Homemade cheese is delicious and making cheese is a wonderful hobby for those who have a dairy animal or just love to cook. There are so many kinds of cheese out there and a cheese kit is a wonderful way to learn about them and give them a try in your own kitchen.
Why Buy A Cheese Making Kit?
If you have never made cheese before a cheese making kit is a wonderful way to learn how, and will set you off on the right foot with directions, supplies and ingredients to get you started. These are a great if your hobby happens to be goats, or you have access to fresh milk. They also make wonderful gifts for someone who loves cheese and making things.
What Is In Cheese Making Kits?
What comes in a cheese making kit will depend on the kit, and what kind of cheese they make. A kit will most likely include a culture, rennet, cheese cloth, calcium chloride, citric acid, and cheese salt. Some may also include a thermometer, lipase, recipe book, pot, spoon, colander, mold and or a press. But again this will be different for every kit, and from every brand.
It’s important to note that the cultures and lipase should be kept in the freezer and the rennet in the fridge so they don’t spoil. Keep this in mind if you plan to give a cheese making kit as a gift. Also to make cheese using a cheese kit you are going to need milk -no milk alternatives like soy or almond- or the kit will not work for you. You can for many of these kits use either store bought whole or pasteurized (never use ultra pasteurized) milk or raw milk.
The Best Cheese Making Kits
Not every cheese making kit is the same, nor do they all us the highest quality of ingredients so we wanted to tae the guess work out of shopping for a cheese kit and collect the best we could find. Below we have divided them into fresh AKA soft cheese kits, and hard chees kits.
Fresh Cheese Making Kits
Fresh cheese making kits are the perfect thing to dip your toe into the world of cheese making. Fresh cheese is soft cheeses such as ricotta, mozzarella, cottage cheese, chevre, and mascarpone tend to be much quicker of a cheese to make and don’t require aging like a cheddar cheese or a jack cheese. Here are some great fresh cheese making kits:
Fermentaholics DIY Fresh Cheese Making Kit
In this cheese making kit you have the supplies to make fresh cheeses such as ricotta, cottage cheese, mozzerella, burrata, paneer and chevre facile.
When you open up the kit your find a booklet with recipes and instructions to make different fresh cheeses including the ones above. Plus microbial rennet tablets, cheese salt, citric acid, grade 90 cheesecloth, and gloves.
You can use this cheese kit with raw, pasteurized (not ultra pasteurized) or whole goat, sheep, cow or buffalo milk to make fresh cheese.
Standing Stone Farms Basic Beginner Cheese Making Kit
Another great option when it comes to fresh cheese making kits is this beginner kit from Standing Stone Farms. They are a small family farm based out of middle Tennessee that supplies cheese makers with high quality cheese supplies. Each kit is proudly made in the USA with many of the products sourced from the US, and uses recycled packaging.
This kit is to make Mozzarella, Chevre, Goat Cheese, Queso Blanco, Queso Fresco, Mascarpone and Ricotta and includes enough ingredients to turn 20 gallons of milk into delicious, preservative free, Non-GMO, color free, cheese in as little as 20 minutes. It comes with Use Cow, Goat, Sheep Farm fresh or Store bought Milk! You can use it with raw or store bought milk (Just make sure not to use ultra pasteurized)
* * If making Chevre or Goat cheese, you will need store-bought buttermilk as your culture.
New England Cheesemaking Supply Mozzarella and Ricotta Cheese Making Kit
With this kit you can make Mozzarella Cheese in just 30 minutes. It has everything you will need to make both mozzarella and ricotta inside except for the milk and rubber gloves. This kit makes delicious, rich & creamy cheeses. It includes enough ingredients to make approximately 20 one pound batches of cheese.
This kit is perfect for those new to making cheese or looking for a new hobby to start. It’s great fun for the entire family! It also makes a great gift for those that enjoy cooking.
New England Cheesemaking Supply Beginner Cheese Making Kit
This fresh cheese kit comes with what you need to make paneer, mascarpone and ricotta cheese at home. This cheese making kit includes citric acid, tartaric acid, a dairy thermometer, 1 yard re-usable butter muslin, and a recipe booklet for making the cheese.
This kit is the perfect option for those just learning about cheese making, or if you are looking for a great gift for a friend or loved one.
This goat cheese making kit is perfect for the beginners at cheese making. In this kit you will find 4 goat cheese molds, Chevre DS Culture 5 pack, 1 yard reusable butter muslin, E4 thermometer, and a recipe booklet. The molds that come with this kit are sturdy and well made, and if you need any help the website has tons of helpful information. Make sure you use either raw milk or pasteurized but not ultra-pasteurized.
Cultures for Health Mozzarella and Ricotta Cheese Kit
Another great option is this cheese making kit from Cultures for Health. Contains all the supplies needed to make creamy Mozzarella or Ricotta Cheese from start to finish. This kit recommends you use raw milk to make the cheeses. This kit makes up to 24 batches of cheese.
Hard Cheese Making Kits
Cheeses such as cheddar, jack, colby, asiago, parmesan, romano, and swiss fall into the hard cheese category. Hard cheeses are so fun to make, and slightly more difficult then fresh cheeses because they require aging and pressing to reach their full potential. Hard cheese kits are a wonderful way to learn to make these and many more types of cheese.
Country Trading Co. Store Blue Cheeses Making Kit
This hard cheese making kit teaches you how to make Stilton style large wheels, Piquant Nordic Blue, Intensely veined Royal Blue, Creamy white mould blue cheeses, Cashew Blue. Includes 81 page book of well tested blue cheese making recipes and tips with full color step by step guidance for beginner cheese makers. when you’re ready to begin, use the fully paid voucher to order fresh cheese mold, cheese starter culture, rennet and salt.
This kit would be fun for anyone who loves to cook, brew beer, or anything along those lines.
Know-How Brews & Foods Cheddar Kit (Complete)
This cheese making kit includes rennet, calcium chloride, cheese salt, mesophilic RA culture, curd cutting knife, 1 yard of cheese cloth. Everything you need to make your own cheddar cheese except milk, a pan and a thermometer. This kit is designed for 1 gallon batches at a time., however you can double or triple a batch just fine. This kit is the perfect gift for homesteaders, or those who enjoy cooking.
Standing Stone Farms Ultimate Cheese Making Kit
This kit has everything you need to make Mozzarella, Burrata, Feta, Halloumi, Cheddar Cheese Curds, Monterey Jack, Cream Cheese, Marscapone, Chèvre, Ghee and more. The kit makes up to 25 lbs of cheese and when stored properly lasts up to 2 years.
Standing Stone Farms Complete Cheese Making Kit
This kit from Standing Stone Farms comes with the same ingredients used by true artisan cheese makers around the world. Plus all the supplies you need to make your very own cheese in the comfort of your kitchen.
How To Make Your Own Cheese Making Kit
Want to create your own custom cheese making kit? Here are some items you should include:
- Rennet
- Calcium Chloride
- Cheese Culture: Mesophilic or Thermophilic
- Butter Muslin
- Fine Colander
Some great add on items would be:
If you are new to cheese making this is a great recipe for jack cheese!
Before you go, check these out
