And That's How You Make Cheese!

Rating:
Summary: Fun and Interesting - Buy It!
Review: A great cookbook of the unusual kind! Who ever thinks about making their own cheese? I ordered this book thinking it may be fun with my kids and it was! You won't regret it... it's a hobby you will continue. The kids had fun, but I love making the grown up cheeses like Blue & Gouda. They have all turned out wonderful, much better than anything in a grocery store. You will be surprised! Buy it & have fun!

Rating:
Summary: Interesting and Fun
Review: Had a great time making cheese with the family. We made several and all came out great. Much better than store bought cheese, for sure. Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Wowie Zowie!
Review: I "rented" this from the library and HAD to own it. Believe it or not.... this was FUN! Try it yourself and see. If you have children, this book will be especially fun as all kids love cheese and it's a learning experience too! Everything we have made so far was tasty -- you won't believe you made this in your own kitchen! Better than any grocery store!

Rating:
Summary: Better than the rest for a beginner!
Review: I am not sure what the reviewer below is talking about. I have both this and Carroll's book and this one is most definately the better one for beginners. It is clearly laid out, in a logical order and has 30 different recipes plus some special ones such as Caraway Swiss, which is divine! I found Carroll's book to be good, but confusing when I first started as the book seems to be more for folks who already have done this before.

Rating:
Summary: A great little book.
Review: I bought this book from another site (wasn't listed here yet, I guess) a little while ago and have to write a review here too. This is a wonderful book for both the novice and experienced cheese maker. I have made several of the simpler cheeses and all have turned out great so far. I have a Gouda aging right now too, and will let you know how that recipe turns out. Great histories, tips and the recipes are very easy to follow. One of the other cheese making books available has recipes that are tricky to follow if you are a novice, sometimes outright confusing. The recipes in this book are easy to follow and are explained at every step. My book shipped in just a few days.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful Starter Book
Review: I cannot say enough about this book. It is printed in clear, easy-to-understand language. I had already purchased "Cheesemaking Made Easy" and it certainly wasn't that! This book was helpful, easy to follow, and helped me make great cheeses on my first try. I had one question about a recipe and the author emailed me back an answer that day! He really seems to care about the subject and his readers. A definate "Thumbs-Up!"

Rating:
Summary: Too many errors
Review: I learned to make cheese with this book, so it couldn't be all bad, but I found myself going to the internet to check out proportions that looked wrong, going to another recipe in the book when the one I was using said, "Add salt," but there had been no salt in the ingredients list (I assumed that I could use the amount listed in another 2-gallon recipe), and making Muenster with no starter culture since it was not listed in the ingredients or referred to in the process description. I got cheese, but it sure wasn't like any other Meunster I ever ate. Wasn't too good, and an experienced cheese maker told me you have to use a starter culture in Meunster.

The book gave equivalents in some recipes (rennet tablets vs. liquid rennet / powdered starter cultures vs. fresh cultures), in others it gave only one and in some it didn't tell you which it was listing. If anyone made the Colby first and put in three ounces of powdered starter culture, you would have an expensive cheese to say the least. Also, I checked with my supplier and found out the 1/2 tsp. mesophilic starter culture the author lists in two-gallon recipes was twice what is necessary, which cranks up the cost a good bit. But now I know and I'm buying only half as much starter culture.

I am puzzled when I read these good reviews. Did they just do a batch of chevre or cottage cheese and call it quits? If you follow these recipes exactly, you will have many failures.

Rating:
Summary: Bare bones & basic
Review: I realise that I'm going against the flow, but I found this book disappointing! The overall quality of presentation was not high and its B & W pictures almost look like photocopies! Sure he explains his recipes simply, but so do other books of higher quality, available here for not many more $. I'd recommend anyone considering purchasing books on this subject buy Ricki Carroll's latest book, or Barbara Ciletti's! They are much better in presentation and Ciletti's is full colour throughout!

Rating:
Summary: For beginner or already make cheese folks...
Review: I really like this book because it has a lot of different cheeses, both hard and soft and mold and bacteria ripened cheeses like Blue, Stilton, Camembert. It tell what items one needs and that some items we already have in our kitchens. How to prepare starter, aging and using.

We have made cheese since the 70's but wanted to learn how to make more varieties and I am so glad we bought this book...

Rating:
Summary: Not bad
Review: In itself this is a good book, however for the price you don't get much meat. With a 2-4 dollars more you can buy Carroll's or Ciletti's book.