The Waiting Game

Once bitten by the cheese-making bug, you will go to extraordinary lengths to provide the perfect maturing cave.

Moorlands has dedicated, imaginative customers sharing their solutions to ensure their home-made cheese has the best start in life.

UK cities are particular hot spots, with cheese making happening in flats, terraces and even bedsits. Under stairs cupboards are being turned into caves; insulated boxes are springing up on balconies, in garden sheds and garages. Very important to make sure your insulated box is rodent proof though ...

Of course, most modern fridges have much better temperature control nowadays, with the bottom salad compartment being perfect for maturing soft cheeses and great to store matured, hard cheese between meals.

Making hard cheese is all about the waiting game, but making cheese regularly will reward you with a succession of delicious achievements.

For more cheesemaking tips and information about our kits and products, please visit www.cheesemaking.co.uk

A New Start

With the start of a new year you may be considering taking up a new hobby or pastime. There are so many great activities available, but if you’re looking for something really different that provides a tasty end result, then cheesemaking could be the pastime for you.

Cheese is a very nutritious foodstuff (an added bonus if you’ve made a New Year’s resolution to eat more healthily) as it is a great source of protein, calcium and vitamins. The options you have when making cheese are also endless, with a great variety of hard and soft cheeses to choose from and the scope to add herbs, seasoning and flavourings of your choice to create even more possibilities.

A great way to get started is with one of our comprehensive kits that include the essentials to get you started, together with full instructions. www.cheesemaking.co.uk/cheese-making-cheese-making-kits

We also supply a range of equipment and ingredients, such as rennet, to provide you with everything that you need to make delicious cheese.

So what are you waiting for? Take up cheesemaking today!

Keep It Fresh!

Once you’ve made your tasty cheese, you want to be sure to store it correctly in order to keep it fresh. Many people think the best way to store cheese is by wrapping it in cling film (indeed many shop-bought cheeses are wrapped in plastic) but this traps moisture and encourages the growth of mould. We recommend that you wrap your cheese in waxed paper or ultra-fine polypropylene sheets (depending on the type of cheese), which will prevent the cheese from becoming too dry and prevent the build-up of excess moisture. To store soft cheeses, wax coated paper product code 0154 is best, whilst hard cheeses benefit from being wrapped in ultra-fine polypropylene sheets, product code 0157. See http://www.cheesemaking.co.uk/cheese-making-cheese-wrap to read more and place an order.

Then there’s the question of whether to refrigerate cheese. It’s possible to keep hard cheeses in an environment with a constant temperature of 8-15°C, but soft cheeses really do need refrigeration. To get the best of the cheese’s flavour, it’s best to remove it from the fridge up to an hour before serving.

Another important thing to remember is that mould ripened cheeses need to be stored completely separately from non-mould ripened cheeses, to avoid cross contamination.  Blue and white mould ripened cheeses also need to be stored separately from one another. If you need to store both in the same area, they should be placed in different, sealed containers and when handling the cheeses, the blue cheese boxes should be opened and handled last, to minimise cross contamination.

 

Got any questions about cheese making and storage? Then visit Moorlands http://www.cheesemaking.co.uk/qa where we’re pleased to provide lots of answers!

Softly, Softly

Soft cheeses are delicious served simply with savoury biscuits, apples, grapes or a glass of wine, but there are some great recipes that you can make with them too.

Try cooking some mushrooms in butter and garlic and serving on top of brie (or a similar cheese) melted on wholemeal toast. Or combine soft goat’s cheese with chopped herbs and seasoning, halve some small tomatoes and scoop out the centre, then use the cheese mixture to stuff the tomatoes.

To liven up chicken breasts, make a slit to form a pocket and insert a generous helping of soft cheese and herb mixture before baking, or for a sweet take on soft cheese, add some sugar and vanilla essence to taste, mix well, and use to stuff fruits such as dates, figs or halved pears.

 

Of course, before you try any of these tasty serving ideas you’ll need some soft cheese, so why not try making your own? With our easy-to-follow soft cheese kit, you can make your own tasty version, with the option to add herbs or flavourings at source!

Visit http://www.cheesemaking.co.uk/soft-cheese-making-kit to learn more or order your kit from Moorlands. Enjoy!

Why Make Your Own Cheese?

There are many reasons for making your own cheese at home. In addition to the enjoyment of the process and the satisfaction of achievement, there are the added benefits of making cheese to your own taste and to suit your personal dietary requirements. Then of course, there are the health benefits.

Much publicity has been given over the years to controlling the amount of salt that we consume in our diet, encouraging us to stay within guidelines set for its recommended daily intake. By definition many cheeses require salt to aid with the cheesemaking process and act as a preservative. However, certain soft cheeses may be made without the introduction of salt, whilst when making other types of cheese you are able to control the amount, type and quality of salt that you use. At Moorlands we recommend using our fine grade, organic sea salt (see here)

And of course, cheese is a great source of calcium needed for healthy development of bones and teeth in children and to stave off osteoporosis in later life. In fact, why not get the kids involved in the cheesemaking process with one of our Kids Cheesemaking Kits (more here) that help to make cheese healthy and fun?

Whether you use cows’, ewes’ or goats’ milk, make cheese to a traditional recipe or add your own herbs or spices, the beauty of making your own cheese is that you’re in control and can enjoy making the cheese that you really want to eat.

For more information please visit www.cheesemaking.co.uk

Or you can call 0196 335 0634 or complete our form here