[Cheese] Hi

[Corina]

Hi Rita and all!

>Is this an active
>group or did it die after 2005?  I cannot see any
>posts after that date.

I'm glad you posted, because I joined this group a month or two ago 
and then promptly forgot about it. There haven't been many posts 
while I've been here.

>I'm very new to cheese making

Me too! I have had some success with mozzarella, and I make ricotta 
out of the whey. The ricotta is out of this world (although VERY low 
yield, as in a few tablespoons for a half gallon of whey). I haven't 
had any great success making cream cheese or fromage blanc.

>Other stuff is Quark
>and cream stuff.

What is Quark?

>  I am a complete failure at trying to
>make ricotta:(

What do you use for ingredients, what is the process, and what are the results?

I made some "cream cheese" a few days ago out of whole milk, using 
buttermilk for a culture, and a little vegetable rennet. The whey I 
got from that would not make ricotta, and I'm not sure why. I'm 
wondering if I waited too long to cook it (I have read it needs to be 
made within 3 or 4 hours of making the cheese, but my cream cheese 
was draining for longer than that), or if something about the 
buttermilk culture kept it from working.

When I make ricotta successfully, the mozzarella has citric acid in 
it, and I'm wondering if the acidity is what makes it work. I just 
heat the whey to about 180 or 190 F and the little strings of ricotta 
soon become visible. Then I drain it in a colander lined with butter 
muslin.

Nick, thanks for the tip about alt.cheese!

Corina