Make Your Own Cheese

Through the past two year we've been making different cheeses each of which need to age for longer periods of time. This past weekend we finally got to open the Parmesan! A momentous occasion as it has been being babied for eighteen months in our cellar cupboard. 

The texture was perfect. It was hard, dry, not too salty, and best of all buttery.

One of the first cheeses we made was Manchego.

Our Manchego was soft and creamy textured, aged for one year. Not sure why I don't have any pictures of it opened up...it must not have have lasted very long! It was aged for one year.

This cheddar was aged for only 9 months. To make it "sharp" it needs to age longer.

We added annatto for coloring which gave us this yellow hue.

This was delectable Camembert! Paired with a whole grain, hot from the oven bread, it was gone in a minute!

Close-up of rind.

Close-up of texture.

A challenging cheese to make, Camembert ages for little time, 6 weeks, but can become too ripe quickly. We had a batch go south on us turning to a melted mush.

For inspiration and great instruction look for "Artisan Cheese Making at Home by Mary Karlin http://www.artisancheesemakingathome.com/ and "Home Cheese Making" by Ricki Carroll http://www.cheesemaking.com/