The why? of cheese and candy making...books needed.

[Kimcarrots]

Hello,

My boys are all excited to make cheese and hard candy.

I would like to know the why of the transformations before we begin in case they ask.  Also, I'm curious.

Any good books? Recipe books?

Thanks in advance!

Kim

[moominmamma]

My middle dd made (and successfully marketed) a whole lot of hard candy last year. Here's her procedure, including her recipe and a link to the "official" recipe that she used.

We are not cheese experts, but we have done mozzarella, chevre and a jack hard cheese. A good resource is Ricki the Cheese Queen's site. She sells stuff in lovely kits, but is also just a passionate popularizer of cheese-making.

A favourite book of ours, for these things and many others, is "On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen" by Harold McGee. Well worth having a copy on your recipe shelf for any why-related food question.

Miranda

[34me]

Are there any cottage cheese makers in your area that you could visit? We have a small one in town and dh is also the corporate chemist at a cheese plant; so they are out there.

[Kimcarrots]

These are such great ideas!  Thank you both.

We don't have a cottage cheese making place in our area but we are local to Ricki the Cheese Queen and I think she may have classes.  

And we do have a miso making operation (and kombucha) local - you kick started my brain to remember to call and ask if we could visit!

Thanks again!