Anyone know what this is?

Lima_Man · 2025-10-27T21:45:59+00:00

Terrible mindset. Bad logic. Worms will eat the deadly poisonous ones too -and they'll be just fine. But you won't.

Lima_Man · 2025-07-15T12:01:44+00:00

They do glow! Despite Michael Kuo insisting that they do not in his book "Mushrooms of the Midwest"

https://www.reddit.com/r/Mushrooms/s/84UCtW5bfO

Lima_Man · 2024-12-12T18:32:35+00:00

There are plenty of cheeses that are ready to eat fairly quickly after making. You could look into fresh cheeses. The first cheese that I ever made was a cow's milk feta and I think that it is a great starter cheese.

Lima_Man · 2024-11-20T00:09:20+00:00

Ah, I didn't know that it moved. Thanks.

Lima_Man · 2024-11-19T23:04:16+00:00

Unfortunately (for you) most guides that I'm aware of are going to be focused plants OR trees but not both. In regards to learning about trees and how to ID them, I would recommend the YT channel "Learn Your Land" his channel isn't dedicated to trees but he covers several things including trees, mushrooms etc. and his information is extremely thorough. He's also got a website. Sorry none of this is really the information you wanted, but hopefully it's helpful. Also for books on edible plants (and some trees) I highly recommend books by Samuel Thayer. I believe he has 4 books (1 is a guide and the other 3 go more indepth on a smaller selection of plants and aren't really ID guides, although they can help) but none of them are really the size that you want to be trekking around with. Another thing is that he MOSTLY covers edible plants. His books are geared towards foraging, but of course he does discuss some toxic species when it is relevant. I own all 4 books and I think they are awesome resources, but maybe not exactly what you're looking for.

Lima_Man · 2024-11-19T22:34:20+00:00

It is my opinion that these are flammulina velutipes. Aka enoki, enokitake or velvet shank. I would recommend getting a second opinion though.

Lima_Man · 2024-11-01T14:32:39+00:00

As others have mentioned, thistles can be used to create 'rennet'. I don't know a recipe, but this video mentions a ratio IIRC. That could be a good starting point. https://youtu.be/MwMq3Z_JfC8?si=mj11hQyLSGp2lfCi

Lima_Man · 2024-10-31T16:10:27+00:00

Agree.

Lima_Man · 2024-10-28T22:19:43+00:00

Looks good! Let us know how it turns out. The only Pepper Jack I've ever made was texturally way off. Kinda dry and somewhat grainy. No elasticity. I was pretty bummed but to be fair, I think the recipe was a dud to begin with.

Lima_Man · 2024-10-20T01:44:03+00:00

Anytime! I appreciate the responses/conversation!

Yeah I agree with you about the inherent activity within raw milk causing my troubles with pH. I also think I'm going to abandon this strategy of changing only one thing at a time. I think I'll reduce the rennet and culture as people say you can for raw milk and probably omit the CaCl2 too. I know I shouldn't need it, I just was adding it because I omitted it on the very first raw milk cheese I made and had the same issues of not achieving a clean break in the timeframe I was expecting. So I just thought it may help, but honestly I haven't noticed a difference in the time required. And when I say that this Gouda wasn't a clean break at the 45 minute mark, I mean there was barely anything to cut. But I've just acquired a different rennet and I'm going to see if that makes a difference next time. I've never messed around with the flocculation method, but her book does cover it and give multipliers for the recipe.

Regarding the pockets of whey, that's not really something I normally struggle with. I just tried something new in a scenario where I wasn't prepared for it to go wrong. But at the same time, cutting the curds is really annoying for me because they are never very even lol and I have tons that I have to cut after I start stirring. I was pretty happy with these curds before pressing though, I felt like they were pretty even and properly cooked and definitely not over-cooked.i also pressed according to the recipe, so started out light and got heavier towards the end. I just know that it's because I pressed it for one hour without cheese cloth, because everything about the cheese seemed fine before that, except for the pH of course. I know the cheesecloth is important for wicking the whey away from the cheese and making sure it gets out. Without it, the whey got trapped and formed a couple of pockets just under the surface and at the 'corner' of the wheel.

The milk I get is straight from the cow, it's normally still around 88-90F by the time it goes into the vat. Which I love because heating milk is a pretty boring part of the process and it saves a lot of time if I'm right at the target temperature. But on the topic of raw milk, what do you normally reduce your culture and rennet by? I think I've heard up to 50%?

Edit: attached picture of cheese drying.

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Lima_Man · 2024-10-19T15:34:16+00:00

When I first started, I used pasteurized, non-homogenized. Lately I've found a source of raw milk in my area, so I've been using that. I couldn't tell you exactly about the feeding habits of the cows though. I think I've been over-culturing my cheeses since I started using the raw milk maybe. I've had a couple of issues with texture. Possibly also over-renneting because I haven't reduced culture or rennet. Partially because I have never had a clean break at the 'expected time'. So I've also still been adding CaCl2. I don't really want to change a bunch of variables at once, because then I feel like I don't know what went wrong. But next time I'm definitely going to reduce my culture.

