You Can Make Cheese At Home Today! Impress Your Friends Now!

This is a simple place to go if you need to convert measurements or baking temperatures if you live outside of the United States.

When it comes to making cheese, clean equipment, hands, and work area are the keys to success. If you have any of these dirty than you will get stray bacteria that will ruin your cheese.

The type of milk that you use is important in cheese making. Always in any kind of dairy product only use pasteurized products. This applies to milk heavy whipping cream, half and half. Read your labels.

When it comes to water, you need to make sure that you use filtered water or bottled water. When you use tap water that hasn't been filtered depending on where you live it will have chlorine added to it. The chlorine will get in the way of the starter culture or rennet tablets from working correctly.

Ricotta cheese is probably the simplest cheese that you can make in your cheese making adventure. It can be made and eaten in as little as 15 to 30 minutes depending on how fast your milk heats. This is a great recipe to use in lasagna, ricotta cheesecake recipe below, and almost all Italian dishes with red sauce.

I recommend making this recipe and then making the ricotta cheesecake recipe. You will be amazed at how great tasting this recipe is.

The recipe is below for download don't forget.

Feta cheese is delicious in salads, dips, meats. One tip to remember when making this since goat cheese is involved that when you store it, make sure it is in a tight container. I once had a loose glass lid tupperware that after a day in my refrigerator spread the strong smell of Feta since it is made from goat cheese in the entire refrigerator.

You can add herbs like chopped rosemary, dill, parsley, thyme into your feta cheese. If you do remember to error on the side of caution since after a day or tow of the herbs in the feta cheese will become stronger over time.

Remember recipe is below.

This is my favorite type of cheese. It is fresh, rich, and goes well on everything. Tacos, enchiladas, stuffed crepes, red cabbage goat cheese, salads. It goes great on just about everything and incredibly hard to ruin in making this recipe. Sometimes simplistic is perfection.

At the end of this video you will now know how to create your own Neufchatel Cream Cheese that you can use on bagels, cheesecakes, soup recipes, that taste delicious. This is the perfect cream cheese recipe to use in cheesecake. So much so that below I included my course on creating some of the best cheesecakes. I recommend if you are going to make this cheese, use it in the New York Cheesecake recipe and you will want to make the Cream Fraiche (a rich french sour cream) ahead of time. For one this is the best New York cheesecake recipe and the addition of these two home made cheeses will take it from a 10 to an 11.

At the end of this video you will be able to make Creme Fraiche. This is a french sour cream that is richer and fuller than store bought versions. I like to use this in cheesecake recipes, but it goes very well in making tacos, enchiladas, stroganoff, and soups.

Paneer cheese is a mild like cheese. Traditionally this is made in India and used to flavor curry dishes. This is also been called a farm cheese. This recipe will show you how to make a makeshift style cheese press using household items or even a gallon container of water. I enjoy this cheese when I make curry dishes as it will melt and if I make the curry to spicy will help cut some of the hotness down, since I like my curry full of flavor. Some people like to cut this up into small cubes and fry it in olive oil with rosemary and thyme. I have a friend who likes it this way, so give it a try.

Before going to bed I like to eat cottage cheese or have casein protein for the slow digestion after a hard workout at the gym. If you make cottage cheese you can use various percents of milk like whole milk, 1%, 2%, skim milk. Most people like to use 2% milk, but I prefer whole milk for the richer flavor. If you are looking to cut some calories than go with lower percentage milk. When serving use half and half or heavy whipping cream.

Mascarpone has always been traditionally used to make Tiramasu, but can be incorporated into lots of dessert recipes. It has a heavy but fresh taste to it from the lemon. Since I try to make gluten free style desserts I included a recipe that uses gluten free graham crackers instead of the traditional lady fingers that go into tiramasu.

If you travel to Europe you can find Formage Blanc in most stores. In the United States that is not the case since all European cheese have to be aged 60 to 90 days before they can be important. That is where the soft cheeses of Europe never make into the United states, since they would spoil before they got here. Unless you are going to an artisan cheese making store, then you need to make it yourself. It is relatively easy too. Depending on how long you let the cheese culture it begins to have thicker curds, almost like a cottage cheese spread, but more of a cheddar like acidic flavor.

