Unlock the Secrets of Making Artisan Cheese: A Comprehensive Guide for Home and Professional Cheesemakers

BigB: I've bought several cheese making books, and this one is the best by far. Its more than a collection of recipes; each section contains tips for success, style history, more technical details for the more technical cheese maker (e.g. cheese pH, etc), as well as descriptions of variations of the different cheeses. Each recipe comes in a "home" (few liters to few tens of liters) versus "artisanal" (hundred liter) sized batches. My only complaint is that the sections are named after generic style descriptions instead of their common names (e.g. "classic Italian-style extra hard cheese" instead of "parmigian")

Canada on May 24, 2023

Jay W: This book is the best! It’s got a ton of in-depth information and goes way beyond what is covered in her Basic book. I’ve worked my way through most of the hard cheeses in this book and I feel like I couldn’t have done it without this book.

United States on May 18, 2023

Jeffrey Allen LoveJeffrey Allen Love: Making cheese is truly an art that brings Artisan Cheese to all tables. Century old quality cheese making is everything in this book. You don't need a Science Degree to make cheeses. Our ancestors have been making cheeses for thousands of years with just a few basic utensils. I was not sure if the book would be missing important information regarding the possesses of cheese making. To my surprise, the book covers a start to finish for success and everything you need to know. I feel confident this book is all I need to make high quality cheese that would impress all cheese lovers alike.

I am glad I got this one!

Covers: Sanitation Recipes - Making Successful Storage Cellars - Testing Cheeses - Milks and Spices - Sciences and Safety - Formulas and Recipes.

I recommend this book to any serious cheese enthusiasts and artisan home cheesemaking.

United States on Jun 04, 2022

Rajiv M. Gupta: The book is very different as compared to what I expected. It is also very different as compared to a number of other books that focus on different recipes without giving the reader a better understanding of the science behind cheese making.

The book is very well organized and covers a lot of the basics, including what happens at the different stages of cheese making including acidity levels, etc. Also, the unique feature of the book is that it does not focus on specific recipes for each cheese, but divides into categories of cheeses based on identifiable characteristics, such as washed curds, etc. It helps a beginner like me to understand what makes certain cheeses similar to others.

Also, one of the things I have got from the book is that you need not be tied down to a specific recipe and it encourages the reader to experiment and learn by trying out different approaches. I think this gives a much more fuller understanding which I have not seen in several other resources.

My biggest takeaway from the book is that when making cheese, the details, such as acidity levels, size and uniformity of the curd, the rate of heating, etc. are vary important and need to...

India on Jul 27, 2021

SvenSven: Mit SEHR weitem Abstand das beste Buch zum Thema Käseherstellung, was ich bisher gefunden habe!

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Alle deutschen Bücher waren mehr oder minder ne schlechte Sammlung von "Rezepten" aus dem Internet. Teils mit fehlenden Mengenangaben und unterirdisch übersetzt.

Dort wurden auch teilweise 130 Rezepte angepriesen, wobei sie fast identisch waren. Frischkäse mit Schnittlauch, dann wieder mit Knoblauch, dann Pfeffer (3 Rezepte)...

Oder es gab Bücher die sehr allgemein über Käseherstellung sprachen oder Rezepte von Käse, von dem noch nie einer gehört hat umd die üblichen fehlten.

Meist komplett ohne Bilder und mit riesengroßer Schrift, um die Seiten voll zu machen.

Nun zu diesem Buch:

Es ist leider auch keine Rezeptsammlung wie ich gehofft habe, sondern auch recht allgemein gehalten, dabei aber SEHR gut gemacht im Gegensatz zu dem deutschen Schrott.

Sehr gute Erklärungen, hochwertige Bilder und viele Seiten mit normaler Schrift.

Also wirklich INHALT!

Es werden die einzelnen Schritte bei der Herstellung der verschiedenen Arten von Käsen detailliert beschrieben, inklusive PH Werte, falls die jemand wissen...

Germany on Jul 05, 2021

Mina LaFortune: This book is a must for any home cheese maker. This is an amazing teaching tool for how milk can be turned into something as lovely as cheese.
It reads more like a textbook rather than just a recipe book. The author takes the time to explain the how and why types of milk, temperatures, cultures and methods all affect the final outcome.
The recipes and guidelines are clear and detailed. We have made several batches of cheese using her book and have had great results. Even when we had epic failures, we at least learned why. It has helped us gain more knowledge and certainly more confidence.
We have found the author to be extremely approachable, if after reading and researching her book we still needed some clarification.
So glad we found this book!

Canada on Mar 12, 2020

Amazon Customer: I will preface by saying I had purchased the basic cheese making book and returned it. The book was great but very basic. If you work at all with PH , Calcium, alkalinity ect. the first book is probably to pedestrian for you. I bought this book and it has the detail I was looking for. I am just starting in my cheese making journey but have spent years making dry cured meats, salami, wine as well as being a supervisor for three pools and two ice rinks. I have a solid background in many of the things covered in the first book, partucularily the science aspects. This book has the procedures and back ground i was looking for. If you are starting from ground zero the basic cheese book by Gianaclis Caldwell is great. If you have some background in making fermented type products and or work in industry that is science ( chem related ) , then start with this book. You cant go wrong

Canada on Jan 31, 2020

Chris: Really happy with this book, I am looking forward to figuring out how to make some of the cheeses. It is written like a text book so be forewarned, however the author does an excellent job inserting anecdotes to keep it light. The only complaint I have is that I have yet to find in the book where it talks about good methods (techniques) to actually maintain a specific temperature. Maybe I just have not found it yet. If I do I will up this review to a 5 star.

United States on Aug 27, 2015

Kathrin: I am making a lot of cheese but am new at it and I just loved receiving this book! It explains a lot of concepts in easy to understand ways and it all makes much more sense. I appreciate her recipes. Would love a bit more detail on adjusting recipes such as, "If you're using raw milk, do this. If you're using goat milk instead of goat milk for this recipe, make these changes". Would also love more info and photos about best mold options for each recipe....either in the book or at a companion website. Bu these are only comments about what would make this book a totally stand alone book for a cheesemaker. I hope to buy her other book sometime soon.

If you are interested in making cheese, buy this book. Unlike some other books it tells you why to do things a certain way and where there's a wider range of options. It also helps train you to assess and respond to situations during a make. I also appreciate that this isn't a book by a company that wants you to buy their products and puts their product in every recipe. Caldwell is a farmer and cheesemaker herself and it shows on every page.

PLUS....I always get a giggle at her working title for a cheese she was working on...

United States on Feb 14, 2013

S. Sinclair: If you are only going to buy one cheese making book this may or may not be the one for you. If you want to deeply understand cheese making and take your cheese making to the next level, if you want to really understand each step in cheese making and how you can make it better next time or if something has not worked out quite right and you need to troubleshoot, this is the book for you. If you would prefer a simpler, perhaps less complex approach give Rick Carroll's book or Mary Karlin's book a read.

The first half of this book is devoted to all the details which are very useful in terms of understanding the recipes and the second half is the recipes. The recipes are as presented cheese types rather than names you might be familiar with: 1) fresh, acid, coagulated cheese, 2) brined cheeses, fresh and aged, 3) white mold, surface ripened cheeses, 4) washed rind surfaced-ripened cheeses, 5) blue cheeses, 6) stretched and kneaded pasta filata cheeses, 7) semihard to hard cheeses, and 8) extra hard grating cheeses. Now this presentation style may have you thinking, "hey, I just want to make XYZ cheese"; this presentation style is different from other cheese making books but it...

United States on Feb 09, 2013