,

cottage cheese, ricotta, and now this week cheddar~
(by the way, technically, this ricotta isn't 'raw' since
it's cooked to 200 degrees, but all the other cheeses in
the course are)
Check out:
http://gnowfglins.com/ecourse/classes/cultured-dairy-cheese