In my search for a less preservative healthy cheese. You know the cheap cheese fast food burgers server or the macaroni powder in the boxed stuff you had as a kid. Well this is the result and it taste the same and is far healthier. In the process though I did find that using the colby cheese that has the yellow #5 appealed to the most people that I served it too, so I included that in this recipe. You eat with your eyes before you eat with your mouth. That is why these food colorings have made it into so many foods. When I make it just for myself and family I actually use a cheese that is pure white colby the way it is naturally. Since this course is made to appeal to the masses, in the video I used the regular Colby you can find at the store.

If you have ever baked with cultured butter it makes a world of difference in sour doe, french bread, ciabatta. For some reason it just makes it taste fresher, fluffier. The added benefit of cultured butter is that if you need to use it in a recipe you are getting the benefit of gut bacteria and the creation of fresh buttermilk from the leftovers.

I was excited to try this recipe for the simple fact that it taste great in enchiladas. Maybe it is an Arizona thing, since I am sure not everyone didn't grow up eating Mexican food. Traditionally it is used on bagels and breads in Brazil, but it can be used as almost a sour cream cheese like sauce to me. Give it a try. I have made a few batches of this.

Some tips on consistency:

If you want a thicker cheese spread place mix by hand in a mixing bowl.

If you want a medium cheese spread reduce your milk in the blending process by half.

I really enjoy making yogurt. It so simple and easy. You can flavor your yogurt however you want too. I prefer to use fresh berries over the jam/jelly type that commercial brands sell. You can sweeten with stevia, sugar, or honey. If you don't have any yogurt starter culture you can always simply create your own with just simple couple spoonfuls of live active culture plain yogurt from the store.

I love Greek Yogurt.

Tip: If you really want to make your yogurt thick strain it through a coffee filter in the refrigerator. This will thicken your yogurt up in just 6 to 8 hours.

Tips on flavoring yogurt

Kefir is a popular European drink that has active cultures in it that are healthy for gut bacteria. It is said to have come from Iceland. Making your own Kefir is a simple process that anyone can do. If you have never tried kefir before than I recommend going to a store and trying it first. When I first had kefir I didn't like it. Just like the first time I had Kombucha but now I love the stuff. I have literally been sick with the stomach flu or ate at a restaurant that gave me food poisoning and had kefir. I felt better within 30 minutes since all that gut bacteria is there to help fight. So I at least try it three times. Just like when most people first try beer or coffee you may not like it right away, but it becomes something of an acquired taste and at least this one has some health benefits included with it.

Now this is just a quick glance into how much Goat Milk to use. Simply follow the same recipe as the Kefir for milk, but replace with the goats milk and your golden. This will make a thicker kefir drink, since goats milk is richer in fat.

Coconut milk by itself won't convert as quickly with the culture, since kefir needs lactose or sugar to eat in order to multiply. That is why adding coconut oil or flakes will help speed along the process. When you are making this at the end it will be slightly bitter than originally, almost a small amount of vingear flavor like you would expect in kombucha.

Some tips on how to flavor your Kefir yogurt.

Vanilla custard is a simple dessert that you use milk to create. I like to think of it as a pudding like dessert that doesn't have as many ingridents in it or preservatives found in box pudding packets.

The No Bake Cheesecake

Have you ever been in a jam to make a dessert for someones birthday, a work function, school, holiday and really didn't want to spend a lot of time in the kitchen. On one hand you could go to the store and buy a cheesecake, but at a certain level it won't taste the same. Fear not this is a simple recipe for cheesecake that will serve the purpose well. In as little as 30 minutes you can have a home made cheese cake made that will honestly fool most people into thinking you spent hours making this delicious treat.

The New York Cheesecake

This is possibly the best recipe and my favorite. I didn't speed ahead the video in this recipe and showed all the mixing time, so if you need to click through faster because you became impatient completely understandable. Just make sure you scrape the sides of your mixing bowl with that rubber spatula.

This is possibly the best New York Cheesecake recipe you will ever taste. This is where you want to spend a little extra time before you make this creating your home made cream cheese and for the sour cream the rich Cream Fraiche. It will rock your world and be the I hope the best or at least one of the best cheesecakes that you will ever make. If you don't have time or don't want to make the cheese for the cheesecake don't worry. It still taste awesome.

Personally this cheesecake is tied for number one for me between it and my grandmothers family handed down german chocolate moose recipe.

