cheesecloth-msg

This document is also available in: text or Word formats.

Cheesecloth-msg - 9/20/18

Cheesecloth for making cheese.

************************************************************************

NOTICE -

This file is a collection of various messages having a common theme that I have collected from my reading of the various computer networks. Some messages date back to 1989, some may be as recent as yesterday.

This file is part of a collection of files called Stefan's Florilegium. These files are available on the Internet at: http://www.florilegium.org

I have done a limited amount of editing. Messages having to do with separate topics were sometimes split into different files and sometimes extraneous information was removed. For instance, the message IDs were removed to save space and remove clutter.

The comments made in these messages are not necessarily my viewpoints. I make no claims as to the accuracy of the information given by the individual authors.

Please respect the time and efforts of those who have written these messages. The copyright status of these messages is unclear at this time. If information is published from these messages, please give credit to the originator(s).

Thank you,

Mark S. Harris AKA: THLord Stefan li Rous

Stefan at florilegium.org

************************************************************************

From the fb "Known World Cheesemakers" group:

Holly Johnson

5/19/18

Ok, first attempt at cheesemaking was delicious. We used goat's milk and pomegranate balsamic vinegar, seasoned with a little himalayan salt at the end (In other words, we raided the cabinets). We had to up the vinegar a bit, and play with the heat, but SUCCESS! On the downside, the cheesecloth "stole" a lot of the yield. And yes, we bought that at the grocery store. So for next time, we're thinking about draining it in clean, unbleached muslin or a flour sack towel. Suggestions?

Kathleen Madsen

Sometimes I like to drain in an old pillowcase turned inside out.

Asheel Terestini

Floursack cloths?

Holly Johnson

I was also considering using some left over linen bits from sewing projects, hemming them all round, then washing them in hot water and drying them without dryer sheets. You know, making reusable cheese cloths. Thoughts?

Asheel Terestini

I have used it in a pinch when I did cherry juice. If you want to try the flour sack cloth before purchasing you know where my house is ;)

Mary Hoffman

Cheese supply places sell butter muslin. Basically a much finer weave than cheesecloth. very sad when your cheese goes down the drain. you can alway put a pan to collect the whey in case that happens again. I've found that ladling it very slowly also helps. I also have a bag purchased at getculture.com that is very similar to a fruit juice bag

Holly Johnson

We thought about that in advance, and put the sieve over a bowl when we drained it the first time. We poured it through multiple times, but a lot of it stuck in the holes in the cheesecloth. I scraped it with a rubber spatula against the side of a mixing bowl, and we got more out, but in the end, the cheesecloth gave out and we had to stop or have a bit more fibre in the cheese than we would have wanted. ;)

Mary Hoffman

Holly Johnson try the butter muslin, I think you will like it. it can be washed, sanitized and reused many times. I love the basalmic vinegar suggestion, I may have to try that. did it add flavor?

Holly Johnson

It was very subtle but decadent, as it was a flavoured balsamic. It was delicious on apple slices, but the color was decidedly unattractive, but when you consider that bleu cheese looks mouldy, I suppose that wasn't exactly a big deal.

Melinda Ashe

I have a yogurt maker with an extremely fine reusable sieve. Perhaps something like that would work...I lose nothing except clear liquid.

Tanya Washburn

I think linen is a good choice. Regular cheesecloth is not fine enough, especially for goat cheese, and I haven’t found it to be reusable.

Holly Johnson

I honestly think cheese curds are tougher than the crap cheesecloth from the grocery store!

Stefan Li Rous

Why would goat milk be worse? Does goat cheese result in more small particles than cow milk?

Tanya Washburn

Goat cheese has a much finer/smaller curd than cow cheese.

Marianna Garcia

I will use the hand towels from Sam's club

Andrea LaFitte Pifer

i use flour sack towels, or the birdseye flat diapers.

Brian Jackman

Cheesecloth is terrible. I tried it with my first few cheeses, and have decided to switch to t-shirt material and see if that works better. My last cheese, I used a stainless steel, fine mesh sieve to drain the curd, and pressed it in a piece of 4 inch pvc that I had drilled about a million tiny holes in. It worked well, but left the outside of the cheese looking pock-marked. It was still a wonderful cheddar, regardless of the pocks.

Kathleen Madsen

Grocery store "cheesecloth" is really just furry gauze. Every once in awhile I can find a bolt of real cheesecloth or butter muslin at independent fabric stores, and it's significantly cheaper than buying online.

Really, most any kind of fabric scraps will work as long as they aren't fuzzy, have an even texture with a consistent weave, and can be run through the wash on the hottest setting without shrinking.

Opening size in the weave can be important if you are making an aged cheese and have to use care to develop the pH of the curds.

I am getting away from using fabric at this point, unless it's for a period make. Our local brewing supply store carries polyester mesh bags with a fine weave that are easy to clean and sterilize. They are designed to hold flavorings that are being steeped in the Brew and come in a variety of sizes.

David Cline

9/20/18

For those of you who are cheesemakers, do you have any advice as to washing cheesecloths? I just finished pressing and now I have little bits of cheese stuck in the cloth.

Michelle Araj

Soak in hot water and soap, rinse repeat, rinse repeat, then handwash

Karen Houghton

I put mine into a lingerie bag and then wash with laundry. No fabric softener, no dryer sheets.

Charlene Tollison

I just do a separate load of just cheese cloths. Detergent +vinegar, no softener. Hang to dry.

David Cline

Is there any good or easy way to get the bits of cheese out of the cloth? The last thing I want is bits of cheese clogging up my washer.

Karen Houghton

I've got a lint filter on my washer.

Amberly Buckner

Hot water, soap, hand scrub. If it's REALLY clogged up, you can boil wash it on the stove, but I try not to do that too often since it can break down the fibers more quickly

Adler von Drackenstein

I soak/wash mine in the kitchen sink. Rub-a-dub as needed, rinse a lot.

Cathie Papile

Eh, cheese cloth is disposable to me. One and done. Go with a nut milk bag instead. Or the tea towels that are $1 from Ikea. :)

Karen Houghton

I generally use a canning jelly bag. Wash it the same as cheesecloth.