The EssentiaList

Presentations by Fran Wade and Steve Eisenberg, 

Updated 11/8/09; see ‘When using pasteurized milk’ below.

We had an excellent and enthusiastic turnout for this gathering; thank you ESPers! To stimulate our taste buds, Fran brought goat cheese samples from Gayle Prunhuber, and Steve brought a sample batch of his homemade soy milk.

Both Fran and Steve provided instructional handouts, which are available on our website. See ESP Fermentation & Culturing Files for:

• Cheese and Tofu Making, by Fran Wade; includes basic instructions, and recipes for a semi-hard cheese (mozzarella-like), cream cheese, ricotta, tofu and soy burgers.
• Soya Milk & Tofu (Using SoyaJoy Machine), by Steve Eisenberg: includes basic instructions, and recipes for soy milk, tofu and soy burgers.

See Gathering Summary: Making Cheese & Tofu for complete summary of the gathering, including excellent tips that came up during the presentations, sources of equipment and supplies, and list of resources.

See also: Cheese Making for Beginners, by David B. Fankhauser, Ph.D.; University of Cincinnati Clermont College  for excellent information and a tutorial sequence.

When using pasteurized milk

Subsequent to the gathering, we learned how to treat pasteurized milk so that it will form a curd. [Pasteurization denatures the protein that binds calcium so that the milk will not form curds]. Add 1/2 tsp of a 30% Calcium Chloride solution per gallon of milk BEFORE adding rennet. This added calcium helps to restore the altered protein so that the curds can form.

You can obtain the 30% CaCl2 solution at Evergreen Pharmacy, or any compounding pharmacy. Or order it from the web.

See Journal of Dairy Science article: “Concerning the Addition of Calcium Choride to Milk for Cheese Making,” by W. V. Price, Department of Dairy Industry, Cornell University, for the science. (http://jds.fass.org/cgi/reprint/10/5/373.pdf)

See Food Safety and Pasteurization for more on this process.

Presentation by Melanie Hoerner, with Introduction to Lacto-Fermentation by Catherine Haug, at ESP’s October 22, 2008 Gathering

Synopsis:

Catherine led an introduction on lacto-fermentation, one of the oldest methods of food preservation.    Then Melanie shared her family’s method of making sauerkraut, including information on equipment, ingredients, shredding and brining, fermentation and storage.  Lively discussion from audience, including suggestions for future gatherings.

Garret Cheen, a photographer from the Daily Interlake, was present–ESP will be featured in a future issue of the paper. (refer to link to this newspaper article, below)

For complete summary of this gathering, refer to:

• Gathering Summary: Homemade Sauerkraut, and introduction to Lacto-Fermentation (68 KB pdf)

Related Files and Handouts:

• The EssentiaList: Pickling & Lacto-Fermentation Introduction, Sources, & Recipes (120 KB)
• The EssentiaList: Sauerkraut Recipes, including Melanie’s recipe (148 KB)
• ESP Article in Daily Interlake newspaper (11/24/08) (448 KB)