I suppose that culturing this way makes your cheese hyper local. That culture doesn't exist anywhere else. I hope you can follow up with a taste test and evaluation later.
Interesting. I guess the first trick is figuring out how to make clabber. While watching you make it, I kept thinking it was similar to Gouda -- and then you mentioned it was similar. Really looking forward to the taste-test.
I'm REALLY enjoying your videos! Your delivery makes it very accessible and less intimidating. One question though, I can't determine whether you're using, (as when you shake it up to add to your milk as a culture), ALL contents of the clabber; (that is, the "raft" of luscious creamy goodness AND the whey), or have you already removed the whey and using just the thick, creamy part? This was in the clabber gouda recipe. Thanks so much, Jennifer, for doing what you're doing! And for the "Foundations" handout!!
I'm using all ALL the clabber. There is no separation of whey and curds. If you do get a separation, that's a sign that the clabber has cultured for too long. At that point, it can be used to culture a new batch of milk for clabber, but shouldn't be used for cheese because it is no longer in its most active state. I hope that makes sense!
@jmilkslinger very good to know, thank you! I should then shorten the time the milk sits out. I'm in Guatemala, and it's a little warmer than where people are that I'm taking cues from. I'll work on that.
I'm sorry What is an aging box? I have followed your directions for this type of cheese, and I'm just at the brine stage. Best looking cheese yet for us:) we make ours with goat milk
An aging box is just a container (usually a plastic container with a lid) to hold the cheese as it ages. It helps control humidity and creates the right kind of environment for aging.
Hello Jennifer. Love your videos. I always use clabber but have not ventured into using my kefir. Although I drink kefir everyday. What a blessing to have free cultures. So I keep going into my pantry looking for new flavors. Last week I did a Earl Grey cheddar and rosemary Gouda. Won't know for a while if they are good. But today I ventured into Star Anise. I just did 1 gallon to see if it turns out. Have you tried any off the wall flavors?
I got the mold from New England Cheesemaking Supply Company! Here's the link: bit.ly/41dRdgl I can usually fit up to 8 gallons of milk in the press (just yesterday I made a colby that weighed 8 pounds 12 ounces), but I have to make a collar out of plastic mesh when putting in the curds because it overflows in the beginning. (There's a photo in one of the posts under the community tab, if you want a visual.)
What the heck with the negative comments! Well, I hear you crystal clear, and if you’re yelling at your kids then I’m an absolute monster to mine.😂 Anyway, I’m interested in your opinion - if we can use our raw milk to make clabber and then cheese, what’s up with all the regulations demanding flash chilling raw milk before it’s sold?
Such a good question and the answer is sorta complex. . . and sorta not. My interpretation of all the mountains of data is this: raw milk has good bacteria as well as bad. In sanitary conditions, the good bacteria can thrive and manage (dominate) the bad. With pasteurized milk, the good bacteria is compromised and then the bad can thrive much more quickly/dangerously. That said, ALL milk, including raw, should be chilled pretty quickly and used in a timely manner. Culturing milk to make clabber is a controlled method. Once the clabber has been made, it needs to be either used or chilled, or it, too, can become compromised by bad bacteria. I hope that helps!
Would you mind explaining how you made your clabber culture? I have been trying to make my own but it has never become as jello as yours. yours can stand on a spoon! I dont know what im doing wrong, any advice would be super appreciated, thank you!
@@jmilkslinger thank you soooooo much!!! excited to try this! i actuallybhave clabber and raw goats milk and rennet and salt! do not have the cheese press yet but im going tonrig something up tontry this ! very excited! thanks
Yes! I thought it was brilliant. . . at first. And then I started tasting my cheeses and realized that the kefir imparted a funky flavor that I didn't like (sob).
hello a newbie here learning to make cheese after been making my clabber for the last four days to make cheese. You mentioned 157 culture? Wht is this please and where can I purchase iit? Thank you.
Hmm, I'm not sure what 157 culture is! Was it something I said (I can be a bit of a mush-mouth), or something I wrote in the footnotes? This might take some detective work 😅
You definitely don't need to! However, I have noticed that I sometimes seem to get a slightly better yield when I use calcium chloride (maybe it depends on where the cow is in her lactation? maybe I'm imagining things?), so sometimes I just add it, kinda like insurance: it doesn't do any harm and it might help...
You definitely don't need to! However, I have noticed that I sometimes seem to get a slightly better yield when I use calcium chloride (maybe it depends on where the cow is in her lactation? maybe I'm imagining things?), so sometimes I just add it, kinda like insurance: it doesn't do any harm and it might help...
Calcium chloride is not necessary when using raw milk, but when we were milking our Holstein for an extended time, I noticed that her milk wasn't yielding as much cheese and started wondering if the calcium levels in her milk her dropping. I did an experiment --- one cheese with CaCl2 and the other without --- and the one with the CaCl2 had a slightly bigger yield, so I decided it didn't hurt to add that, just in case. I'm not currently using CaCl2 in my cheeses because the milk we're getting (not from the Holstein) is STRONG strong stuff. The yield is fantastic.
Not necessary, but it doesn't hurt! I did an experiment once and noted a slightly higher yield with calcium chloride, so sometimes when I feel that the milk isn't as "strong" as normal (depends on the cow's lactation cycle), I add the calcium chloride.
