Homesteading - Cheesemaking and Canning and Stuff (oh, my)

[Brigid Barry]

Edited: I decided this morning that I want this to be more of a homesteading thread for anything that doesn't fit into the gardening thread or the chickens thread. Go nuts!

Original Post:
I am tinkering with making cheese and got some homemade mozzarella that made some okay mozarella sticks, and I heated and strained the whey for some ricotta. Unfortunately I was still left with half a gallon (or more) of whey.

There are a couple of garden uses, and the internet says that I can use it as a base for soups and stews or boil pasta in it. Whatever I do, I can't put it down the drain because it can screw up my septic system.

Are there any other food use for whey? I'd there a way to dehydrate it into a powder? The biggest roadblock to me making more cheese is just so. much. whey.

I'd also like to know about anyone else's experiences, successes, tips, tricks, recommendations, anything!

 

[Little Anonymous Me]

I came here so ready to spill my beans, but then I remembered that most people want dairy cheese recipes.

 

[Brigid Barry]

Hey, non-dairy recipes are fine too. Someone might want to make vegan cheese.

 

[Lakey]

I make paneer from time to time, and I have to admit that I’ve never figured out a good use for the whey. I have used it to cook dal (lentils) but there is always more than I need, and when I’ve tried to save it, it just sits in the refrigerator taking up space. I’ve never looked into trying to make whey powder out of it. Maybe boiling the stuffing out of it and then pouring what’s left into a tray in the oven? But I bet it would take forever.

 

[Unimportant]

Is yours now acidic whey (i.e. did you add acid to make the ricotta after adding rennet to make the mozz)?

 

[Little Anonymous Me]

Hey, non-dairy recipes are fine too. Someone might want to make vegan cheese.

My cashew cheese and I will be taking questions and derailing the thread as needed.

 

[Unimportant]

If it's sweet, you can use it instead of water in fruit smoothies etc.

If it's acidic, and you've removed both the casein and the whey proteins, you'll still have some protein left, and some lactose (so don't give it to lactose intolerant people!), and plenty of vitamins and minerals, sot even with that acid tang yes you can use it for soups and stews to up their nutritive content. To make rice with.

As noted above, dehydrating a gallon of water to get a teaspoon of whatever's left would be impractical. If you can't do anything else with it, pour it into a shallow pan (get an old cake tin or skillet at the op shop) and put it out for the chooks. Or feed it to the pigs if, unlike me mine, your spouse loves you enough to let you have a pig.

 

[Brigid Barry]

My cashew cheese and I will be taking questions and derailing the thread as needed.

I'll take it!

 

[Unimportant]

My cashew cheese and I will be taking questions and derailing the thread as needed.

Come on, spill!

I use soaked cashews pureed into a paste with spices to add to Indian curry dishes, as they give a wonderful flavour and texture, but how do you make cheese? Is it sliceable, or is it more like cottage cheese?

 

[ChaseJxyz]

I googled and I found [this]

• Booze it Up! - There are so many ways to get creative with whey. Inspired by my awesome homesteading buddy Heidi Kooy of Itty Bitty Farm in the City, who brought a whey-based lemonade to a potluck, I turned my extra whey into a martini I dubbed "Lemon Meringue Pie". Vodka, limoncello (if you have it), lemon juice and whey mixed together made a lovely, almost (but not quite) creamy drink reminiscent of its namesake. Equally tasty with lime - try it! You can see the recipe in this video.

 

[Unimportant]

My cashew cheese and I will be taking questions and derailing the thread as needed.

Do you make tofu, too? Is it easy? Is it made with whole soybeans or soybean milk? (Admits I've never actually tasted tofu, but still dead curious.)

 

[Unimportant]

BOOZE!!! Chase always has the best ideas

 

[Little Anonymous Me]

I'll take it!

Come on, spill!

I use soaked cashews pureed into a paste with spices to add to Indian curry dishes, as they give a wonderful flavour and texture, but how do you make cheese? Is it sliceable, or is it more like cottage cheese?

