Raw cheese varieties, brands, sources, reviews

[goodsamaritan]

I just came from the supermarket and I bought 2 different varieties.

One was named FONTINA from Italy.
P 800 / kilogram

One was named ASIAGO from Italy.
P 980 / kilogram

Both are raw cheeses.

Both have different tastes.

I just bought both, something to stuff my new office refrigerator with.

Happy that these raw cheeses were more affordable than the other varieties, some of which were not raw.

Let this thread be the depository of conversations regarding raw cheeses... varieties, brands, sources, reviews.

[TylerDurden]

Can't you get hold of raw cheeses from the Phillipines? I am increasingly leery of buying from 1000s of miles away.

[eveheart]

Sheep-milk manchego from Spain is often raw.

[cherimoya_kid]

I'm more interested in grassfed than raw, honestly.

Tomme de Savoie is really tasty, though, and also grassfed, I think.

[Victor K]

Just make it. Let raw milk curdle and then strain and you have raw no-salt added cheese.

[dariorpl]

I've been making raw cheese for a while now, but would like to try to make particular kinds of cheeses

I know that in order to make most popular types you need some type of rennet. The problem is that most rennet is either full of chemical toxins, or full of salt (I've seen some that are 97%+ salt). I've been told that some rennet exists which is organic (whatever that means) and less than 30% salt by content, but I've been unable to find any.

It would also be interesting to learn the full process for extracting rennet from a calf stomach, perhaps it would be possible to develop an entirely primal rennet. Or maybe the only way to make it entirely primal is to use the actual stomach itself and fill it with the milk to let it curdle. I know rennet extraction processes use vinegar and other stuff, but most of what I've seen uses non primal ingredients that are either cooked or outright toxic.

[goodsamaritan]

Sheep-milk manchego from Spain is often raw.

Thanks, I found a semi-curado manchego.  Interesting flavor.

[eveheart]

It would also be interesting to learn the full process for extracting rennet...

There are quite a few Youtube videos about extracting rennet the natural way, plus about a bazillion other cheesemaking videos.

[dariorpl]

Well the only one I found uses a lot of salt and it's also hard to understand what the process is, because his english is pretty bad and so is the sound quality. But I think he says he mixes the dried lamb stomach with milk or cream and then the whey that comes out is what he uses as his rennet.

[eveheart]

Well then, perhaps you have to research further. Putting "natural cheesemaking" in a search engine gets half a million results, such as this one: http://www.amazon.com/The-Art-Natural-Cheesemaking-Non-Industrial/dp/1603585788. The book is The Art of Natural Cheesemaking: Using Traditional, Non-Industrial Methods and Raw Ingredients to Make the World's Best Cheeses by David Asher.

[dariorpl]

Thanks Eve! I'll be checking out that book.

[dariorpl]

Unfortunately, the author is a huge fan of salt, not only in the production of cheese itself, which he claims is fundamental to most cheese types, but also in the production of rennet, in which he calls for curing the calf stomach in salt for 6 months, and then using even more salt afterwards. I will have to keep looking for how to extract rennet without using salt or any other toxins.

[goodsamaritan]

I know Aajonus was against salt.  But in my personal experience I do not think salt is evil.  No salt was probably not good in my personal experience.

[eveheart]

Salt in fermented foods serves as a control for the range of bacteria, not as a flavoring. I don't know why you said, "The author is a huge fan of salt...," because you sound as if salt were some sort of fad. In cheesemaking, as well as in breadmaking, beer- and wine-making, and the fermentation of meats and vegetables, it is desirable to control yeasts and bacteria by adjusting temperature, salinity, light, oxygen, and time. The resulting ferment is awesome tasting when you get the variables within certain ranges. However, the taste can go the other way if you don't have the right controls. Why not learn how to make a good cheese before you experiment with the variables?

[dariorpl]

I understand that you guys think salt is perfectly ok, but it's not primal as AV said salt is highly toxic.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYmQ-T_1yY0

As for those who believe salt deficiency is a problem, I haven't had any salt whatsoever in over a year and am doing fine. Not that one example or one year means a lot, but yeah.

[TylerDurden]

I think we need natural salts such as found in raw blood etc. I would agree that table-salt, though, is unnecessary for most people.

[dariorpl]

Well yes I do have minimal sodium obviously from meats and tomatoes and celery juice, but it's in its organic form because it's already bound to the other nutrients and organically processed to make it safe and useful. Similar to how artificial vitamins from a pill will make you sick, but natural vitamins in your food will make you healthy.

[Iguana]

We get salt from shellfish and seaweeds — and if necessary from a bit of seawater.

[Victor K]

daiorpl, regular no-salt raw cheese made from curdled milk doesn't satisfy you? I usually eat 1-2 cups of this cheese/week. I find it very satisfying. I found the same thing. Cheese recipes have too many questionable ingredients, including salt. AV is against even natural rennet from an animal(said this in his workshop). He only deals with the naturally occurring ferments of foods.

[dariorpl]

I eat it, but it's somewhat unpredictable, and hard to make because the cheese is much more gooey and sticks to the straining cloth so then I have to scrape it and the cleaning is time consuming. Also the resulting cheese is often very sour and develops a strong smell quickly, which makes it hard to eat in large amounts. I'm aiming for about 3/4ths to 1 cup a day.

[dariorpl]

AV is against even natural rennet from an animal(said this in his workshop). He only deals with the naturally occurring ferments of foods.

I'm surprised to hear that. He never mentioned any particular cheesemaking processes in his books. But I've seen previews of the DVD that shows him using cheddar cheese etc, which are all made in particular ways and probably using some of these ingredients.

Did he make his own cheese? In his first book he mentioned purchasing it from a store.