Making cheese at home isn't easy, but it's a lot of fun to try
The "Satoyama School" environmental learning center, established by the Guan Shu Education Foundation, launched the "Dairy Farmers and Milk" program starting this autumn. It not only brings together Quanjing Ranch in Jiaopu, Yuanli Township, so that everyone can see for themselves how the milk we drink is produced, but also lets everyone try making cheese by hand. Quite a few friends have already experienced the fun of making cheese with their own hands at "Satoyama School." In fact, the formation of every environmental education activity is the result of staff members' hard work and constant experimentation. Satoyama School's colleague Jiaheng spent quite a long time researching how to make cheese, and the process was full of twists and turns. Below is the article Jiaheng wrote for the Satoyama School E-Newsletter, sharing the whole journey.
Making cheese: the starter culture is the first step
After carefully studying Ricki's recipes and FAQ again, we realized that some small details had been overlooked. For example, when sterilizing, you must not exceed 20 seconds, or after adding the rennet, the stirring time must not exceed 30 seconds. While stirring, you also have to carefully count the seconds, which really feels like Harry Potter in Potions class: "Stir counterclockwise seven times, then add one clockwise stir."
But even after paying attention to these details, once the weather turned cold the cheese became disobedient again. We also heard that the dairy cows' milk production cycle can affect cheese making.
Cheese is truly full of knowledge.
Last week a group came to experience making tofu. After the activity ended, the common feeling among colleagues who had not made tofu for a long time was: "Making tofu is so easy!" Clearly everyone had been trained very well by cheese. If you have the chance, you might as well give it a try yourself. Although there is a bit of trouble, once it is done you will feel a great sense of accomplishment.