Okay, so I soak the cashews in boiled (water I just boiled, not boiled water that's cooled lol). Then I pulse the crap out of them in my food processor. I add about 1.5 tbsp of water for 2/3 a cup of cashews. I also add in white miso paste and nutritional yeast for umami, on top of the spices I want. Last thing is coconut oil, which adds smoothness and setting power. I let it chill for about 12 hours (recipe says less, LAM says more is better). I'm still tweaking it a bit, but it's been really nice to have cheese cubes again!

Do you make tofu, too? Is it easy? Is it made with whole soybeans or soybean milk? (Admits I've never actually tasted tofu, but still dead curious.)

Noooooo. I make my own cheese because vegan cheese is expensive, but tofu is really cheap and I'm not that industrious lol.

 

[Brigid Barry]

Okay, so I soak the cashews in boiled (water I just boiled, not boiled water that's cooled lol). Then I pulse the crap out of them in my food processor. I add about 1.5 tbsp of water for 2/3 a cup of cashews. I also add in white miso paste and nutritional yeast for umami, on top of the spices I want. Last thing is coconut oil, which adds smoothness and setting power. I let it chill for about 12 hours (recipe says less, LAM says more is better). I'm still tweaking it a bit, but it's been really nice to have cheese cubes again!

Stupid question because I know nothing, what can you do with it? Slice it, shred it? Does it melt?

 

[Unimportant]

Words of sort-of-wisdom from an ex (and future) cheesemaker:

Do you know why they call cheeses like Cheddar and Parmesan "hard"? It's nothing to do with the sharpness of the knife needed to cut them. It's because they're effing hard to make. Okay, the first steps aren't too bad, but trying to maintain temperature and humidity without they going all mouldy and yerks for months and months? Effing impossible, unless you have dunno a cheese cave or something.

Camembert and Brie. What's teh difference? Hell if I know. They're not too hard to make; they are ripened and edible within a week or two (and then go off quickly). But: Once you get the mould spores needed for the coating/bloom to form, they're in your house forever. Every cheese you make that's not eaten completely fresh will end up with that bloom forming.

Feta is dead easy. The hardest part is finding a place to purchase the enzymes (lipases) to use in cow milk; they're present naturally in goat milk. Other than ricotta, it's probably the easiest cheese to make.

Halloumi. I take it back. That's the easiest cheese to make.

Wait. No. Paneer. Even easier.

 

[Little Anonymous Me]

Stupid question because I know nothing, what can you do with it? Slice it, shred it? Does it melt?

Not a stupid question! The amount of water determines how firm the cheeze is. My firm one is for cubing and would shred well. My softer one can be cubed and is also spreadable. Haven't tried melting these, but I feel like they would do well!

 

[Unimportant]

Not a stupid question! The amount of water determines how firm the cheeze is. My firm one is for cubing and would shred well. My softer one can be cubed and is also spreadable. Haven't tried melting these, but I feel like they would do well!

Fascinating!

I'd love to try it, but cashews are soooo expensive here (about fifteen dollars a pound!) so I only use them to add a dash of taste/texture to a dish. (NZ's single biggest industry is dairy, so while we do pay export prices, dairy cheese is still always gonna be cheaper than cashews, or honestly even tofu.)

 

[Little Anonymous Me]

Ooph, that's so high!! I love cashews, so that would hit me hard. I'm shocked tofu is so expensive there as well-I pay about $2.50 for a pound here in the Great Swamp.

 

[Unimportant]

Ooph, that's so high!! I love cashews, so that would hit me hard. I'm shocked tofu is so expensive there as well-I pay about $2.50 for a pound here in the Great Swamp.

It's about double that here, and I can buy a block of basic edam type cheese (with the bonus of lots of calcium) for close to the same price, so.....

If I were vegan then obvs I'd go that route. We aren't. I'm not opposed to eating animals as long as I know they had a happy, safe, natural life. I know not everyone is the same, and I respect everyone's food choices.

I dislike buying commercial dairy products because I have issues with the welfare standards of our dairy industry, hence my keenness to get another house cow and do our own dairy. We only buy true free range pork (occasional treat). We raise and care for and cull (with help as needed) our own beef and chickens and eggs, so we know exactly how our protein lived and died.

