Cheesemaking
Cheesemaking is alchemy. Milk being transformed into all sorts of shapes, textures, and flavors is a source of amazement to me. Every single time I make cheese I am awe struck. Making cheese can be intimating but books like those by Gianaclis Caldwell are basically cheesemaking courses.
If I could only pick two books from this list for making cheese at a small scale at home, I would select David Asher’s The Art of Natural Cheesemaking and Gianaclis Caldwell’s Mastering Artisan Cheesemaking.
Asher, David. The Art of Natural Cheesemaking: Using Traditional, Non-Industrial Methods and Raw Ingredients to Make the World’s Best Cheeses. Chelsea Green Publishing, 2015.
Tucked in the appendix of this book is David’s framework for natural cheesemaking. It spells out the practices that a natural cheesemaking world would work within. It important to remember that the framework is for use within a locality, a regional foodshed if you will, so there are concerns about that are addressed simply with limited scale at a regional level. This book will walk you through using milk kefir as a starter culture, natural rinds and cloth bandaging, and skirting around much of heavy use of plastics and such in cheesemaking. No vacuum bag aging here.
Biss, Kathy. Practical Cheesemaking. Ramsbury, Wiltshire: Crowood, 2008.
Before Mastering Artisan Cheesemaking there was Practical Cheesemaking.
Caldwell, Gianaclis. Mastering Basic Cheesemaking: The Fun and Fundamentals of Making Cheese at Home. 2016.
I understand that not everyone is going to want to jump into Mastering Artisan Cheesemaking, although I highly recommend doing so as it is an incredible course you can work yourself through.
Caldwell, Gianaclis. Mastering Artisan Cheesemaking: The Ultimate Guide for Home-Scale and Market Producers. Chelsea Green Publishing, 2013.
When this book was first published, I couldn’t add to cart fast enough. Gianaclis is an expert with decades of experiences and I’d followed her farm online for years. This book is my number one recommendation for folks who are ready to be self-directed learners and work through the book. It is a course on cheesemaking in book form. Rather than teaching you to mimic a cheese that you might grab at a store, she teaches what strategies result in various types of cheeses. This book can be a bit much for some folks and in that case, start with the her book Mastering Basic Cheesemaking.
Carroll, Ricki, and Ricki Carroll. Home Cheese Making: Recipes for 75 Homemade Cheeses. North Adams, MA: Storey Books, 2002.
This book is popular and for good reason, it’s easy. I’m not knocking easy however if you want to head down the road of creating a cheese unique to your terroir, this book will have trouble leading you down that road. That said, if the goal is a glut of milk processed and put up to enjoy later, go for it.
Farnham, Jody. The Joy of Cheesemaking: The Ultimate Guide to Understanding, Making, and Eating Fine Cheese. 2015.
A nice tidy and graphic volume that is easy to digest. It covers all the basic FAQs in a straightforward fashion. It highlights a number of artisan cheesemakers too.
Hurst, Janet. Homemade Cheese: Recipes for 50 Cheeses from Artisan Cheesemakers. Minneapolis, MN: Voyageur Press, 2011.
This is as promised by the title and it can be insightful to read and try others’ creative cheese genius.
Karlin, Mary. Artisan Cheese Making at Home: Techniques and Recipes for Mastering World-Class Cheeses. 2011.
There are times when we want to make that cheese we enjoyed at the fancy cheese shop. There are a number of recipes in this book that will help with that. It’s not a cheesemaking course, it is cheesemaking recipes.
McCalman, Max, and David Gibbons. Cheese: A Connoisseur’s Guide to the World’s Best. New York: Clarkson Potter, 2005.
Get to know those fancy cheeses!
———. Mastering Cheese: Lessons for Connoisseurship from a Maître Fromager. New York: Clarkson Potter, 2009.
Get to know more fancy cheeses. And taste them when you can to use that experience in your own cheesemaking practice.
———. The Cheese Plate. New York: Clarkson Potter, 2002.
I recommend getting to know those cheeses that are already out there if and when you can. A fromager will often indulge your requests for tiny amounts to try and/or buy. And as you explore more cheeses, it will help you become an even better cheesemaker. You will notice flavors, textures, holds, rinds, and all the little details which you can in turn apply to your cheesemaking.
Morris, Margaret P. The Cheesemaker’s Manual. Alexandria, ON: Glengarry Cheesemaking & Dairy Supply, 2003.
As promised, a cheesemaker’s manual.
Pearl, Anita May. Completely Cheese: The Cheeselovers Companion. Jonathan David Pub, 1990.
This tome along with a slim volume on cheesemaking were my first and only cheesemaking books for years. It has a lot of interesting information and it can often be found at thrift stores.
Robinson, R. K, R Scott, and R. A Wilbey. Cheesemaking Practice. Gaithersburg, Md: Aspen Publishers, 1998.