(Photo credit) - Chef Olelo pa'a Faith Ogawa with her mobile phone...
I attended a fun all day cheesemaking class yesterday in Waimea, offered by Vicki Dunaway who works with Dick and Heather Threfall at their Hawai'i Island Goat Dairy.
We donned aprons and hairnets and after reviewing the packed full folder-packets Vicki had put together for us, we got started with the cheesemaking process.
(Photo) Olelo pa'a adding renet to the feta mix
We made several cheeses in class - cottage cheese, feta, havarti and camembert, but the camembert didn't turn out so it was added back to the whey from the other cheeses.
(Photo) Feta cheese in molds
My share of the feta cheese was brought home and set to brining in a 10% salt to water mix. I will be packing it in olive oil and adding fresh rosemary, garlic cloves and some of the red hot Hawaiian chile peppers to it.
Several members of the class took half gallon jars of whey home to make ricotta with. I took 2 half gallon jars.
(Photo) Filling half gallon jars with whey after the class.
I started to make my ricotta when I got home - it was a very primitive set up since I had to use my meat thermometer to make sure I reached the right temp for the whey/milk combination and my meat thermometer shaft was not long enough to just clip on the edge of my stockpot... I had to hold the thermometer with one hand and stir with the other...hot work...but I got it done and to the mix I added the bit of salt and then apple cider vinegar...and made ricotta!
(Photo) Vicki during class
Ratio of whey and milk to acid for ricotta = 2 gallon fresh whey - 1 quart milk - 1/4 cup acid (lemon juice, lime juice or apple cider vinegar)
I started with about 1 gallon of fresh whey (Ph of about 5) and added 1/2 qt no fat milk - if you want it creamier use whole milk or add a tablespoon of cream - and 1/8 cup apple cider vinegar
Heat to 200 degrees slowly on low temp - use a long shaft thermometer that you can clip on lip of stockpot - stirring often.
(Photo) is it cheese yet?
It took a while of stirring the whey, milk combination to reach the 200 degrees needed and since my thermomether is a meat one and not one of the ones with long shaft, it was ackward to hold it with one hand over the edge of the stockpot and into the liquid to get a constant reading....but I will certainly be investing in a proper thermometer now....
At about 140 degrees add salt. I used less than a Tbsp. ...
Continue heating and stirring periodically until it reaches 200 degrees. do not let it boil
Turn off and add acid (lemon juice, lime juice or apple cider vinegar- I used the apple cider vinegar) and stir.
Let it sit a while
Prepare a colander lined with layers of cheesecloth and set it over a grid (I used one of my cookie cooling racks) or an oven rack - and set it over a larger container to catch the whey dripping - I used a large glass bowl.
Start laddling the mixture into the cheesecloth covered colander and keep adding as it drains - let it sit a few minutes. You can squeeze it to drain more but I didn't want a very dry ricotta so I let it retain some moisture.
(Photo) my ricotta - I got about a pound of ricotta for my gallon of whey and milk mix.
The leftover whey I saved to add to our dog Phoebe's food - she loved it! If you have chickens or livestock mix it with their water. According to one of the attendees, a couple of days after starting to mix whey in the water for her chickens, the eggs were actually bigger and better.
I bought a cheesemaking book and will be trying my hand at others... I'm strting with the easier ones...! I think either mascarpone or queso blanco will be next...
Susanne, there is a Yahoo group where a few of us who are interested in making cheese have joined to just stay in touch....I will send you an invite but the cheesemaker has moved off island back to the mainland. We're still looking for more cheesemakers....
Posted by: Sonia | September 02, 2011 at 05:37 PM
Mahalo Sonia for you encouragment, as I can see on your blogs some VERY successful cheese making is taking place here on the Big Island and it not only looks delicious, but also like everyone is having a wonderful time at it! I will stay posted to see if there is a class soon in Hilo, I would love to attend.
Posted by: Susanne Baca | September 02, 2011 at 05:28 PM
Susanne, quite a few of us living on this island are learning to make cheese. We have two successful goat cheese farms on this island. Please, don't let something Jeff said turn you off trying to make cheese. Sometimes he gets a bit too carried away with his own personna..... Just saying....!
Posted by: Sonia | August 31, 2011 at 10:12 AM
May I ask a question? Today I stopped by the restaurant supply on Hilo Bay Front to inquire about cheese making supplies and the proprietor suggested that I do a little research about making cheeses in Hawaii, he mentioned that we have a lot of bacteria in our humid climate that poses many more difficulties than normally found elsewhere. Can someone shed any light on that aspect? I live in a heavily forested area of upper Puna, the average temperature in my home during daytime hours are 77-80 and around 68-70 at night. Greatly looking forward to cheese making!
Mahalo nui loa!
Susanne
Posted by: Susanne Baca | August 30, 2011 at 05:11 PM
Hola, Maria....Thanks for reading and commenting.......it was a lot of fun to attend the class and I also attended another one to learn how to make mozzarella. I found that it is much more fun when you make cheese with at least someone else...!
Let me know when you do and I hope you post it to Gather!
Posted by: Sonia | August 19, 2011 at 10:09 AM
Thank you for sharing this! I actually "copied" you and got this book....I will be trying my hand at making cheese next. :) I have made ricotta in the past, and it is just so much better than store bought! So now I am going to try others...wish me luck!
Posted by: MariaS Handmade Love | August 19, 2011 at 09:56 AM
Aloha Julie....the book I got durint the class was by Ricki, but the class was taught by Vicki....who is also a cheesemaker, originally from Virginia, but move to the Big Island a couple of years or so ago....
Posted by: Sonia | July 13, 2010 at 06:38 AM
Ah yes, Ricki the Cheese Queen. I read about her in Barbara Kingsolver's book and have been wanting to try cheese making ever since. Sounds like a really great day, you Big Islanders have all the fun!
Posted by: Julie | July 12, 2010 at 08:56 PM
I'll let the Hawaii group know when I hear
I bought the book from Vicki...she had several copies available for sale during the class
Posted by: Sonia | July 12, 2010 at 07:18 PM
thats great there will be another class, i would love to do one with slow foods, thanks for sharing this...where did you find the book sonia?
Posted by: noel | July 12, 2010 at 04:02 PM