Insert Cheesy Jokes Here

Har!

Saturday, as it turned out, was cheese day.  My wine hasn't quite fermented enough for racking, so instead I got out my cheesemaking equipment and ingredients (most of them Christmas gifts, some that I picked up last week from the good folks at Austin Homebrew Supply):

 This cheesemaker takes no crap.  I'm like the Samuel L. Jackson of cheese, sort of.  With a bit more hair.

This is where my homebrewing gear came in handy - I scoured my 5 and 8 gallon stock pots (also good for making turkey soup, BTW) until the interiors were spotless and sterile, then set them up as a double boiler for the milk.

 One the milk was at 90F, I added mesophilic starter culture,

 then stirred vigorously.

After adding the rennet, I stirred some more, then let it sit until I got curds, which I broke up and let sit for a bit longer...

 ... and then (carefully) poured them into a cheesecloth-lined colander to drain.

 Once drained, I transferred them to a clean bowl so I could remove more of the whey*.

 Then they were ready to knead with cheese salt...

 ... and put in the cheese press.

 

 After about 4 hours of pressure, it looked like this:

And after being pressed overnight, it looked more like a wheel of cheese:

I've got it sitting out so the rind can dry, then it'll be 3 weeks of curing, at the end of which I'll have a little over a pound of Caerphilly cheese.

Next on the agenda, probably either Edam or feta.  Maybe both.

* - The whey, I've discovered, makes for delicious bread and pizza dough, so I've got over a gallon of that to use up by the end of this week in the fridge.  Mmmm, carbs....