Ricotta Cheesecake

I like the ricotta cheesecake in that it for one is lighter in calories and has a different texture than you get from other kinds of cheese cakes. It still taste delicious and not something that you commonly find in in America at least. This cheesecake on my adventure of finding the best cheesecake recipes was something of an accident. I had been talking randomly about making cheesecake when an older Italian lady I think in her 80's overheard my conversation and well simply said, "you need to make a this cheesecake. It is the best. You can't find it in stores." I know that sounds kind of weird, why am I talking about making cheesecake in public? Well I am glad I had, since well I now have this amazing recipe that I probably wouldn't have ever tried or attempted. When I think of ricotta cheese I had never associate it with a delicious cake, but something in lasagna.

You will be surprised I think if you have never baked with ricotta cheese, just how great this taste.

Guinness Beer White Dark Chocolate Cheesecake

What could be better beer and chocolate! Maybe this is just a guy thing. Even with my slight gluten allergy where my face puffs up and I become slightly mooned faced like will smith in that movie hitch when he eats shell fish, I love to have a guinness. It is to me my favorite beer, with gluten free beer not even on the same map. No need to feel bad for me there is always apple cider, wine, mead, etc...

This is a special recipe, one that will teach you a basic of adding alcohol into your cheesecake. You can experiment and add any kind of alcohol you want in replacement of the beer.

Some suggestions bourbon, whiskey, (not honey whiskey not good at all trust me), rum, vodka.

Use your judgement here on flavor combinations.

I happen to love mint chocolate chip ice-cream. So much so that well I needed to have a perfect mint chocolate chip cheesecake. I know this may sound kind of funny, but saint Patricks day is my favorite holiday. I am not knocking christmas, but there is always the pressure of gift giving and the stress of it all. Saint Patricks day is one of those holidays that there isn't much stress at all, but you still spend time with friends, family, just enjoying each others company.

This is a perfect dessert for the holiday party. It can be given out in hand held bites that people can use there hands to eat. You can always eat it with a fork, but no need to fancy with this dessert. It a great treat that you can eat with your hands.

There are very few people in the world that don't drink coffee. This is a hit with almost everyone I have had that has tried it, second to my New York Cheesecake. If your a coffee lover yourself than this is the recipe for you. Word of caution, don't get super heavy handed with he caramel sauce for decoration. When you serve it you can always have the caramel syrup there if your guest wants more. What will happen if your coffee is weak when you made it is the caramel flavor may take over the subtle hints of coffee bean.

Tip: If you are using a coffee maker to make your coffee double brew it. That means take all the coffee that went into the coffee pot and run through the coffee maker one more time. This will increase the flavor of the coffee closer to an expresso.

This is a simple way on how to make a gluten free brownie crust. Some natural grocery stores you can find a gluten free crust, but if you don't have a gluten allergy, than you can just use any store bought version you want.

Simple way to make a graham cracker crust using graham cracker crumbles. If you are like me you can find gluten free graham cracker crumbs at a natural grocery store. If you don't have a gluten allergy than any box from the store will do.

Over the cheese making experience you can spend $7 to $8 on about 5 packets of mesophilic culture. If you make alot of cheese than you could spend anywhere from $400 to $500 a year. A simple thing to do is just create your own mother culture. When you are making your own mother culture, this is where cleanliness counts. If you get stray bacteria into your culture it can change the taste of any cheese you make after. Even ruining the batch and all cheeses after. I would say on average you can probably make 7 to 8 mother cultures before you might have to start over again with a fresh culture. This will all depend on the bacteria in the air or how clean everything is.

Just like the mesophilic culture Kefir culture can get expensive over time. One benefit though is you can often go to the store and get kefir already in a bottle and active and use that is your starter culture. Otherwise you can use freeze dried starter culture.

Nothing is better than beer and cheese dips combined together. This is a super bowl favorite at parties served with pretzels, chips, and vegetables.

Ricotta dip is one thing that is quick to make in a pinch for an appetizer served with a vegetable, cracker, chip, bread.

One tip is to add half of the garlic the recipe calls for, taste, and then decide if you want to add more garlic. This really vaires on how strong the minced garlic is. I have had one recipe where the garlic was practically all I tasted.

I grew up eating macaroni and cheese. When you look at the ingredients though it is evident that it is not the healthiest option at all. In fact far from it. I typically use white cheddar or white Colby jack cheese, but in my taste testing people preferred the yellow from the Colby cheese with the yellow#5 in the Colby Cheese. It is a reminder of the yellow in the traditional boxed mac and cheese. It is said that you eat with your eyes 80% of the time. Which I can even think myself is true. I would go for the delcious looking one that may not taste great, over a sludge of food that taste amazing.

I use gluten free elbow noodles, but if you don't have a gluten allergy feel free to use any kind of elbow noodle you want.