Well I finally got to make my first cheese yesterday! Yippie skippy!
It was an English Cotswold found in the Artisian Cheese Making book. I was able to dip out my 2 gallons of fresh raw cow’s milk directly from the farm bulk tank for this cheese.
A few observations I noticed during this endeavor are as follows.

The double boiler worked great and I was able to hold all temperatures very well.

The book calls to add about 2 teaspoons (5 grams) of onion and chives. Well the 5 grams of dried onion looked about right and around 2 teaspoons. The 5 grams of dried chives on the other hand, looked like it could have been 2+ Tablespoons! So I just added an amount that looked similar to the amount used in the picture of the book.

On cutting the curd, I did wait the 45 minutes as called for in the book and there seemed to be a clean break. Now that cutting into 1/4 inch cubes….. well after the first two cuts, there was a great release of whey. I found it difficult in going back once the vertical cuts were made in order to do the 45 slant cuts to get the cubes. I seen in the stirring process were I didn’t do such a good job, yet after all the stirring time, everything seemed to even out through breakage of the curd from the stirring action.

Starting out, my milk ph was 6.8 and after the first 10 minutes of press time the whey was ph 6.2. I have no idea if these are good numbers or not, or if it’s where they should be. I went by book directions only.

My new press worked beautifully!

My next step is to dry the cheese for 2-5 days after my 24 hour press ends tonight. Since it’s winter here, and I heat with wood, the house runs a very dry rh of about 16.
I would think this environment could have that cheese dried in a day’s time? Which I’ll then give it a good waxing and off to the fridge.

All said and done, I’m very happy so far and the cheese smells great. Since I used the raw cow’s milk, that minimum 60 day wait is going to feel like a year!

i am so happy for you Rick(54)

Nabil, due to the raw milk issue of waiting a minimum of 60 days, the wife has complained she really doesn’t want to wait that long for a taste. I told her I’d try a blue next weekend with store bought milk, with hopes I can appease her curiosity and appetite a little sooner! LOL
Then again I think that cheese should age also. I’m trying to convince her that we need to build up the supply before we can think about enjoying the fruits of our labor.

i know that it is not legal to eat raw milk cheese before 60days, but i do
Blue cheese does not suffer from homo milk (ofcourse u need Cacl2)

great work, congrats, hope it works out for u

In France as example, it is ok to eat fresh cheeses from raw milk

If the producers look like their clean then probably will be ok, but if not then I would be concerned.

I can give you the benefit of my part time help working a dairy farm for 20+ years.
Milk for the most part is always going to look “clean”. As with any grade “A” dairy farm registered with the state, it is subject to unannounced state inspections of both the dairy barn and milk house. In addition, each bulk tank of milk before going into the haulers truck is subject to a collection of a small sample to be analyzed at the dairy for antibiotic contamination (a big no-no) and bacteria count. Even with the use of filter pads between the milkers and bulk tank, the milk still contains amounts of bacteria. As I recall, some of the counts ran anywhere from 40,000 ppm to 80,000 ppm.. There always were the old tales of catching Undulant Fever or T.B. from drinking raw milk. Memories seem to linger the longest, yet I’ve never known this to happen to anyone.
In short, even though raw milk does carry a degree of bacteria, I’ve never known anyone to become sick from ingesting the product. Ask anyone who was ever raised on a farm in the 30’s and had a family dairy cow if they ever got sick from drinking raw milk.
Then again, not to say that if you put a pinch of barnyard dirt into your milk and kept it in a warm moist place that you couldn’t get something nasty to grow! Just know your supply and use common sense.

In the 30’s they didnt have all this crap floating in the air.