As you may have heard, the FDA recently cited cheese makers in New York State for violating their “Good Manufacturing Practices.” because they were aging their cheeses on wooden shelves. They issued a position statement proclaiming that wooden shelves are unsanitary for aging cheese.* We, at New England Cheesemaking Supply Company are opposed to the FDA’s position. The main reason: It is illegal. The
Controlling Humidity in Your Cheese “Cave”
Steve (Bear) Murtaugh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania A couple of months ago, I mentioned in an e-mail to Steve Murtaugh that I think controlling humidity is the biggest challenge for home cheese makers. Steve has been retired from managing government labs since 2010, so he decided to tackle that problem. He had just read an article about how salt retains humidity and he thought that might be
Experimenters – Be Careful!
An example of healthy looking Blue Cheese It’s about CONTROLLING the bacteria! Dr. Peter Achutha We recently received an interesting note from Dr. Peter Achutha, our longtime friend in Malaysia. He’s been a guest blogger twice – A Malaysian Scientist Experiments with Making Cheese and Durian Cheesecake for the Intrepid Only!. Peter is a scientist who likes to experiment with food, so at his
Cheese May Be Healthier For You Than You Thought!
The problem with our food isn’t the fat content … One of our customers sent me the link to the article below last March and I set it aside because I didn’t feel qualified to present it. But, recently I re-read it and realized how simple and clear it is, and how important it is for all of us. So, yes, I admit I know
Using a pH Meter for Cheese Making
Are you ready? All around the world and for thousands of years, folks have made their own cheese without pH testers. Yet, many cheese makers in the forums and blogs recommend them and some even go so far as to say that you can’t really make cheese without them! What’s up with that? What’s up is that most of us are not making cheese the
Using Sheep’s Milk to Make Cheese
A few months ago, we received this note from a customer: I was wondering if you might post on your “recipes wanted” section a request for recipes specifically developed or adapted for sheep’s milk? I know three are a number of English and European cheese made with ewe’s milk but very few recipes on line or in my books seem to specifically deal with it.
Homogenizing Milk
How is Milk Homogenized? There are 2 stages: 1) In most cases, the milk is forced through a narrow opening at very high pressure until the turbulence causes the fat globules to break up into tiny pieces. Typically the pressure is 2,000-4000 pounds per square inch (psi), but some super homogenizers produce 14,500 psi and higher. (The heat from this can be so intense that
Probiotics in Yogurt
How much is enough? Let’s face it- we’re not all scientists. Probiotics is all about strains of bacteria. There is a lot of information about bacteria out there, but some of us have to visualize it to understand it. Fortunately, there are many videos on UTube about probiotics. In particular, one called “Forever Living Probiotic Products” (picture at right) shows the good bacteria dramatically rescuing