Artisan Cheese Making at Home: Techniques & Recipes for Mastering World-Class Cheeses [Hardcover]

Mary Karlin (Author), Ed Anderson (Author)

Book Description

Release date: August 23, 2011

Just a century ago, cheese was still a relatively regional and European phenomenon, and cheese making techniques were limited by climate, geography, and equipment. But modern technology along with the recent artisanal renaissance has opened up the diverse, time-honored, and dynamic world of cheese to enthusiasts willing to take its humble fundamentals—milk, starters, coagulants, and salt—and transform them into complex edibles. 

Artisan Cheese Making at Home is the most ambitious and comprehensive guide to home cheese making, filled with easy-to-follow instructions for making mouthwatering cheese and dairy items. Renowned cooking instructor Mary Karlin has spent years working alongside the country’s most passionate artisan cheese producers—cooking, creating, and learning the nuances of their trade. She presents her findings in this lavishly illustrated guide, which features more than eighty recipes for a diverse range of cheeses: from quick and satisfying Mascarpone and Queso Blanco to cultured products like Crème Fraîche and Yogurt to flavorful selections like Saffron-Infused Manchego, Irish-Style Cheddar, and Bloomy Blue Log Chèvre. 

Artisan Cheese Making at Home begins with a primer covering milks, starters, cultures, natural coagulants, and bacteria—everything the beginner needs to get started. The heart of the book is a master class in home cheese making: building basic skills with fresh cheeses like ricotta and working up to developing and aging complex mold-ripened cheeses. Also covered are techniques and equipment, including drying, pressing, and brining, as well as molds and ripening boxes. Last but not least, there is a full chapter on cooking with cheese that includes more than twenty globally-influenced recipes featuring the finished cheeses, such as Goat Cheese and Chive Fallen Soufflés with Herb-Citrus Vinaigrette and Blue Cheese, Bacon, and Pear Galette. 

Offering an approachable exploration of the alchemy of this extraordinary food, Artisan Cheese Making at Home proves that hand-crafting cheese is not only achievable, but also a fascinating and rewarding process.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Featured Recipe: Brew-Curds Cheddar
Makes: 2 pounds

Milk: Pasteurized whole cow’s milk

Start to Finish: 4 to 6 weeks: about 5 hours to make the cheese; 13 hours to press; 1 to 2 days to dry; 4 to 6 weeks to age

Ingredients
2 gallons pasteurized whole cow’s milk
1/2 teaspoon Meso II powdered mesophilic starter culture
1/4 teaspoon liquid annatto diluted in 1/4 cup cool nonchlorinated water (optional)
1/2 teaspoon calcium chloride diluted in 1/4 cup cool nonchlorinated water
1/2 teaspoon liquid rennet diluted in 1/4 cup cool nonchlorinated water
One 12-ounce bottle dark ale or stout at room temperature
1 tablespoon kosher salt (preferably Diamond Crystal brand) or cheese salt

Instructions
1. Heat the milk in a nonreactive 10-quart stockpot set in a 98°F water bath over low heat. Bring the milk to 88°F over 10 minutes. Turn off the heat.

2. Sprinkle the starter over the milk and let it rehydrate for 5 minutes. Mix well using a whisk in an up-and-down motion. Cover and maintain 88°F, letting the milk ripen for 45 minutes. Add the annatto, if using, and gently whisk in for 1 minute. Add the calcium chloride and gently whisk in for 1 minute, and then incorporate the rennet in the same way. Cover and let sit, maintaining 88°F for 30 to 45 minutes, or until the curds give a clean break.

3. Still maintaining 88°F, cut the curds into 1/2-inch pieces and let sit for 5 minutes. Over low heat, slowly bring the curds to 102°F over 40 minutes. Stir continuously to keep the curds from matting together; they will release whey, firm up slightly, and shrink to the size of peanuts.

4. Once the curds are at 102°F, turn off the heat, maintain the temperature, and let the curds rest undisturbed for 30 minutes; they will sink to the bottom.

5. Place a strainer over a bowl or bucket large enough to capture the whey. Line it with damp butter muslin and ladle the curds into it. Let drain for 10 minutes, or until the whey stops dripping. Reserve one-third of the whey and return it to the pot.

6. Return the whey in the pot to 102°F. Place the curds in a colander, set the colander over the pot, and cover. Carefully maintaining the 102°F temperature of the whey, wait 10 minutes for the curds to melt into a slab. Flip the slab of curds, and repeat every 15 minutes for 1 hour. The curds should maintain a 95°F to 100°F temperature from the heated whey below and continue to expel whey into the pot. After 1 hour, the curds will look shiny and white, like poached chicken.

7. Transfer the warm slab of curds to a cutting board and cut into 2 by 1/2-inch strips, like French fries. Place the warm strips in a bowl and cover completely with the brew. Soak for 45 minutes. Drain and discard the brew. Sprinkle the salt over the curds and gently toss to mix.

8. Line an 8-inch tomme mold with damp cheesecloth. Pack the drained curds into the mold, cover with the cloth tails, set the follower on top, and press at 8 pounds for 1 hour. Remove the cheese from the mold, unwrap, flip, and redress, then press at 10 pounds for 12 hours.

9. Remove the cheese from the mold and cloth and pat dry. Air-dry on a cheese mat at room temperature for 1 to 2 days, or until the surface is dry to the touch.

10. Wax the cheese (see page 28) and ripen at 50°F to 55°F and 85 percent humidity for 4 to 6 weeks, flipping the cheese daily for even ripening.