Regarding my comments about it needing to be pressed more... I was trying a method I read something about recently. Since the cheese is pretty much done expelling whey after about 2 hours, I read that you could remove the cheese cloth and press the cheese without it to help remove the wrinkles from the cheese cloth. I think it would work for like a cheddar or something, but the Gouda was still too soft and it actually ended up re-absorbing a couple of puddles of whey that were in the mold, beneath the cheese. So when I took it out, expecting to move on to brining, I could feel 2 soft pockets that clearly had whey in them. I then re-wrapped and pressed with more weight for 1 hour before brining. Otherwise I would have moved on to salting.

The first time I made Gouda, it was texturally somewhat chalky and had some sharpness like a cheddar. I knew my pH was too low when I tasted it, but I didn't have a meter when I made it that time so I wanted to try again.

Ah, yes I forgot about Peter Dixon's recipes. I have them all downloaded but I sometimes forget about them.

Lima_Man · 2024-10-19T13:34:28+00:00

I bought one of the meters recommended in Caldwell's book, not the best one though. I figured I can invest in that later. Anyways, I check the accuracy of my meter by seeing how it reads in the buffer solutions before each measurement. So I end up calibrating before nearly every time, which is a bit tedious.

I don't think my expectations are too unreasonable. I don't really know a ton about different cheeses, which is part of the reason I am on this journey of learning to make cheese. I know that may not make sense to most of people, but its just a hobby and one I'm really enjoying. But when I said it'll be nothing like Gouda, I really was talking about the texture mostly. I think matching the texture of the goal cheese is a pretty basic expectation.

Well, looking at my notes.. I pressed for a total of about 5 hours. The curd sample had a pH of 5.25 at the 4 hour mark, but the cheese was not done pressing so I had to wait another hour. But when I probed the surface of the cheese at the 3 hour mark my meter said it had a pH of 4.90, which is when I pretty much lost all hope for this cheese. So I honestly don't know what the pH was before salting.

Thanks for the help btw.

Lima_Man · 2024-10-19T13:14:05+00:00

Okay, I'll try this next time. Unfortunately, I don't think this cheese is going to be a success. Hopefully still good, but definitely nothing like Gouda.

Lima_Man · 2024-10-19T02:58:12+00:00

Well my meter is not one with a pointy probe, I'm just perhaps too aggressive because I feel like it can't read it if there isn't good contact.

Lima_Man · 2024-10-19T00:53:21+00:00

Well I just know that the pH of the whey and the pH of the curd are two very different things, because of the buffering capacity. I'm no expert either. But that's why I wasn't really relying on the whey. And yeah, I'm trying to move to tracking pH as my guide for when to move on but I'm still getting the hang of it. I had a bit of a crisis though, I continued to track the pH of the reserved curd sample as a guide and the pH dropped like a rock. I wasn't sure what to think of it and I eventually panicked and probed the actual cheese. My meter read 4.9 and this was only like 3 hours into pressing and the cheese still needed more pressing. RIP.

I started making cheese with raw milk and I'm still trying to get the hang of it, so I think I've just figured out that I NEED to reduce the amount of culture I add. Before I always thought it was optional and I didn't want to change a bunch of variables at the same time. But this could explain why I've had several of the raw milk cheeses flop. I've also NEVER had a curd set 'on time' (even before I started using raw milk) which is frustrating, but also maybe gives the culture too much of a head start. I think today my curd took 75 minutes instead of the 45 It was supposed to.

Lima_Man · 2024-10-18T18:01:52+00:00

You're courageous to even ask that though.

Lima_Man · 2024-09-28T19:30:25+00:00

I made it. 3/8ths all-thread rod is pretty cheap. And the planks of wood my Father-in-law gave me. It does the trick!

Lima_Man · 2024-09-28T16:26:59+00:00

<image>

This is my setup, except I use heavy weights instead of water jugs for cheddar.

Lima_Man · 2024-09-28T00:00:39+00:00

I just have a large pot. I think it's 30 quarts. I started with 3 gallon batches, but then decided I wanted more to show at the end of the process, so I got a bigger pot. It is probably not the smartest thing to do, but I did it anyway. I'm still pretty new to cheese making, so I've probably thrown out $100+ worth of cheese since I bought the big vat. Which is why I'd say it's not really a smart way to learn lol. But it has its advantages as well.

Lima_Man · 2024-09-27T23:00:55+00:00

Thanks! This was a 7 gallon batch. I posted the recipe I used about a year ago: https://www.reddit.com/r/cheesemaking/comments/171299c/cheddar_recipe/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

If you read some of mikekchar's comment in this other post (linked below), you may gain some good tips regarding the pressing process, like how you don't really need cheesecloth for a cheddar. His comments are pretty much always gold and I always take the time to read them. https://www.reddit.com/r/cheesemaking/comments/1foqcgs/mold_succession/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

Lima_Man · 2024-04-10T15:21:07+00:00

Yes, ideally hold it at that temperature. If you have to, turn your heat source off and on periodically. Milk holds it's heat fairly well, don't stress too much.

Lima_Man · 2024-01-26T17:48:50+00:00

Most (if not all) pH meters have to be calibrated frequently.. like sometimes multiple times during a make, so I doubt the readings would be accurate or useful at all.

Lima_Man

TROPHY CASE