Post Punk Kitchen Forum

for those having issues with mold during culturing, you may want to try using some type of air lock - I use this style that you can buy on amazon (or make yourself if you have a brew shop in town) and have not had any mold at all. they also prevent skin from forming on top.

if you use 1 quart mason jars, be sure to split the batch between two or it will try to escape through the tiny tube when it rises!

A cold kitchen could contribute to a cream cheese problem. Yoghurt is a thermophilic culture: it thrives with some warmth. I am not suggesting the cream cheese be incubated like yoghurt, i think that would be a bad idea. But if it's too cold the culture will be very slow, allowing undesirable things the chance to grow.

I am not sure that humid weather is that much of a problem, in itself. This time of year humidity here often goes over 80%, sometimes over 90%, and i've not had any moldy cheese.

Loomi is quite right. The cream cheese does need a warmer environment because it uses yogurt as a tarter. In fact, it's the only cheese that I've had success with culturing in my oven on low (100-110 degrees). Rejuvelac based cheeses are best around 70 to 80 degrees.

My life just got made. My friend is letting me have her small wine fridge FOR FREE. We have very hot summers here so I'm super excited!!

So I'm looking at buying a bottle of Nutrition Now's PB8 probiotic capsules from Vegan Essentials as a yogurt starter. Anybody have any advice/insight? Or have any of you used this particular brand when making yogurt?
http://store.veganessentials.com/pb8-pro-biotic-acidophilus-supplement-by-nutrition-now-p3437.aspx

I tried to check whether the humidity levels in Indiana are like those in Quebec, where I live, so I can know whether I would have the same problems. I found annual relative humidity data for Southern Indiana that was 81 in the morning and 55 in the afternoon. Quebec is 78 in the morning and 62 in the afternoon. That doesn't look good... But since other people say that humidity might not be the problem, I will give it a try.

Last November, some Omaha girls made a bunch of cheeses from Miyoko's book to bring to Omaha Vegan Drinks. They were amazing! Everyone devoured them. A few months later, they are making up their own cheeses and have started a company called Brie It On. It is seriously amazing to have artisan vegan cheese in the midwest, you have no idea. Right in the shadow of Omaha Steaks! I'm so happy that this book sparked a cheese revolution.

Here is Brie It On's FB: https://www.facebook.com/BrieItOn

I know they're working on lots of stuff, like smoking cheeses and other meltable fun stuff. I hope it takes off! Thanks for writing the book, Miyoko. And for helping people to troubleshoot.

Got my vitamix blender! How the hell did I make cheese with my old blender--wow! In case anyone is wondering I got a refurbished one and so far totally worth it. With my vitamix I've made cream cheese and have another camembert culturing on my counter :) Then I'm on hold for a couple of days until my rejuvalac finishes brewing. I'm trying to make rejuvalac with mung beans right now so that is also a new experiment for me...we shall see.

I'm in a high humidity area and have not had problems yet so I say go for it. I'm dreading summer though...

Don't be too concerned about the summer! As discussed above, warmth is actually better for cream cheese. From what i can gather, your average july high temp might be 85-90 F? And average january high about 40 F? If so, july would actually be closer to what Miyoko specifies above as the ideal range for rejuvelac based cheeses - 70-80 F. Of course this all depends on whether your home is heated/ cooled. But if your home is just a bit cooler in the summer than outdoors, i think you should be fine.


It is summer here. As far as climate goes, i basically live in sydney, australia. So it's pretty warm, and, again, i have had no problems. I was not culturing on the days that exceeded 38 C / 100 F - those are probably best avoided. I have no cooling in my house. And, i have not air-dried cheeses - there are too many bugs at this time of year anyway.



Remember, northern hemisphere cheesemakers, keep that cream cheese cozy and warm, or you're asking for mold!

I've resisted ordering because I'm not really up for "project cooking," but just saw the kindle version for $7. I'm excited to try the quick recipes and the gruyere sauce.

How close is everyone coming to the projected yield? The basic cashew cheese is supposed to yield 1lb., but using Miyokos cashew butter sub (4.5 oz=1 cup) the total weight only comes to 9 oz plus rejuvelac, so not much more than 1/2 lb. Where is it magically gaining weight?

Hmm, it should be more like 14 ounces. 9oz cashew butter, 4oz rejuvelac and 1oz yoghurt? A bit short of a pound, but not too far off.
Maybe i'm wrong? Usually i work in grams.

No yogurt in the basic cashew :)
I also made the meltable mozz and it came to about 10oz, although I do think I cooked it too long. I wonder where I'm going wrong? Or maybe the 1lb is just a rough estimate!

I actually just weighed about the amount of rejuvelac I added and it does come pretty close to a lb. I did have to add a little more than called for when using cashew butter vs soaked cashews though. Hopefully the cheese turns out well after culturing!

Oh yeah, sorry, somehow my mind merged cashew cheese and cream cheese :)

When you soak cashews, they absorb water. Depending. on how long you soak them, they can weigh more or less. With cashew butter that is not soaked, you get a little less - 13 or 14 ounces. 9 punches of cashews, 4 ounces of rejuvelac. Sometimes you need an ounce of rejuvelac of more to process.

I've got the sharp cheddar culturing on the counter, and I've already eaten a bunch of it. Oops. It's really tasty as it is, and it's really hard to just let it be while it does its thing.

Does anyone else notice agar giving their cheese a weird taste? I made the emmentaler, and it tasted good pre-thickening. A bit starchy from the raw starch, but otherwise fine. I thickened according to the recipe, and the texture is great, but it tastes a little different now. I've noticed the same taste with other uses of agar. Not sure if it's the agar itself, or the extra water diluting the flavor. I'm thinking of making it again, omitting the starch, and just using it as a cheese sauce because the flavor was great.

Just got my book in the mail! I started by ordering some new wide mouth jars to start making rejuvelac, and I'll go from there. Woo!

To be honest, I've loved a lot of the cheeses my partner has made best BEFORE thickening!

My first cheese was the meltable mozz! I don't think I got my cooking time quite right because the iced balls were sort of clumpy, but it was definitely sliceable and super melty and delicious! Even cold the cheese was reminiscent of its dairy counterpart. I also made the dough recipe in the book, and wrapped the dough without kneading as Miyoko suggested earlier in the thread. No pizza stone, but still yum!

Beautiful! I'm sort of jealous though because I have not been able to master the mozz yet. But I did make a nice 2nd round of camembert. This time I got to use my new vitamix and that shiitake is creamy mmmmm :)

I'm going to order some! Can't wait to try it out - will post a review when I get it.

I made the meltable Muenster and Monterey Jack...I followed the recipes EXACTLY. The MJ has sort of a sour aftertaste and the Muenster is like soft jello....its not firming up. Any advice??