Got Salt?

So, you want to make sure of your ingredients - and quantity of said ingredients. For instance, if you think you sort of remember - you really don't. This is the time to go back to your recipe and look again.

I very nearly ruined the best cheese I ever made (so far it's the only cheese, so I can say that). It's a good thing I wrecked the second batch of yogurt I attempted...I was able to scoop the cheesed up cream from the top of the milk that was intended to be yogurt and I mixed it in with neufchatel, and voila -- still salty, but delicious all the same...poor yogurt though.

This is why you make sure when you go ahead and 'jump right in!' that you don't have appointments to get to. Even though there's plenty of downtime in cheesemaking, you still have be availble to interact with the process at the appropriate times. Also -- you don't really want to cut corners when you're just learning how to do things. And you really do have to cook the yogurt.... not the neufchatel, but the yogurt apparently needs some cooking and keeping warm or it just doesn't take.

And the best advice of all, if at first you don't succeed, try try again. (but I still think its a good thing my first batch of yogurt came out so well - it was very encouraging). And the sour cream finally got sour, so I put it in the fridge. I hear tell, in the summer it doesn't take so long.