Home-Made Cheese: Artisan Cheesemaking Made Simple

by Paul Thomas, William Shaw (Photographer)

Overview

Leading cheesemaker Paul Thomas shows you how to transform milk into cheese at home. His definitive book explains, with easy-to-follow instructions and pictures to guide you through all the stages involved, how to create a wide range of dairy products, from simple yogurt, cream and butter through to mozzarella, lactic cheeses, Cheddar, Stilton, Gouda, Brie and other popular varieties of cheese. There is detailed information on how to set up a home dairy, including the importance of food safety and hygiene; where and how to source milk; an accessible overview of the biochemical processes involved; and all the essential techniques such as milling, draining, pressing, salting, rind-washing, introducing moulds or yeasts, maturing and storing. Featuring 40 classic cheeses, more than 475 beautiful photographs by William Shaw, and a user-friendly troubleshooting section, this book will enable you to develop the skills required, whatever your previous experience or level of expertise.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780754832423
Publisher:	Anness Publishing, Ltd.
Publication date:	12/07/2016
Pages:	208
Sales rank:	215,555
Product dimensions:	9.50(w) x 11.50(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

As head cheesemaker at Lyburn Farm in Devon, England, Paul Thomas created award-winning new cheeses, before setting up Thimble Cheesemakers. Paul provides technical support to many cheese manufacturers all over Europe, and runs popular cheesemaking courses at the School of Artisan Food and the River Cottage Cookery School. He is widely seen as the expert other cheesemakers turn to for advice. Having graduated with a degree in biochemistry, Paul Thomas worked for several years as an affineur at respected cheesemonger I. J. Mellis in Edinburgh. He then spent six years as head cheesemaker at Lyburn Farm in the New Forest, where he hand-made many cheeses, including the award-winning Old Winchester (called Old Smales in the USA), and Stoney Cross, and helped to develop the washed-rind cheeses Little Colonel and Francies in association with James's Cheese. With his wife Hannah he set up Thimble Cheesemakers in 2013, making soft raw-milk cheeses Little Anne and Dorothy. He then set up Paul Thomas Dairy Consultancy & Training to provide technical support to farmhouse an arrtisan dairy producers. As well as teaching at The School of Artisan Food and the River Cottage Cookery School, Paul helps cheesemakers around the world, to address issues such as product development, troubleshooting defects, dairy hygiene, and the biochemistry of flavour development. He delivers training to food enforcement officers on food safety in relation to cheesemaking, charcutuerie and fermentation. He is a consultant for the Guild of Fine Foods, and writes their 'delihelp' column.

Editorial Reviews

From feta to cheddar and all stops inbetween. This marvellous book will have you making cheese like a pro in no time So you ve done slow smoking, you ve cured your own bacon, you ve made your own yoghurt and you ve even tried your hand at making your own gin (why not, it seems everybody else has). So in 2017, what about making some cheese? Ah yes lovely, lovely cheese, how many of us have fallen into a trance in a cheese shop as we contemplate the abundance of riches? One of my old bosses gave up his job to open a cheese shop in the Lake District; a year later we heard he had gone bust because he couldn t stop eating his own stock. Never get high on your own supply, eh? Except perhaps when you make it yourself. How hard can it be when the bass player of a pop band can make a success of it? Well the title of this book promises much. Artisan cheese making made simple, and as you read on, the temptation to get cheesy becomes overwhelming. Paul Thomas knows his stuff, he has a degree in Biochemistry and is a Fellow of the Institute of Food Science and Technology. He also runs cheese making courses at River Cafe and owns and runs Thimble Cheesemakers. So you re in good hands. But don t jump into the upper levels of cheese first, Paul shows you how to make things like butter, crème fraiche, paneer and cottage cheese first. These are all good ways of getting your head around the science of how magically milk transforms into curd and then cheese. Along the way he also stresses the importance of cleanliness, food hygiene and food safety; you are after all going to eat the results. By the end of the book you ll be milling, draining, pressing, salting rind washing, maturing and storing with the best of them. There are 40 classic cheeses to make and over 450 photos plus a useful troubleshooting section for when things go wrong. A list of online suppliers will prove invaluable when it comes to sourcing your heterofermentative mesophilic starter, and your pH meter, but for the first cheeses you don t need much it that you probably don't already have - digital scales, a thermometer, decent steel pans and a thermos flask. Of course once the bug bites the opportunities to buy lots and lots of kit are enormous and thus very gratifying if you re a man - little bit of sexism there. You might also find that you need a bigger home for maturing all the cheeses. But that s all in the cheesy future, this book is great value even if you never progress to the finer cheeses, you ll enjoy reading all about cheese and salivating over the pictures. Now where did I put the crackers?

Foodepedia - Nick Harman

Halloumi, ricotta, curd, crème fraîche, butter... A session with artisan cheese-maker Paul Thomas was a perfect balance of accessible technical information and divine dairy, all of which went into lunch. This highly recommended course backs up Paul's book that covers entry level soft cheeses through to the more complex hard and blue varieties. His science background and experience as an adviser at international level places him in a perfect position to bring the pleasure of creating cheese in any kitchen. The basic start-up costs are around £30, says Paul. If you ve got a big pan and a couple of colanders you're on the whey - so to speak! He even uses pond baskets as moulds. Butter was extraordinarily easy, requiring a bowl, an electric whisk and chilled water for washing the salt to taste. With bread and salad we created a veritable feast.

Devon Life magazine - Annette Shaw

Cheese lovers, listen up. The ultimate gift for the enthusiastic kitchen dweller/fromage fanatic is here. You could give the gift of cheese and feed them for the day but teach them to make their own and keep them happy for life. Created by Paul Thomas, one of the UK s leading cheese experts, Home-Made Cheese: Artisan Cheesemaking Made Simple is the answer. This gorgeous new book demonstrates that cheesemaking is simple enough to try at home and of course enjoy the fruits of your labourPaul recommends you start with some of the easier dairy products including yogurt, butter, cream, crème fraiche, paneer and cottage cheese before moving on to the likes of Mozzarella, Cheddar and Camembert. Paul has thought of everything to make the process achievable, he suggests do-it yourself alternative equipment, addresses some of the issues relating to food safety in cheesemaking, the processes that influence the transformation of milk to curd and then mature cheese. The book aims to provide the home cheesemaker with a broad foundation of knowledge that can be applied when trying out the delicious recipes contained within the book and encourage the reader to be confident in their cheesy endeavors.

Ireland's Food and Drink Magazine The Taste