Post Punk Kitchen Forum

pickledtreats, it looks like you are on the right track! When I made revejulac with quinoa, I only waited until I saw the little tails sprouting before proceeding to the last step.

Thanks, guys! I would love to just skip to culturing. And I'm going to use just one jar since its all I have. Hoping it turns out!

I'm sprouting some wheat berries and some quinoa together in the hope that something good comes out of it (and I ran out of wheat berries because I'm the sort of person who leaves a teaspoon's worth in a packet then puts it back in the cupboard, and also I don't actually like quinoa, so it's a good way of ridding myself of it usefully).

I think I'm going to go for the bog-standard cashew cheese again, this time in huge, huge amounts. I might try the gruyère though. Does it taste like gruyère? I never was a fan but people here seem to like Miyoko's version. Which of the recipes would you recommend for someone who only ever really ate cheddar and the odd bit of smoked gouda?

I read M's advice to try a big Tupperware box in the warmest part of the fridge, so I thought I'd try it with the Parmesan I had on the go. This is the second time I've made Parmesan, the first was very successful. I moved it to the fridge in a big box with a small rack inside to raise it off the base.

Within a day it had developed a faint 'hairspray' taste and smell, which was the problem is had with my sharp cheddar before. The cheddar was differently wrapped and in a different fridge so I'm fairly sure it's the chilling. I've moved it back to a rack on the top and I think the chemical tang is going.

It's weird because the book implies that the Parmesan is one of the more difficult cheeses to get right, yet it's the only one I've had unqualified success with.

I suspect that my environment and the local bacteria and yeasts are quite different to those where the book was tested, maybe they don't like being refrigerated, but work well in the Parmesan process though it was difficult to get right for Miyoko.

Just thoughts. I'm really impressed with the book but I'm starting to suspect it is more of a set of starting principles than a book of recipes for me. I'm trying the air-dried cheddar again, since the air-dried Parmesan worked well...

Last night my husband took me to Plant (fancy vegan restaurant in Asheville) for my birthday and they have an aged cheese plate that I had really wanted to try but they were out of last time. I guess the cheese was okay and probably would have been good under different circumstance, but I just kept whining that it wasn't even in the same league as Miyoko's recipes. I am now making some more rejuvelac to get my cheese fix. And I'm thinking of doing Brie en croute for Thanksgiving.

I was always conservative over (cow) cheese and I like the air dried Parmesan very much. Would you recommend the basic cashew cheese to another conservative?!

I was also wondering about the pub cheddar and the one she says doesn't really have a dairy counterpart- 'brown cheese' or similar.

I'd welcome your suggestions too!

I made a batch and went away over the weekend, so it had about five days of sitting in the fridge, so probably a week between getting the cashews out of the packet and actually trying some.

I was rather like... hmm... I would be pushed to say it tasted like any particular cheese, but it was basically how I would expect a really good cheese made from nut milk to be, which is what it is.

It tasted "authentic", whatever that really means. More so than tofutti or that godawful Sheeze "air-dry clay and lemon juice" cream cheese.

Can't stand Sheese! Tastes like bad blue cheese to me!

I don't remember what dairy Gruyere tastes like, but I really like the cashew based soft Gruyere. To me it is just like a tangy, soft cheese. I also wasn't into gourmet cheeses before going vegan - brie was about the fanciest I would get, and I never tried goat cheese.

Well, my second attempt at cream cheese has ended in mold again, within 24 hours. Hm. Frustrating.

I just made the cream cheese over the weekend. Started it Saturday morning and by mid afternoon on Sunday it was done. I covered the glass bowl with a plate. And my house isn't even that warm, I have it at 18 Celcius. It's delish and so easy. For my taste, comparing it with real cream cheese, it's a bit too smooth. Next time I will try to keep a bit of texture to it and not over blend.
My rejuvelac is also ready so tonight I can start another cheese.
My last foray will be successful yoghurt making, that seems to be my issue.

Now that I have cream cheese, what the heck should I make with 2 cups of it? I only eat bread on weekends so putting it on toast won't be enough.

Cheesecake! or make a cream cheese frosting for carrot cake.

so i just made the smoked provolone and the taste is phenomenal! even though i made it from my home made soy yogurt, which i have my doubts about on its own. also, it's the best looking cheese i've made. however, it's not slice-able - it's very creamy. i'm going to air dry.

also, anyone actually made frosting from the cream cheese?

I've got a batch of basic cashew cheese and a batch of fresh mozzarella that have just finished their first culturing. The mozzarella seems perfect, but the cashew cheese has a slightly sour smell and very faint spots on the surface...I'm hoping it is not the beginning of mold :(

cook that cashew cheese NOW.

I had that problem a few days ago--cooked it, salted it, aged it...mine is ok..its good. But dont wait. The spots are the beginning of mold.
I just lost an entire batch of pumpkin seed cheese today because of this. I think my house is too warm, even at 68-70 degrees. :/

D.

I think humidity is a big factor in getting mold

So I've made several batches of cheddar style cheeses, but this one is the first to get a film on top. It happens so fast that the first film was actually when it was sitting in the blender! The only thing that changed was the brand of miso I used. I've always used Miso Master, but this weekend I picked up some cheaper kind (that wound up being made by Hain Celestial). Is it a result of crappy miso; is this what I get for not springing a few extra bucks for the locally made stuff?

I just lost two more batches of cheddar, that I made in September, to mold. I was trying to let them hang out so they'd be extra good. A few weeks ago I had to throw away two other batches of cheddar, plus a few different types before that. This is getting way too expensive and wasteful, and I can't afford to spend any more money "practicing"! I'm sad, because I really want to love this book, and I think Miyoko is really onto something, but I can't do this anymore right now. I really hope there will be a heavily revised edition in the near future.

Oh that's really sad PP! Maybe you can still do some of the recipes that don't require culturing, like the fondue and queso?

I have been to busy to do any culturing recipes since the start of autumn. I wonder whether people are having more trouble now because of the higher humidity or something. I still have a sharp cheddar in the fridge which I should check for mold.

That's a good point. Whenever I've made cheeses, the temperature in my apartment was between 70 and 75F but humidity was low.

so I made a bunch of different cheeses last week, and for T-day I made a glorious vegan version of my family's cheeseball recipe! Turned out delicious!
I mixed the following: Emmanthaler, gruyere, brie, camembert, some cheddar, as well as some blue cheese that I made from another blog. Added lots of garlic powder, some onion powder, a tbs or so of veganaise and refined (unflavored) coconut oil. Let it set over night (I used a strainer so it would thicken more). I covered it in roasted pecans. SO GOOD! :))

Cant wait to watch my super ANTI-VEGAN ("all vegan food tastes bad") cousin. Not even going to bother telling him or anyone else its vegan.

OMG that sounds amazing!!

I have the pumpkin cheesecake in the oven right now. I had to stop myself from just eating the filling right out of the food processor.

pumpkin cheesecake!??!m

is that in the book?

let us know how that cheesecake turns out...btw--has anyone made the Raspberry Swirl one? Was thinking of making it for Christmas to celebrate the world NOT ending on the 21st! :P

D.