Review

“Whether you're a fervent cheese fan, skilled fromage maker or dabbler in wholesome, handcrafted foods, it's definitely worth picking up a copy of Artisan Cheese Making at Home.”
—Zester Daily, 10/25/11

“With her handsome new book, Artisan Cheesemaking at Home, Mary Karlin has raised the stakes for urban homesteaders.”
—San Francisco Chronicle, 10/23/11

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Ten Speed Press; 1 edition (August 23, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1607740087
• ISBN-13: 978-1607740087
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 8.8 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (67 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,183 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #5 in Books > Cookbooks, Food & Wine > Cooking by Ingredient > Cheese & Dairy
  • #6 in Books > Professional & Technical > Professional Science > Agricultural Sciences > Animal Husbandry
  • #18 in Books > Cookbooks, Food & Wine > Culinary Arts & Techniques

More About the Author

MARY KARLIN is a passionate cook, cooking teacher, cookbook author, and freelance food writer. She was a founding staff member, currently a visiting chef- instructor, at the award-winning Ramekins Culinary School in Sonoma, CA, where she has taught wood-fired cooking, cheese making, and Mediterranean-themed cooking classes for over ten years.
Mary is also a regular chef-instructor at The Fork at Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese, and The Cheese School of San Francisco, as well as other prominent culinary venues around the United States. She teaches an online course: Artisan Cheese Making: Chevre, Mozzarella, and Cheddar at www.craftsy.com/ext/artisancheese_fp.
Visit www.marykarlin.com for her active schedule and newsletter sign-up. Visit www.masteringfermentation.com for a sneak peak at the upcoming book.

Mary's acclaimed books, Wood-Fired Cooking (2009), and Artisan Cheese Making at Home, (2011) are published by Ten Speed Press. Her third book, Mastering Fermentation, will also be published by Ten Speed Press August 27, 2013. When not traveling to teach, Mary splits her time between Northern California and Arizona where she makes cheese, ferments other foods, and cooks at her wood-fired oven.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

187 of 188 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars My new recommended beginners book! September 7, 2011

By Cheesenerd

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

I would consider myself an advancing novice cheese maker in that I have been making cheese for many years now, have made many different types of cheese several times (including more difficult ones), yet I feel I have a lot to learn yet before joining the elite ranks of advanced cheese makers.
When I bought this book, I was under the asumption that it was targeted toward a beginner cheese maker. I have read all of the introductory material and glanced through nearly all recipes. Please consider my review from this perspective.

First thing I will say is that I love this book! I feel it is very well done and hosts some great cheese pictures (Always a huge plus for me)! I knew it was going to be well worth it when I saw that Peter Reinhart (Author of "The Bread Baker's Apprentice", my favorite bread book) wrote the forward.
I feel that the instruction is clear and this author has done a great job of thinking about the weird little "common sense" things which tend to get left out of cheese making books. Stuff like recommending that you sanitize you equipment in bleach then dry on a rack on top of a cookie sheet before starting your cheese making session. To some this may be assumed, but if you have never worked food service- proper sanitation may not be second nature to you.
Another thing I really appreciate is the author's presentation of equipment and ingredients. All items are explained in good detail. I was very impressed with the fact that she included a chart with many of the most common cheese starter cultures, what they are used for, and which vendors carry them. I will be photo copying this chart and laminating it to keep with my equipment (big +1 there!).
The pictures, as I mentioned, are very nice.
Now, the recipes. There are a handful of books out there with more cheese recipes than there are in this one. However, this author seems to have gone for depth instead of breadth. That is to say that the recipes chosen (which does not comprise a small list by any means) are very interesting and compelling to try (I cant wait to make the saffron infused manchego!!).
In the spirit of this being a learning book, the author has chosen to organize recipes by level of advancement. Simple cheeses such as paneer come first while more challenging ones such as cheddar appear later. I personally really like this in a beginning cheese making book.

So in summary, I strongly recommend this book to those new to cheese making. I think this book is very well done. The greatest strength of this book is undoubtedly the organization of the material, the pictures are a nice bonus. This book will now be my standard recommended Beginner-Intermediate book.

56 of 58 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Replaces all my other cheese books September 4, 2011

By Sarah Shoemaker

Format:Hardcover

As a relatively new beginner to cheese making this book has brought me through the baby steps and into intermediate cheeses with clarity and ease.

This book has become my go to guide for cheese, easily replacing my other books near my cheese making space.

Guides a beginner through the first cheese and leads up to fairly advanced techniques.

Geared towards small scall cheese making most batches are 1 to 2 gallon sized.

I was very excited to see the recipes for a couple of Mexican cheeses that I have been unsuccessful up til now in finding the recipes online including oaxaca and cotija.

I have already recommended this book to many people.

Note: This book is very specific in the cultures it recommends (there is no "one packet of DVI mesophilic" instructions) for each recipe so a true beginner might not be able to tackle all the cheese due to lack of different specific cultures. However, the book does include a chart so you could likely determine if you could sub what you have in place of what is recommended in the recipe for a similar if not identical cheese, when I did not have the specific meso culture called for I just subbed my generic meso culture with good results.

58 of 65 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Close, but could be better December 4, 2011

By cheesy

Format:Hardcover

This is a GORGEOUS and inspiring book. You will want to make and eat cheese of every variety. My beef lies with the instructions. This book needed better editing. Sometimes it says to take the pot out of the water bath when it never told you to put it in a water bath in the first place. And it turns out that highly pasteurized milk needs double the rennet. So THAT explains the cream cheese I made that is more like sour cream...