David LaGarce wearing a shirt he bought for the 4th of July.
Recently, David sent us pictures of his cheese making equipment, including a re-circulation style heater system. We know from experience that you love seeing how other home cheese makers do things, so we we asked him for more pics and he sent them to us.
David’s Story
As a native from northern Houston, my first introduction to home made dairy products was when my uncle would give us some raw milk from which my mother made butter and clabber.😑
Although I didn’t share the same passion for clabber, it did give me a desire to pursue this hobby later in my life, as I currently live on our homestead, not too far from where I grew up.
I’ve only been making cheese myself for about 7 years, starting with Mozzarella. I have made Cheddar, Pepper Jack, Mozzarella, Brie, Colby, and Camembert.
Colby, drying for a few days before waxing. This and the cheeses below were the first ones I made with my new system.
Brie. I started on 10/24 when the ph was at 4.7. I placed it in the cave on 10/27. Only a few more days and I’ll wrap it and move it to a cool fridge.
YouTube became my source of education as I learned more about polishing my craft of cheese making.
Pressing Colby
But, not all was from Youtube, as I was always experimenting with different ways to control temperature and ways to cut down on the time standing over the pot stirring.
My career in construction and the natural ability to create things, gave me the inspiration to create the circulation system in these pictures.
My Heat Exchanger
My heat exchange pump, disassembled
Hoses
This is a typical sink. I add 2 ½” couplers and 2 ball valves. This is where my circulation system hooks up, making the whole thing possible.
The water that surrounds the cheese is constantly pulled from the sink, pumped through the heat exchanger and back into the sink.
Under the sink. This is one of my first test runs while developing my system. I do plan on a more permanent mounting.
This is the brains of it all – the temperature control panel. It will hit the target temp and hold it indefinitely within .01 degrees.
Think of it as a large sous vide. I went this way instead of using my sous vide is because I can maintain the temperature of 25 gallons of water. The more water I have, the more control I have.
Stirring the Pot:
This StirMATE answered the “time on my feet over the pot” problem.
This StirMATE Smart Pot Stirrer clamps onto the side of the pot. There is an attachment that I plan on getting soon. It will work a bit more like a rake – gently moving through the curds to keep them from knitting together while increasing the temperature.
Stirring Colby
My Cave:
My Cheese Room:
My Goals:
My plans are to expand my knowledge to teach others what I have learned in hopes they too can create homemade cheese using YouTube videos and in-person demonstration classes.
My “to make” cheese list for the near future:
Belper Knoll
Butterkase
Cheddar
Gouda
Munster
Pepper jack
Port Salut
Romano
(Not necessarily in that order.)
