Ohiofarmgirl's Adventures in The Good Land is largely a fish out of water tale about how I eventually found my footing on a small farm in an Amish town. We are a mostly organic, somewhat self sufficient, sustainable farm in Ohio. There's action and adventure and I'll always tell you the truth about farming.


Thursday, February 17, 2011

I made cheese. Then I cut it.

And no. I'll never get tired of that stupid joke.

But behold... cheese.

This is one of the goudas I made late last summer. It turned out really gouda... I mean, good. Its kinda like a real provolone... not that that stuff you get at the deli counter. But a real, aged provolone. It melts and browns well, but not as creamily as say a mozzarella. And it shredded really well. The red cheese wax is removed before using. They say you can melt and reuse the wax again.

I used this cheese for cooking and also just to eat, unadorned.

We'll have goats milk soon and I'm gonna make cheese like no body's business all this summer. I'm extremely excited.

Here are a couple links about making your own cheese.

What you need to make cheese

Curds and whey and happy, happy clucks

Steps to make cheese

Come on everybody, its gonna be goat milk season soon. Lets all make cheese!

16 comments:

David P. Offutt - The Gastronomic Gardener said...

Damn funny! And fascinating! Thanks!

Peskychicken said...

Hi Ohiofarmgirl ... Peskychicken here again ... I have to say that I'm looking forward to fresh goats milk and I just posted on my blog this morning stating the same.

I've been reading your blog for awhile now and I've noticed that we are often 'on the same page' with respect to topics and thoughts. I guess that shouldn't be that surprising ... We live in the same climate and we're living similar lifestyles. A few exceptions would be that I'm not a hater of the pigs and I'm still a slave to the corporate world ... LOL!

By the way ... I'm not sure why my name sounds familiar ... maybe you've visited my blod before?

Have a great day!

Autumn said...

Man! That looks like some really, really, good cheese!

Mr. H. said...

Wow, that cheese looks amazing...very nice. Would you guys consider moving in next door so I could do a little bartering with you.:) I had better go read your links and see if I have any chance at doing this too.

Ohiofarmgirl said...

Hi David! Happy Thursday! Whatcha cookin' today?

Hey there Pesky.. maybe from BYC? Anyway, I'll be referring to your site soon - I'm gonna take a whack at soap making. Thanks for all your tips. Ya sure you don't hate them pigs just a little?
;-)

Hi Autumn! Good to see you!

Mama Mess said...

I'm ready to make cheese and yes to cut it too, but not in front of anybody buy my family, cuz I'm just shy that way! Now that I've got Ed Earl and Luanne to eat my mistakes I will conquer cheese this year!

NancyDe said...

I am dying to learn to make cheese. All I have are semi-wild sheep, so haven't even made the attempt. Someday....

Veggie PAK said...

Beautiful cheese! You should be very proud of yourself!

Anonymous said...

You can count me in :-) Your cheese looks amazing and you've inspired me have a go again soon. I've made hard cheese without using any cultures before and it was okay, but a bit boring. I'm going to order some starter cultures and see if I can't improve the flavour.

Diana said...

Oh man, you ROCK! Only a couple of my cheeses ever worked... but the idea of raw goat's milk gouda is really making me rethink my decision to not get goats this year... :)

I wish we lived closer!

Ohiofarmgirl said...

hey GW! you WILL conquer cheese this year! and the pigs will go hog wild for the whey (no way! yes way!) and any mistakes.

Run them sheeps down, NancyDe, and getcha some milk. Oh the feta you could make...

THANKS VPak! I appreciate the encouragement - always.
:-)

Contadina, you should be able to find some spectacular cultures there. Are there local cheese making shops? And I'm sure you can get raw milk easily (or do you have your own goats?).

Diana, drop what you are doing and go and find a goat in milk. i'm not kidding - a gal like you can do this no problem! look at everything else you do!

Anonymous said...

Goats are a long time coming for us. We've built them a house and are currently fencing in our land (a necessity owing to packs of wild dogs). Thankfully, raw milk of any description is easy to get, as is farm-made rennet. I may have to order cultures online though.

Ohiofarmgirl said...

Contadina - you are so lucky to get goats AND have raw milk available. Fencing is a requirement for goats for sure. Even typically well behaved dogs go ga-ga over goats. Dogs love goats because they smell like poop and run when chased.
;-)

rebecca said...

oh i am not that ambitious! but it sure looks delicious!

Ohiofarmgirl said...

Oh sure you could, Rebecca! if i can - believe me...anyone can!
:-)

D.Hausmann said...

Very nice looking Gouda. I also do Gouda along with others. You are right,Gouda is just Gouda!

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...