280943 Mon Nov 14 13:22:33 -0800 2005 4 31 Home Cooking 0 1493769 I hope this is on the right board. Apologies if not. For Christmas, I'd like to my brother a cheesemaking kit. I need some advice. I want a fairly simple cheesemaking kit. While I'd love one that can be used for mozzarella, as well as hard cheeses, it looks like most kits I find online are for one or the other. The ones that are for both are too expensive for me (I'm looking to stay on or under $30). So, my question is, have any of you had experience with cheesemaking kits? Which ones do you recommend for a gift? I've been looking at two in particular - one from New England Cheesemaking Supply, and the other Leeners. Any specific experience with these? http://www.cheesemaking.com/product_info-cPath-22-products_id-34.php http://www.leeners.com/cheese.html I'm almost tempted to just buy the items in these kits separately. I think it would be about 1/4 the cost. But since it is a gift, the packaging is half the fun, I guess... What would you do? Mon Nov 14 13:22:33 -0800 2005 0 adamclyde 1 1493773 I would package it myself with a book about cheesemaking. I love making stuff but hate kits! Mon Nov 14 13:59:44 -0800 2005 1493769 0 pitu 1 1493791 I've given the mozerella kit from NE Cheesemaking as gifts and both recipients absolutely loved it. However, I'm sure they'd have been just as happy if I'd packaged it up myself. The thing with hard cheeses is you can't make hard cheese without a press, and that's a bit intimidating. The process is also more time consuming and labor intensive. The NE Cheesemaking kit is a nice intro to cheesemaking for someone who has probably never even thought about making a cheese before, and if you pique their interest, follow up with a nice hard cheese press and other paraphenalia the next year. I actually liked my mozerella kit so much, I took a class with Ricki at her house to learn more, so I'd buy from her again just to support what she's doing. As for choosing between the two, it seems you get more stuff with the Leener's kit, although what I found appealing about the NE Cheesemaking kit was the really simple directions and microwave method. I'm sure Leener's has their own version of that simple recipe (they didn't a few years ago- Ricki was the only one offering anything like this for home cheesemakers). Mon Nov 14 15:26:22 -0800 2005 1493769 0 Chris VR 2 1493795 Good info - thank you very much. I noticed these much shortened methods for making mozzarella. Any idea of the quality difference between other methods? Mon Nov 14 15:40:29 -0800 2005 1493791 0 adamclyde 3 1493848 Well I haven't made mozzerella by the traditional method, just the shortened method. And so much also depends on the milk- some milk brands give better results, and that's a trial and error process. But the quality was good- soft and chewy with a nice pull to it. I can't imagine there's a significant difference. My Italian friend gave it the thumbs-up and that's good enough for me :-) Mon Nov 14 20:21:46 -0800 2005 1493795 0 Chris VR