CHEESEMAKING MADE EASY!

With 36 years in business, we are your complete one-stop for everything for the discerning cheesemaking enthusiast!  

TO ORDER, CALL 1-818-884-8586 ( In Calif, call 1-800-559-9922 )

Updated 8/1/08

GETTING STARTED:

This is your essential step by step guidebook. Just pick out the style of cheese that you want to make. The required cultures, rennet etc. are all listed. 

 

All that you need to make a variety of delicious, homemade cheeses including Cheddar, Gouda, Monterey Jack,  Cottage Cheese, Ricotta,, Buttermilk Cheese and more.
Comes with a detailed recipes, using easy-to-follow illustrations which demystifies all of the basics in the cheesemaking process.

This Kit includes: Recipe Booklet, Cheese Form, Vegetable Rennet, Mesophillic Direct Set Starter, Thermophillic Direct Set Starter, Citric Acid, Dairy Thermometer, Calcium Chloride, Butter Muslin.

Like the "Basic Cheese Kit", you'll have everything you need to make 30-minute Mozzarella and Ricotta.
This Kit includes: Recipe Booklet. Vegetable Rennet Tablets, Citric Acid, Flaked Salt, Thermometer, Butter Muslim. Note: adding "Italase" enzyme, see below, really adds character to the cheese.

OTHER INTERESTING/USEFUL CHEESE BOOKS:

The first step in cheesemaking is to separate milk into curds and whey. This separation, or coagulation requires two stages.

  1. First, starter cultures of lactic acid bacterium (favorable bacteria) are added to help curdle the milk, helping to determine the ultimate flavors and texture of the cheese.
  2. Next, the milk clotting enzyme, rennet, is added. Rennet is the dried extract of rennin, the enzyme that is responsible for most of the milk coagulation.

LACTIC ACID CULTURES:

RENNET:

  • VEGETABLE RENNET - Similar in use to calf rennet, acceptable to lacto-vegetarians. Tablets, scored into four segments. 1/4 tablet sets 2 gallons milk in 45 minutes. 10 tablets/$7.95
  • CALF RENNET - Liquid. 1/2 tsp. will set 2 gallons of milk in about 45 minutes. 2 oz./$7.95
  • LIQUID CHYMOSTAR. A vegetable product with animal origins. Same usage as animal. 2 oz./$7.95

MOLD POWDERS: For making surface-ripening or interior mold-ripened cheeses. They develope rapidly, ensuring good ripening and flavorable cheeses.

  • PENICILLIUM CANDIDUM - White mold to ripen and flavor Brie, Camembert, Coulomiers, and a variety of French goat cheeses. $9.95
  • GEOTRICUM CANDIDUM - Used with P.C. to prevent the skin from slipping off your cheese. $24.95
  • PENICILLIUM ROQUEFORT - Blue mold to ripen and flavor to Blues, Gorgonzola, and Stilton. $29.95
  • BACTERIA LINENS - Red mold for making surface-ripened cheeses such as Brick, Limberger, and Muenster. $17.95

LIPASE POWDERS: Essential for giving a sharp, piquant flavor to Italian cheeses. $9.95

  • ITALASE - Mild. Gives Blues, Mozzarella, Parmesan and other Italian cheeses that distinctive flavor.
  • CAPILASE - Very Sharp. Produces a strong, piquant flavor in Romano, Provolone, and other Italian cheeses

CHEESE SALT: Dissolves easily, doesn't cake up, contains no iodine. 8 ozs. - $2.95

CITRIC ACID: Used to coagulate mozzarella and rocotta. 8 ozs. - $5.95

TARTARIC ACID: Used in making Mascarpone, an Italian soft cheese. 4 ozs. - $3.50

CALCIUM CHLORIDE: Used with store-bought and goat's milk to give a firmer set to your curds in making hard cheeses. Add to water when storing Mozzarella. 4 ozs. - $4.95
CHEESE PRESSES: Needed for pressing hard cheeses.

  • ITALIAN CHEESE PRESS - Easy to use. High quality, all stainless steel. Double baskets to both hold the curds and to drain the whey. Presses up to 8 lbs. No gauges. Just press until whey runs. When the whey stops running, press a bit harder. Stop when no more whey runs. $195.50

THERMOMETERS & REFRIGERATOR CONTROLLERS:

  • FLOATING DAIRY THERMOMETER - Reads in both centigrade and fahrenheit. No Mercury. $7.95
  • BUDGET, BI-METAL THERMOMETER - Unbreakable stainless steel. Large, easy-to-read 2" dial. $9.95
  • REFRIGERATOR CONTROLLER - Take the guesswork out of the aging process! Easily installed without any tools. Merely plug your cheese aging refrigerator into the thermostat. It by-passes the refrigerator's internal controls and maintains acurate temperatures from 30°- 80°F.   BI-METAL JOHNSON CONTROLLER - $59.95   

CHEESECLOTH:

  • REUSEABLE, 100% Cotton - Tight weave that is ideal for draining curds and lining cheese forms. 3 yds. $2.95
  • REUSEABLE BUTTER MUSLIN, 100% Cotton - Slightly tighter weave than the cheesecloth. 2 yds. $4.95

CHEESE FORMS (MOLDS):

    SOFT CHEESES:

  • CAMEMBERT - Open bottom, 4-1/4"x 4-1/4". $17.95
  • CROTTIN - Solid bottom, 2-1/2"W x 4-3/4"H. $7.95
  • CHEVRE - Solid bottom, 3"W x 3-3/4"H. $7.95
  • PYRAMIDE - Solid bottom, 3"W x 3-3/4"H. $7.95
  • ST. MARCELLIN - Solid bottom, 3-1/2"W x 3-1/4"H. General purpose form. $7.95
  • ST. MAURE - Open bottom, 2"W x 8"H. $7.95
  • BASIC - Open weave basket. 6-1/4"W x 3-1/4"H. $7.95
  • RICOTTA - Open weave basket. 4-1/2"W x 3-1/4"H. $6.95

    HARD CHEESES: Use with cheese presses.

  • SMALL FORM - Open bottom with follower. Makes up to 2 lbs cheeses. 4 1/2"W x 5"H. $19.95
  • LARGE FORM - Solid bottom with follower. Makes 4-10 lb cheeses. 7 3/4"W x 8"H. $34.95

WAXES: Necessary for hard cheeses. Helps prevent unwanted mold growth,
                    while retaining moisture in your aging cheeses. Pliable and re-useable.
                    Melt in a double boiler and use a natural bristle brush.
                    1 LB/$8.95 (RED, BLACK, YELLOW)

CHEESE DRAINING MATS: Excellent reed mats for the turning and draining process. Also for air drying cheeses, particularly soft mold-ripened cheeses. 1 mat - $1.95

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