Artisan Cheese Making at Home: Techniques & Recipes for Mastering World-Class Cheeses [A Cookbook]

by Mary Karlin, Peter Reinhart (Foreword), Ed Anderson (Photographer)

Just a century ago, cheese was still a relatively regional and European phenomenon, and cheese making techniques were limited by climate, geography, and equipment. But modern technology along with the recent artisanal renaissance has opened up the diverse, time-honored, and dynamic world of cheese to enthusiasts willing to take its humble fundamentals—milk, starters, coagulants, and salt—and transform them into complex edibles. 

Artisan Cheese Making at Home is the most ambitious and comprehensive guide to home cheese making, filled with easy-to-follow instructions for making mouthwatering cheese and dairy items. Renowned cooking instructor Mary Karlin has spent years working alongside the country’s most passionate artisan cheese producers—cooking, creating, and learning the nuances of their trade. She presents her findings in this lavishly illustrated guide, which features more than eighty recipes for a diverse range of cheeses: from quick and satisfying Mascarpone and Queso Blanco to cultured products like Crème Fraîche and Yogurt to flavorful selections like Saffron-Infused Manchego, Irish-Style Cheddar, and Bloomy Blue Log Chèvre. 

Artisan Cheese Making at Home begins with a primer covering milks, starters, cultures, natural coagulants, and bacteria—everything the beginner needs to get started. The heart of the book is a master class in home cheese making: building basic skills with fresh cheeses like ricotta and working up to developing and aging complex mold-ripened cheeses. Also covered are techniques and equipment, including drying, pressing, and brining, as well as molds and ripening boxes. Last but not least, there is a full chapter on cooking with cheese that includes more than twenty globally-influenced recipes featuring the finished cheeses, such as Goat Cheese and Chive Fallen Soufflés with Herb-Citrus Vinaigrette and Blue Cheese, Bacon, and Pear Galette. 

Offering an approachable exploration of the alchemy of this extraordinary food, Artisan Cheese Making at Home proves that hand-crafting cheese is not only achievable, but also a fascinating and rewarding process.

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Food, Nonfiction, Reference, Food and Wine

256 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2011

Reviews

[Cheyenne Blue · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book in a cafe in a small town in NSW and read it over breakfast, exclaiming all the way about the ideas and recipes. After breakfast, I asked the owner if he wanted to sell his copy, but he wouldn't part with it.

Luckily, it is available on Kindle (although yada, yada, kindle isn't the best format for cookbooks, too hard to flick through, pictures not easy to see).

I've read it cover to cover now, and tried a couple of recipes. Some of the simpler ideas are for presentation and finishing (My goat cheese was enhanced by wrapping in fig leaves macerated in white wine, for example) and I have a cheddar-style cheese underway.

Explanations are good and straightforward, and I loved the variety of finishing touches offered.

As an intermediate cheese maker, I look forward to trying many more of these recipes.

PS A wine storage fridge for red wine makes the perfect ripening cabinet. Coincidence? I think not. :)

[Jordan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is well researched and thoughtfully laid out. The recipes are excellent but the limitations on milk you can use is sometimes unclear (eg I can only buy pasturized/homogenized milk here in Nevada, and while she recognizes that many people will only have that type of milk on hand she never distinguishes when it is ok and not ok to use homogenized milk). This limitation aside the book is an excellent aide for entering the world of cheesemaking and helps you build new skills with each recipe.

[Isabell · Rating 3 out of 5]

I used this as a resource to help me write an essay on the chemistry of making cheese. Not the most in depth or helpful for my particular interests. Also, I didn't love the tone the author took when writing this. However, it seemed to be a great resource if you were actually making cheese at home so it does what it set out to do!

[Diana Koenig · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found the recipes were easy to follow and it was an enjoyable read.

[Alexia Chantel · Rating 5 out of 5]

From easy to challenging this book can walk you through nearly any cheese you want to try your hand at. Having done farmers-type cheese I'm ready to tackle cheddar!

[May · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am incredibly excited about this book, and itching to get started experimenting in my kitchen. There are gorgeous photos and fairly clear explanations of pretty much every recipe, as well as an intentional structure to the recipes in order to increase your knowledge and skill as you go (i.e., first there's fresh cheese you can make to see what curd formation is like, then there's the creation of cultured products to introduce you to working with cultures, and then basic cheeses made with cultures, etc.). There are still a few things I'm confused about, but I think they are things that I can read about elsewhere or just skills that only come with time. Really a wonderful book.

[Tasha · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is really informative, but still a little too specialized for the average home cook, imho. It's more for cooks or chefs who already have a lot of equipment and special ingredients, and don't mind spending lots of time in the kitchen.
Read the review on Truth Beauty Freedom and Books>>>

[Serge Pierro · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent book on making artisan cheeses. Well laid out, with simpler cheeses towards the front, and then progresses to the more complex ones towards the end. Lots of useful information scattered about. Geared more towards the intermediate/advanced maker, though the early sections are quite suitable for the novice.

[Phyllis · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is a lot to cheese making so I doubt I will ever undertake any of these recipes. I am glad I read this cookbook before jumping into it because it really explains it very clearly how much time and what you'll need for cheese making.

[Stephanie]

We wanted to get the basics of cheese making and this was a bit over our capacity. Should we dabble and enjoy cheese making, perhaps we will come back to this book - chock full of yummy sounding recipes.

[Erin L · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everything you need to know about making cheese as far as I can tell. This includes several recipes and my favorite part - a troubleshooting guide for when your cheese making seems to go a little off track.

[Carol · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent book for someone interested in making cheese at home. It is packed with information and recipes and the instructions are easy to follow and complete.

[Heather]

Gift to myself to expand on the basic book my parents got me for Christmas.

[Kevin & Meagan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this book. Very good, artisan recipes. Will have to try them later.

[Sarah]

Really great, well laid-out book on cheese making. I've done a bit of making cheese but this definitely makes me want to try more complex styles.

[Amber · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't love this book. The cheese recipes and techniques all seem too complex for home cheesemaking.

[Finlay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gorgeous pictures, home-sized recipes, and lots of information on tools, cultures, etc.