Hard Cheese Recipes
HARD CHEESE KIT $49.95
   This kit, store bought milk and basic kitchen skills combined with following specific recipe steps, are all you need to make aged hard cheeses.  The kit includes all the ingredients except milk as well as the special cheese making tools needed. 
Everything in the kit is of commercial creamery quality and will provide years of service when properly cared for.  You will need to supply an accurate thermometer and must have the patience to allow a slow and steady rise in temperature of curd as indicated in the recipes.  It will not be difficult and with a little practice you will do just fine.  Makes eight 3 pound batches of cheese.
HOME CHEESE MAKING $16.95
Recipes for 75 varieties of cheese.  You'll be surprised how easy it is, how little equipment you'll need and how delicious the results can be. Recipes include farmhouse cheddar, gouda, fromage blanc, queso blanco, ricotta, mascarpone and other dairy products like crème fraíche, sour cream, yogurt, keifer and buttermilk. By R. Caroll
The Wall Street Journal says,
"Leeners Deluxe Cheese Kit is the Best Overall cheese making kit in America!"
DELUXE CHEESE MAKING KIT $89.95
With this kit you will make all the different types of cheese including mozzarella and aged hard cheddar.  Each recipe is formulated to be easily made in any kitchen without investing in expensive equipment.  Your kit includes our detailed recipe book Making Your Own Cheese which teaches the basics of home cheese making.  You also get our professional quality culinary thermometer and the cheese press.
Recipes Include: Mozzarella, Ricotta, Yogurt Cream Cheese, Lemon Cheese Spread, Neufchatel, Queso Blanco, Large Curd Cottage Cheese, Queso Fresco, Farmhouse Cheddar, Monterey Jack, Yellow Colby, Traditional Cheddar
7" HARD CHEESE PRESS $24.95
This pressing system has the capacity to press curd from 3 to 4 gallons of milk with constant pressure and without the need for regular adjustments.  The simple design of only two working parts is easy to use and cleans up in a snap.  Includes draining basket and follower.  Weights are not included. PRESSING INSTRUCTIONS
CHEESEMAKING BOOKS
  • HOME CHEESEMAKING
  • GOATS PRODUCE TOO
  • GOAT CHEESE
  • BUTTER & YOGURT
  • YOGURT COOKING
  • MAKING ICE CREAM

    • CHEESE KITS
  • DELUXE CHEESE KIT
  • MOZZARELLA KIT
  • HARD CHEESE KIT

    • CHEESE CULTURES
  • MESOPHILIC
  • THERMOPHILIC
  • ITALIAN STARTER
  • RENNET
  • FROMAGE BLANC
  • CREME FRAICHE
  • YOGURT CULTURE
  • BUTTERMILK
  • SOUR CREAM

    • FLAVORING MOLDS
  • BLUE CHEESE
  • WHITE CANDIDUM
  • PROPIONIC SHERMANII
  • MILD LIPASE
  • SHARP LIPASE
  • BACTERIA LINENS

    • CHEESE ADDITIVES
  • CHEESE COLORING
  • CHEESE SALT
  • CALCIUM CHLORIDE
  • CITRIC ACID
  • TARTARIC ACID

    • SHAPE & DRAIN MOLDS
  • SAINT MAURE
  • CAMEMBERT
  • CHEVRE
  • SAINT MARCELLIN

    • CHEESE EQUIPMENT
  • CHEESE PRESS
  • CHEESE WAX
  • STRAINERS
  • CHEESE CLOTH
  • DRAINING BAGS
  • CHEESE WRAP
  • DRYING MATS
  • pH TESTER
  • THERMOMETERS
  • THERMOSTATS

