The Big Cheesemaking Kit
We spotted this kit a while back at the Clarkston Farmers Market, being sold by Creeside Charcuterie. The kit is made in Edinburgh and is available online or through Creeside. I was pretty interested in the kit, and thankfully Santa remembered and got me the goats cheese kit for Christmas! I've had a go of making it this afternoon. All I needed to buy that wasn't in the kit was goats milk. The kit comes with everything else - salt, citric acid, butter muslin and a thermometer.
The first step is to heat the milk (with citric acid) to 180F in a saucepan, stirring. This took me about 10-15 minutes all up and was quite relaxing as I sipped my Pimms.
Next, it was time to strain. This is where things didn't quite go to plan. I strained it through the butter muslin, but nearly all of it drained through. At this point I was a bit frustrated and confused as I didn't know what to do, being a total novice! Thankfully Ailsa was on twitter (@bigcheesemaking) and suggested I reheat the milk, add a little more citric acid and strain through doubled-over muslin. This seemed to do the trick!
I left it to strain for 30 minutes, and then had my very own goats cheese! I was absolutely over the moon when I tasted it as it really is unlike shop-bought goats cheese. This is a lot creamier and silkier and is delicious on bread or crackers. It has quite a mild taste which I've found tastes great with chilli and spicy flavours, like mango chutney.
The next day I made bread with the leftover whey as I like to try not to waste anything! I cannot wait to make more cheese with this kit.
Hope everyone has had a lovely Christmas break, and is looking forward to celebrating New Year's Eve/Hogmanay! Thanks all for your tips, comments and chats over the past year - I promise we will be writing up more blog posts in 2013!
