First cheese

And here is the first result. It has been two weeks since I made it. It has just been waxed and is ready for aging.

Cheese making

A while ago I was overcome by the sudden desire to make cheese. Milk had gone "bad" in the fridge and started to smell like cheese. I love cheese. Suddenly I was intrigued by the process of fermentation. I was urged by the desire to uncover the mystery of the making of cheese.

Well, here is the first attempt. I followed the directions from a recipe from the site of David B. Franhenhauser Ph.D. : http://biology.clc.uc.edu/fankhauser/Cheese/Cheese98.htm

I used raw cow's milk from Connecticut. It can be bought there legally. Here in New York state it is difficult to get because it can't be bought legally. I did find a source since and am excited for my future cheese making endeavor.

The temperatures in this first attempt were a little higher than in the recipe, so I ended up with a harder cheese. Since I now understand the importance of the temperature I have been more careful in my later attempts.


The curd in the whey



Draining the curd



The milled curd

The cheese in the press

The cheese is salted to cure the rind

Plenty of shavings...

Vases

Recently I have been trying to turn some vases. I was curious to turn end grain, which I had not done yet.
So far, I am managing. This is a piece of sugar maple, about 18 inch long (45 cm) and 8 inch in diameter (20 cm).


















This is black walnut, about 22 inch long (50 cm) and 8 inch in diameter (20 cm).

My first gouges

These are the gouges I started turning with. I made them from the ends of some old HSS drill bits.
I simply ground a flute and a bevel with a grinder. They cut fine, but were a little short. I turned quite a few bowls with them.