When I eat at restaurants I try to order vegetarian to avoid the conflict of interest. But for some reason I have never had tofu!

I'd chomp on cashews every danged day as a snack if I could afford it. But holy mother of dogs, nuts are expensive here! Pecans, god help us all, are like forty dollars a kilo -- if you can find them.

 

[Unimportant]

I'm in the "love food, hate waste" camp, so I use EVERYTHING -- and, when I can't get anything more out of it, like milk --> cheese --> ricotta, then yep, it's soups or stews or at a last resort feed it to the chickens or cows (and then eat the chickens or cows). Onion skins, mushroom stalks, celery leaves, pumpkin rinds -- they all go into a bag in the freezer with chicken bones, and when it's overflowing I make stock. Leftover broccoli plants, gone-to-seed silverbeet, and grass clippings go to the cows. Stale bread becomes bread cubes or bread crumbs. Dried up bits of cheese goes to the chickens.

We are extremely dedicated to ensuring our animals have good lives: the chooks raise their babies (with a daily smorgasbord of "breadcrumb mites", "rice maggots", "cheese worms", "strawberry beetles", "beef bugs", and candy sprinkles on their probiotic yoghurt .... yes, I am that bloody crazy!) to get them off to a good start. Our house cow raises her calf and nurses it for, in some cases, TWO YEARS; I separate them overnight once or twice a week and milk her in the morning for the house milk before letting the calf finish off the remainder. We keep bees when we can to pollinate our veg garden, but to keep them safe and healthy we collect the excess honey and wax. We try to balance their needs with ours.

Which I know doesn't suit a vegan lifestyle, and I appreciate that. It works for us. I understand it can't, won't, work for everyone.

 

[frimble3]

I'm in the "love food, hate waste" camp, so I use EVERYTHING -- and, when I can't get anything more out of it, like milk --> cheese --> ricotta, then yep, it's soups or stews or at a last resort feed it to the chickens or cows (and then eat the chickens or cows). Onion skins, mushroom stalks, celery leaves, pumpkin rinds -- they all go into a bag in the freezer with chicken bones, and when it's overflowing I make stock. Leftover broccoli plants, gone-to-seed silverbeet, and grass clippings go to the cows. Stale bread becomes bread cubes or bread crumbs. Dried up bits of cheese goes to the chickens.

We are extremely dedicated to ensuring our animals have good lives: the chooks raise their babies (with a daily smorgasbord of "breadcrumb mites", "rice maggots", "cheese worms", "strawberry beetles", "beef bugs", and candy sprinkles on their probiotic yoghurt .... yes, I am that bloody crazy!) to get them off to a good start. Our house cow raises her calf and nurses it for, in some cases, TWO YEARS; I separate them overnight once or twice a week and milk her in the morning for the house milk before letting the calf finish off the remainder. We keep bees when we can to pollinate our veg garden, but to keep them safe and healthy we collect the excess honey and wax. We try to balance their needs with ours.

Which I know doesn't suit a vegan lifestyle, and I appreciate that. It works for us. I understand it can't, won't, work for everyone.

Nothing works for 'everyone'!
I salute and applaud the amount of work you do!

 

[Brigid Barry]

@Unimportant how do you feed whey to your cows? Not like they can drink it with a Straw or anything. Maybe my goaties would like it.

(I have seven pet goats because I had a horse shaped hole in my life and have a bad habit of diving into things head first)

 

[Unimportant]

@Unimportant how do you feed whey to your cows?

Whey generally goes to the chooks, true. But I can pour liquid stuff like honey over the cows' hay and they will gobble it up.

 

[Brigid Barry]

Whey generally goes to the chooks, true. But I can pour liquid stuff like honey over the cows' hay and they will gobble it up.

I am even more confused as to how you feed it to the chickens. lol. Do tell!

 

[Unimportant]

I am even more confused as to how you feed it to the chickens. lol. Do tell!

I just pour it into a shallow pan and they drink it, like water. Same for milk that's past its use-by date.