# Cheese making kits - any recommendations? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 12, 2011, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheese-making-kits-any-recommendations/605951 "2011-12-12T20:33:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tastes_of_chocolate/32/3232_2.png) [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tastes_of_Chocolate)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2011, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheese-making-kits-any-recommendations/605951/1 "2011-12-12T20:33:06Z")
I’m looking into getting my SO a cheese making kit for Christmas. We frequently try out different food and beverage makings, to see what it’s like. So what I’m looking for is a basic kit, to get a feel for what cheese making is like, and if it’s something we want to try more of. So for a complete kit, up to $100 would be doable. Less if there are additional materials (not counting milk) that are needed. We do have experience trying out new cooking/food making, so it doesn’t have to be super simple. We do have refrigerator/cool storage space, if aging is needed. Does anyone have kits that they can recommend? ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2011, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheese-making-kits-any-recommendations/605951/2 "2011-12-12T21:56:46Z")
My aunt bought this one last year. She’s made several soft cheeses that came out tasty. > **[Amazon.com: Cheesemaking.com Gourmet Home Cheese Making and More Dairy Kit:...](https://www.amazon.com/Cheesemaking-com-Gourmet-Cheese-Making-Dairy/dp/B00014F1KO)** > > Online Shopping for Kitchen Utensils & Gadgets from a great selection at everyday low prices. Free 2-day Shipping with Amazon Prime. ---
**Author:** ![shiftless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@shiftless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shiftless)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2011, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheese-making-kits-any-recommendations/605951/3 "2011-12-13T14:14:17Z")
I’ve used the 30 minute Mozzarella & Ricotta Kit from here: [http://www.cheesemaking.com/](http://www.cheesemaking.com/) Worked well except I couldn’t easily find milk that hadn’t been ultra-pasteurized. ---
**Author:** ![Swords\_to\_Plowshares](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b38774/32.png) [@Swords\_to\_Plowshares](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swords_to_Plowshares)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2011, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheese-making-kits-any-recommendations/605951/4 "2011-12-13T16:16:39Z")
> [@shiftless](#): > > I’ve used the 30 minute Mozzarella & Ricotta Kit from here: > [http://www.cheesemaking.com/](http://www.cheesemaking.com/) > > Worked well except I couldn’t easily find milk that hadn’t been ultra-pasteurized. You can’t buy raw milk (non-pasteurized milk) in stores, and you can only buy raw milk cheese if it’s been aged for 60+ days. But you can get it directly from a farm - [here](http://www.realmilk.com/where5.html#va) is a list for Virginia. ---
**Author:** ![shiftless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@shiftless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shiftless)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheese-making-kits-any-recommendations/605951/5 "2011-12-14T19:14:19Z")
> [@Swords\_to\_Plowshares](#): > > You can’t buy raw milk (non-pasteurized milk) in stores, and you can only buy raw milk cheese if it’s been aged for 60+ days. > > But you can get it directly from a farm - [here](http://www.realmilk.com/where5.html#va) is a list for Virginia. Nice list. I was making a distiction between pasteurized milk and ultra-pasteurized milk. Regular old pasteurized milk works fine for making Mozzarella apparently. The problem is that the jug of milk at the grocery store doesn’t say if it is ULTRA-pasteurized or not. The kit even tells you how to make it with powered milk but I haven’t tried it.