Cheese making inquiry

Communities Food & Drink
1

Are there any cheese makers on this part of the forum? I figured I would ask here first before making an account on a cooking forum. I wanted to ask some questions about cheese making to real people instead of just google. It's kind of a specific type of cooking but Im interested in it because of the ability to age cheese.

Anyway

I like yellow cheeses like Colby, Cheddars and such. So what kinds of cheese or recipes would you recommend?

Are the special rennet tablets really necessary, what could I use in place of them? Humans have been making cheeses for thousands of years just fine so there has got to be other stuff to use. I'm not interested in throwing down money on this and being on of those guys that goes ham with lots of gear and precision :>. I just want to make some old fashion cheese cheaply.

What is cheese salt and why is it used specifically? Again like rennet is it absolutely necessary to use? 

And finally do any of you guys age cheese? If so how do you age yours? 

Hopefully we'll all be able to learn things from each other here. Assuming people on this forum do make cheese. 

2

I have made cheese once or twice before, the soft stuff not any hard types. In place of rennet you can use any type of vinegar or acid. I once used lemon juice to curdle the milk. The milk has the be warm, you mix it with the acid or some type. ( obviously edible acid) and then you need to strain away the whey from the curds through a muslin and that would make a very fresh soft cheese. You don't need to invest in anything to make that type. Going for a hard cheese you would need something to press the cheese but I don't really know anything further than soft cheese.

3

go on to: http://www.instructables.com/howto/cheese+press/ this has lots of tutorials and advice on making hard cheese

4

blessed are the cheesemakers 

5

Cool, the cheese press looks like a pretty simple device. Probably could just do it with a crucible, a top, and weight. 

6

Yeah, I think that is the general concept of the cheese press.

 

7

What would be the rule of thumb knowing how much acid to use?