For a do-it-yourselfer like me, who has a lot of fresh milk on hand (3 gallons in the fridge today), I have many choices of what to make given some time and special ingredients. When planning what cheese to try to make next, I reviewed my cookbooks and the internet and found that by oversimplifying a 11oo year old art, I could divide cheeses up into three main categories:

Fresh cheeses – making cheese is just a nice way to store milk. So ricotta, mozzarella, cottage cheese, sour cream, and neufchatel are all nice and quick cheeses – they don’t have to sit somewhere for months ripening. You simply heat the milk slightly, add a little rennet, let it sit while it makes curds, cut the curds, then strain the whey out, add salt – and mostly you have cheeses in as little as a half hour and as long as a day, with some variations.

Hard cheeses – you need to press the curds to force the water out to make hard cheese. Then you let the cheese sit for days, months, years to allow it to age. Generally you need about 50 degrees F and 85 percent humidity, which is a problem for me. I have a root cellar that is humid, but that temperature will destroy the vegetables stored there. I could try to age the cheese in the cheese drawer of my second fridge, but it probably will be too cold, and not humid enough.

Moldy cheeses – Cheeses like brie and camembert are aged like hard cheeses, but you don’t press them to force the water out of the curd. Instead, you sandwich the cheese in a cheese mold/form, between two bamboo matts, like the ones you use to roll sushi, and then between 2 cheese boards (square slabs of maple) and you flip it – and then let it sit for a bit, then flip it again. Some of the water drains out – so it goes from the curd filling the form, to being a smaller and shorter wheel within the form. Not pressing the curds allows the center to stay soft. Mold is applied to the surface with a sprayer, the cheese grows a fuzzy coat that develops for months as it ages.

I’m just getting into this – really just want to try it, but I don’t have a cheese cave to maintain the cheeses for months at the proper temperature and humidity. My husband suggests we find an old fridge and run it at a warm setting and line the bottom of the unit with a pan of water. I think we’re going to try that.

fresh cheeses -

you have your fresh cheeses that people like me start making when you are awash in milk from a family cow. making cheese is just a nice way to store milk. So ricotta, mozzarella, cottage cheese, sour cream, and neufchatel are all nice and quick cheeses – they don’t have to sit somewhere for months ripening.

you simply heat the milk slightly, add a little rennet, let it sit while it makes curds, cut the curds, then strain the whey out, add salt – and mostly you have cheeses, with some variations.

hard cheeses – cheddar, edam, gouda

if you want hard cheeses, you need to press the cheese to force the water out – and you let it sit for days, months, years to allow it to age. Sometimes you coat it in wax, sometimes cheesecloth and wax

moldy cheeses – brie, camembert

these are aged like hard cheeses, but you don’t press them to force the water out. Instead, you sandwich the cheese in a cheese mold/form, between two bamboo matts, like the ones you use to roll sushi, and then between 2 cheese boards and you flip it – and you keep letting it sit for a bit, then flip it again. Some of the water drains out – so it goes from the curd filling the form, to being a 1 1/2″ disk within the form. This keeps the center soft. Also you spray mold on the outside and it grows a fuzzy coat and let it sit for months

the problem for me is that I don’t have a cheese cave – the second two types of cheese mostly need a 50 degree F constant temp with high humidity. Bob suggests we find an old fridge and run it warm.

fresh cheeses -

you have your fresh cheeses that people like me start making when you are awash in milk from a family cow. making cheese is just a nice way to store milk. So ricotta, mozzarella, cottage cheese, sour cream, and neufchatel are all nice and quick cheeses – they don’t have to sit somewhere for months ripening.

you simply heat the milk slightly, add a little rennet, let it sit while it makes curds, cut the curds, then strain the whey out, add salt – and mostly you have cheeses, with some variations.

hard cheeses – cheddar, edam, gouda

if you want hard cheeses, you need to press the cheese to force the water out – and you let it sit for days, months, years to allow it to age. Sometimes you coat it in wax, sometimes cheesecloth and wax

moldy cheeses – brie, camembert

these are aged like hard cheeses, but you don’t press them to force the water out. Instead, you sandwich the cheese in a cheese mold/form, between two bamboo matts, like the ones you use to roll sushi, and then between 2 cheese boards and you flip it – and you keep letting it sit for a bit, then flip it again. Some of the water drains out – so it goes from the curd filling the form, to being a 1 1/2″ disk within the form. This keeps the center soft. Also you spray mold on the outside and it grows a fuzzy coat and let it sit for months

the problem for me is that I don’t have a cheese cave – the second two types of cheese mostly need a 50 degree F constant temp with high humidity. Bob suggests we find an old fridge and run it warm.

Suddenly all I want are Cheerios and Heath bars, tortilla chips and avocado! Seriously – I’m doing fine on the second day of the challenge. Only used two wild cards again today.

breakfast: one wild card- Coffee (does it count that I roasted the beans myself?), our own half and half, Cabot butter, 2 slices of toasted Baba A Louis raisin bread (rather like a sticky bun, really)

lunch: Baba A Louis cheese/herb bread, leftover homegrown chicken from last night’s dinner, slices of tomato, apple from Mad Tom Orchard, milk from our cow

dinner: Ham slices from Boar Hill Farm nearby in Wells, VT, with a homemade applesauce and squash (with a little cider (local) and brown sugar (wild card)), leftover mashed potatoes (from our garden) heated up as potato pancakes, tomato and cuke slices (from our garden).

5 days left for my ricotta salata. Each day I salt it and flip it in the mold in my fridge. It looks great. I can’t wait. What will it be like to have to wait months for the cheddar I’m starting this weekend? I’m saving enough milk to do 2 lbs of cheddar at a time. I’d like to have several in the second fridge – but maybe it won’t be warm enough or humid enough. Bet I can figure this out though!

5 days left for my ricotta salata. Each day I salt it and flip it in the mold in my fridge. It looks great. I can’t wait. What will it be like to have to wait months for the cheddar I’m starting this weekend? I’m saving enough milk to do 2 lbs of cheddar at a time. I’d like to have several in the second fridge – but maybe it won’t be warm enough or humid enough. Bet I can figure this out though!

5 days left for my ricotta salata. Each day I salt it and flip it in the mold in my fridge. It looks great. I can’t wait. What will it be like to have to wait months for the cheddar I’m starting this weekend? I’m saving enough milk to do 2 lbs of cheddar at a time. I’d like to have several in the second fridge – but maybe it won’t be warm enough or humid enough. Bet I can figure this out though!

Charlie, the castrated, dehorned little bull calf born this year to Giddy is back in the field with her mother and sister this morning. Away for 4 weeks, he remembers his mother perfectly. He is adorable trying to suckle, but Giddy isn’t having anything to do with that. Thank goodness, since we don’t want to disrupt our stream of milk coming into the house. He is cute- but I have to remember the plan is to eat him next spring!

Charlie, the castrated, dehorned little bull calf born this year to Giddy is back in the field with her mother and sister this morning. Away for 4 weeks, he remembers his mother perfectly. He is adorable trying to suckle, but Giddy isn’t having anything to do with that. Thank goodness, since we don’t want to disrupt our stream of milk coming into the house. He is cute- but I have to remember the plan is to eat him next spring!

Charlie, the castrated, dehorned little bull calf born this year to Giddy is back in the field with her mother and sister this morning. Away for 4 weeks, he remembers his mother perfectly. He is adorable trying to suckle, but Giddy isn’t having anything to do with that. Thank goodness, since we don’t want to disrupt our stream of milk coming into the house. He is cute- but I have to remember the plan is to eat him next spring!