Blog & Recipes

Making homemade cheese is one of the most satisfying and surprisingly simple kitchen adventures you can undertake. For centuries, people have been turning milk into magic, and now it’s your turn. If you've ever asked, "How is cheese made?" or been curious about making cheese at home, you’re in the right place. The idea of crafting your own cheddar or stirring up a batch of creamy cottage cheese might sound a bit daunting, but the truth is - it’s much more approachable than it seems. At its heart, cheesemaking is an ancient, natural process. With just a few basic tools,...

It’s pretty much a given there are going to be a few issues when you are first starting out, it’s all part and parcel of the cheesemaking process. There are many variables and you will be dealing with natural products, so pinning down one thing to blame can be tricky. Without using professional measuring equipment, it can be even harder to know if it was the acidity, the milk, the heat, the humidity, timing, cleanliness, the starter culture, the water or even the air itself. Like any new hobby things can go wrong for the inexperienced cheesemaker and even the...

Cheese cultures are an important part of the cheesemaking process and their importance should not be overlooked. Yes, you can use something to acidify the milk, such as lemon juice or vinegar but the resultant cheeses will likely be bland and lack flavour.  From a safety point of view, it is also best to use a starter culture. The use of vinegar, lemon juice, tartaric acid or citric acid should really only be reserved  for fresh cheeses that have a low finishing pH.  When starting out it can be a bit confusing as to which culture is most suited to...

  When ageing certain cheeses such as Gouda cheese waxes and cheese coatings are often used. They are the protective coatings that are applied to cheese. The purpose of these coatings is to protect the cheese from moisture, contaminants and mould growth. Cheese waxes and cheese coatings can be made from a variety of substances, but they all have one common goal - to keep the cheese fresh for as long as possible. Cheese wax is a type of wax that is typically made from a paraffin based product, or less commonly from a microcrystalline source, both of which are...

Commonly used in cooking and in the case of Mascarpone, regularly in desserts, this is an easy product to make yourself at home. Often shop bought sour cream or Crème Fraîche can be fairly boring, bland to the taste and a bit lacking in the flavour department.  So what is it? Crème Fraîche (fresh cream in French) is a thick cultured cream that has been soured using a culture to produce a tasty, slightly soured cream. It has excellent thickening properties and is great in soups, curries and other sauces.  Crème Fraîche differs slightly from soured cream in that it...