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 Monterey Jack Cheese
    THIS RECIPE AND INGREDIENTS ARE INCLUDED IN THE HARD CHEESE KIT
       Monterey Jack or Jack Cheese was believed to be created by David Jacks near Monterey, California in the 1890s.  It is a soft, white cheese with a slight tang to it.  Authentic California Jack cheese has a tiny eye structure throughout while Jack cheese made elsewhere has no eye structure. It is ready to eat after a month of aging unless you prefer more of an acidic tang in which case you may age longer.  Dry Jack Cheese is aged 7-10 months and becomes dry and sharp enough to be used grated. 
    Monterey Jack Recipe
  • 3 gallons pasteurized whole milk
  • 1 pint heavy cream (optional)
  • ¼ teaspoon Mesophilic-A culture
  • 1 teaspoon + 3 Tablespoons flaked salt
  • MESOPHILIC-A 8 dose jar $4.95
    CALCIUM CHLORIDE 1 oz. $1.95
    RENNET TABLETS 10 pk. $5.95
    FLAKED SALT 2 LB. jar $2.45
  • 1½ teaspoons of 30% calcium chloride in 2 tablespoons distilled wate½ rennet tablet dissolved in ¼ cup distilled water

  •    Combine milk, optional cream and diluted calcium chloride in a 16 quart stock pot or a double boiler and heat to 88°F.  Add ¼ teaspoon of Mesophilic-A culture.  Stir in thoroughly.  Allow the milk to ripen for 45 minutes.  While the milk ripens dissolve ½ rennet tablet in ¼ cup of distilled water.
       Increase the temperature of the milk to 90°F.  Stir 1 teaspoon flaked salt into the dissolved rennet solution.  Stir this solution gently into the 90°F milk.  Allow the milk to set, covered, at 90°F for 60 minutes or until the milk has set into a firm curd with a clean break. 
     
       Using a long bladed stainless steel knife cut the curd into ½ inch cubes.  Let the curds set for 10 minutes. 
       Place the cheese pot into a second pot of 100°F water or in a sink filled with 100°F water.  Indirectly heat the curds to 100°F by increasing the temperature no faster than 2°F every five minutes.  It should take 30 minutes to reach 100°F.  Stir the curds gently but frequently during this cooking period to keep the curd pieces from matting together. 
       Maintain the curds at 100°F for an additional 30 minutes stirring every several minutes to keep the curds from matting.  Allow the curds to settle for five minutes. 
    Pour off the whey down to the level of the curd.  Maintain a temperature of 100°F by placing the pot of curd into a water bath which is at 100°F. Allow the curds to set for 30 minutes stirring every five minutes to prevent matting.
       Place a large colander in a sink.  Pour the curds and whey into the colander and allow them to drain.  Sprinkle 3 tablespoons of cheese salt over the curd and gently mix it in using your hands.   If you want to experiment with adding peppers now is when you would mix them in.  Try using pickled jalapenos, finely minced. 
    Place the curds into the plastic cheese mold which is lined with cheesecloth.  Pull up on the sides of the cloth to avoid any bunching.
       After pouring all the curds into the mold, lay the excess length of cheesecloth evenly over the top of the curds.  Place the follower (smooth side down) on top of the curd and set a four pound weight (half gallon of water) on top of the follower.  Press the cheese for 15 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 8 - 10 pounds pressure for 12 hours (1 gallon of water or a 10 pound weight plate). 
       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 storage.
       Wax the cheese and store for aging at 40 to 60°F (55 F ideally) for 1-4 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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