    • YOGURT MAKING
  • YOGURT STARTER
  • YOGURT MAKER
  • YOGURT CHEESE
    		•
    BABY GOUDA STYLE MOLD $19.95
    Traditional Gouda shaped cheese molding press makes 4 inch round by 1½ inch thick baby gouda wheels.  Includes cheese cloth.  Recipe not included.
    Making Aged Hard Cheese
    Colby Cheese
    THIS RECIPE AND INGREDIENTS ARE INCLUDED IN THE HARD CHEESE KIT
       Colby was invented in Colby, Wisconsin in the late 19th or early 20th century.  Its flavor is similar to cheddar but is milder and softer.  This is due to a difference in the cheese making process in which the curds are “washed” with cool water which increases the moisture content.   Your cheese can be eaten after it is made but can also age 2-3 months. 
    Colby Cheese Recipe
    • 3 gallons pasteurized whole milk
    • ¼ teaspoon Mesophilic-A culture
    • 1½ teaspoons 30% calcium chloride in 2 tablespoons distilled water
    • Annatto Cheese Colorant (optional)
    • ½ rennet tablet dissolved in ¼ cup of distilled water
    • 1 teaspoon + 3 Tablespoons flaked salt
       Combine milk and diluted calcium chloride in a 16 quart stock pot or a double boiler and heat to 86°F stirring gently.  Add ¼ teaspoon of Mesophilic culture.  Stir in thoroughly.  Turn off the heat, cover the pot and allow the milk to ripen for 1 hour.  While the milk ripens dissolve ½ rennet tablet in ¼ cup of distilled water.
       After the milk has ripened, you may choose to add annatto coloring but you must add it now before the rennet is added or it could leave your curds streaky.   Start with a rate of 2-3 drops per 1 gallon of milk.    Mix color in thoroughly until evenly dispersed. 
    Stir 1 teaspoon flaked salt into the dissolved rennet solution.  Stir this solution gently into the 86°F milk.   Cover the pot and let set at 86 F for 1 hour or until the milk shows a clean break.
       Cut the curd into 3/8 inch cubes.  Stir gently then let the curds set for 5 minutes. 
    Using the double boiler, slowly raise the temperature of the curd 2°F every 5 minutes until the temperature reaches 102°F.  This should take about 30 minutes.  Hold the temperature at 102°F for 30 minutes.  Gently stir during this period so that the curds do not mat together. 
       Cover the pot and allow the curds to settle for five minutes.  Pour off the whey until it is level with the curd mass.  Stir in cold tap water until the temperature in the cheese pot is lowered to 80°F.  Hold the temperature at 80°F for 15 minutes while gently stirring to keep the curd from matting.  The temperature of the cheese pot during this step will determine the moisture content of the finished cheese.  A slightly higher temperature will produce a drier cheese.  Lowering the temperature a few degrees will make a moister cheese.
       Line a colander with cheesecloth and place it in a sink.  Pour the curds and whey into the colander and allow them to drain.  The curds will be very soft and moist at this point.  Sprinkle 3 tablespoons of cheese salt over the curd and gently mix it in using your hands. 
       Place the curds into the plastic cheese mold which is lined with cheesecloth.  You’ll need about a 20” square of cloth.  Pull up on the sides of the cloth to avoid any bunching.  After placing all the curds into the mold, lay the excess length of cheesecloth evenly over the top of the curds.  The curds will overfill the mold but will pack down when pressed lightly and evenly with the follower. Place the follower (smooth side down) on top of the wrapped curd and set a 20 lb. weight on top of the follower.  Press the cheese for 20 minutes. 
       Remove the cheese from the press and take it out of the cheesecloth.  Place the cheesecloth back in the mold and return the cheese to the mold upside down.  Fold the excess cheesecloth over the cheese and again put the follower on top of the cheese.  Now press the cheese with 30 lbs. of weight for 20 minutes.  Turn cheese over again and press with 50 lbs. of weight for 12 hours. 
       Remove the cheese from the press as before and unwrap the cloth.  Mix 1 tablespoon of salt with ½ cup of water.  Using a corner of the cheese cloth, lightly apply a saltwater wash to the cheese.  Place the cheese on a bamboo mat to air dry for 1-3 days turning over twice each day.  When it starts to form a yellowish rind and is dry to the touch it is ready to wax for aging.
    Wax the cheese and store for aging at 40 to 60°F (55°F ideally) for 2-3 months.  Turn the cheese over daily for the first month and several times a week thereafter.
    copyright 2007 J.R.Leverentz
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