Beginners Cheese Making Kit

This kit gave me everything I needed and made me brave enough to try making mozzarella and ricotta, and at a reasonable price. It's a great way to experiment if you're not sure that cheesemaking is for you, without spending a lot of money on packages of rennet and bags of citric acid and the like. The instructions included are for making fresh cheeses - mozzarella, ricotta, marscapone - but if you're absolutely new to cheesemaking, as I was, they are a good place to start. When making mozzarella, I belatedly discovered that my instant read thermometer is about 15 degrees low, which was pretty critical for success. However, even though my curds were very small, I just sort of forged ahead and...it worked! AFTERWARD, I went back and looked for videos/photos on what the curd is supposed to look like, which is how I discovered by thermometer was off-spec; so start with that, photos and videos, if you haven't made cheese before. The only criticism I can think of is that the rennet is in a powdered form in little foil packets, and the instructions say to use a half a packet. Honestly, the amount is so small, that there isn't any way to tell what I half a packet IS without pouring it out, measuring it, and putting the rest back. lol. The labeling on the rennet pack says that it is good for much more milk than I was using, though, so a guestimate is probably fine. I'm confident enough after using this kit that I went ahead and bought rennet and citric acid so I can keep making cheese. I was a bit concerned that I wouldn't be able to accurately transfer the instructions in the kit using the powdered rennet to liquid or tablet rennet, but it's a simple process, and it wasn't an issue. Recommended if you want to experiment with fresh cheesemaking to see if it is for you.

So amazing!!! Just buy it. It’s a supper cheap form of entertainment. The fresh mozzarella came out perfect. I would have like it to be a bit saltier, but that may just be me. Also, quick tip, put it in ice water to quickly at the end to cool it down and make it hold shape. You can use pasteurized cows milk, but for the goat cheese you need raw milk from a local goat milk place. Also the goat cheese isn’t the creamy deliciousness that you are thinking of, it’s a bit grainy. ***Update, the goat cheese was my personal fail, tried to heat up the milk too fast. Just heat it up supper slow and it's amazing.*** But! Buy this for the mozzarella. Sure you can buy rennet and citric acid and google a recipe, but honestly this is a great cheap way to see if you wana go all out and get a pound of citric acid. Invest you $12, see if you wana commit then go from there. Also, the directions are supper amazing. At multiple points they assured me that I shouldn’t worry if it wasn’t perfect. Lol! Would also be a fabulous gift!

I was very excited when this was delivered. I had watched videos on making cheese and was ready to try it. The instructions were very clear everything was in the box. I decided that mozzarella would be the first cheese I would make. I got my citric acid and rennet mixed with water and got my whole milk on the stove. I followed each direction carefully, bringing everything to the proper temperature. Sadly, my first attempt did not work. After adding the rennet (the recipe called for half of the packet), I left it to sit. When I came back, the curds and whey had not separated. I left it longer and still no action. After an hour of sitting, I knew that it was not going to come together. The mixture had very few curds and it was definitely not "sliceable" as it should have been. I dumped it and decided to start again. The second batch, I added an entire packet of rennet. I again followed all of the steps and when I added the rennet mixture, I let it sit for 30 minutes. When I came back, it still wasn't as separated as it should have been, but I decided to forge ahead anyway. The recipe for this cheese did not say to use the included cheese cloth, but I used it anyway. Im glad I did. Once I had drained all of the curds and whey through the cloth, I saw that I had plenty of curds to make the cheese. I microwaved the curds to get more whey out and was left with very pliable curds. I stretched the cheese in a bowl and folded it on itself several times until it became smooth and glossy. I formed it into a ball, wrapped in plastic and put it in the fridge. When it was time to prepare dinner, I cut the ball in half and tore the cheese to add to chicken parm. The cheese was creamy and delicious. Im glad I went ahead with the second batch. Maybe the rennet I received in the kit was no longer good?

I'd long wanted to try my hand at making mozzarella but couldn't find rennet nearby. Other items, such as the citric acid, were easy enough to locate locally but I'd have to order the rennet and in significant quantities, which seemed wasteful if I just wanted to try the process. This kit had everything in one place--small amounts, food for several tries, but that's just what I needed to test the waters. The package noted that it also came with cheesecloth, which I'd initially been dismissive of because I already had cheesecloth--the sort sold in local supermarkets. But what came with the kit was much better, unbleached and much sturdier and useful for repeated use with just a rinse. The kit sat in a cabinet for months until I was able to find non-homogenized milk. This was probably overkill, as you just need non-UHT milk, but from what I'd read elsewhere non-homogenized milk works better. The instructions were clear and well laid out, and with little effort I had some excellent fresh mozzarella that I used that evening for pizza, so I finally had one with homemade crust, homemade sauce, and now homemade mozzarella.

I love the idea of this product, but it was a fail for me. It did not make the cheese that I thought it would. It made cheese, but it came out like Farmers cheese. Edible, tastes okay, but not what I had expected. It was probably my lack of cheese-making skills that contributed! I'd recommend it if you're a good cheese maker.

The instructions that come with this are easy to understand. I've made cheese twice now from the kit and both times, it turned out perfectly. Then I used the whey that was left over to make caramel sauce. I never want to have normal caramel sauce again. Making it with the whey gave it a slight tang that I just couldn't get enough of. Oh, then I made butter from the left over heavy cream I bought for the burrata cheese. So I was able to make three products from the left overs that came from making one cheese from the kit. And I've never made butter or caramel sauce before either. I feel so accomplished from just this cheese making kit!

Got this as a gift for my little brothers girlfriend she loves cheese she was so excited absolutely loved it and thought it was such a cool idea. It came nice packaged and arrived on time overall super pleased and low key wanna get anther for myself haha

Bought as an Xmas present for my dad. This set can make 3 separate mozzarella balls! Takes one gallon of milk per order, just a fair warning! My dad liked making the cheese and tastes good!

Awesome product easy to use great results

Loved this for all it cost! Perfect Secret Santa gift, and the recipient loved it! Would definitely recommend.

I found the kit easy to use. Did take a few trys to get the right milk for the mozzarella.I did message sandy leaf farm about the issues I was having. And they were fast at replying and more than happy to offer advice of where my first few attempts went wrong. This product is a good way to spend lockdown.

The kit arrived right on time as promised. It includes all the necessary ingredients to make the cheeses listed other than the milk, obviously. We started with the mozzarella. The instructions were very clear and lined up with other mozz cheesemaking sites on the interweb. The only issue we found was trying to measure the rennet as recommended, one quarter of one quarter teaspoon was a little hard to size so we used the whole packet in water and then used a quarter of that. Not sure how to keep the leftover rennet mix or if it will even keep so that remains to be determined. The cheese did meld together after several reheats and we finally ended up with 8 bocconcini balls from 4L of milk. still have to taste it but looks great!

J en ai fabriquer une fois. Les instruction son pas très claire j ai du me référer à internet. C était pas une réussite