Categories
Homesteading

How to Operate a Lever-type Cheese Press

Homemade lever-type cheese press
Photo by Tim Belyk
Place the press block close to the pivot bolt to optimize pressure.

You’ve milked your cows (or goats) and even mastered making simple soft cheeses, like mozzarella or ricotta. Now it’s time to graduate to more artisanal cheese making by implementing a cheese press. The one we used for the purposes of this article is a lever-type press. Whether you buy a press or make your own, here’s what you need to know to make it work effectively and efficiently.

Step 1
Place a block of cheese in the proper-sized mold. (Molds can be purchased at a cheese-making supply store or website.) Position the mold under the sliding press block located on the press arm.

Step 2
Center the press block over the cheese mold by sliding the block forward or backward on the arm and moving the mold from side to side as needed. Keep in mind, the amount of pressure and the length of time it’s applied will affect the finished texture of the cheese.

The press arm is a class-2 lever, meaning the distance between the pivot bolt and weight at the end of the arm is greater than the distance between the pivot bolt and press block. By placing the mold and press block as close to the pivot bolt as possible, you will get the most pressure on your cheese for a given amount of weight hung from the end of the press arm. You can calculate the pounds of pressure applied by using the following formula:

(Length from pivot bolt to weight ÷ length from pivot bolt to press block center) × size of weight in pounds

Step 3
Place spacers under the cheese mold until the mold is raised to such a height that the press arm is horizontal and level. This ensures that the cheese will be pressed uniformly and won’t have a slanted top when it’s finished. You can use scrap pieces of wood or other materials as spacers.

Step 4
Once the mold is correctly positioned and the preliminary height is adjusted, hang a weight from the end of the press arm. The weight can be anything from a pail of sand to a jug of water or a heavy brick—whatever you choose. Just make sure the weight is heavy enough and positioned far enough down the arm to provide the desired amount of pressure on your cheese. (Consult your cheese recipe for the amount of pressure and length of time at which the cheese should be pressed. These variables will change depending on the type of cheese you are making.)

Step 5
Over time, you’ll notice the press arm start to lower. You may need to add more spacers under the mold to bring the arm back to a horizontal position and ensure a straight, downward pressure on the cheese again.

Full View

Lever-style cheese press - full view
Photo by Tim Belyk
A coffee can full of sand is used as the press weight in this photo. It is situated at the end of the arm for maximum pressure on the cheese. Click image for larger view.

 

For instructions on how to make your own lever-type cheese press, pick up the March/April 2012 issue of Hobby Farm Home.

About the Author: Tim Belyk uses his central-Canadian farm to learn how our ancestors got by at the turn of the century. He makes butter, cheese, sausage, jerky, firewood, hay, simple farm tools, fences and more with as little outside help as possible.

Categories
Recipes

Romesco

Romesco on polenta
Photo by Rhoda Peacher

Serve romesco on polenta, spread it on grilled bread or serve it with roasted winter squash or with grilled meat. Ancho chilies are flavorful but not especially hot; substitute another mild chili, if you prefer.

Serving Size: 1/2 cup

Ingredients

  • 2 ancho chili pods or 2 to 3 medium-hot, roasted peppers (fresh or jarred)
  • 3/4 cup roasted hazelnuts
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • 1½ tsp. salt
  • 1/4 tsp. ground coriander or 2 T. fresh cilantro leaves, stems removed
  • 1/4 tsp. cumin
  • 1/2 tsp. Paprika or 1/4 tsp. smoked paprika
  • fresh, ground black pepper, to taste
  • 1/4 to 1/2 cup olive oil
  • 2 roasted sweet red peppers, fresh or jarred
  • 1 T. tomato paste or 2 plum tomatoes, seeded
  • 1 tsp. red-wine or sherry vinegar
  • 1 T. hazelnut oil (optional)

Preparation
Remove stems and seeds from peppers. If using dried pods, reconstitute in warm water for 15 minutes. To roast fresh peppers, hold each pepper over grill or gas flame with a pair of tongs. Put charred peppers in brown paper bag and seal for 5 to 10 minutes. Remove peppers and rub off blackened skins. Combine nuts, garlic, salt and spices in food processor. Add olive oil, as needed to form a thick paste. Add remaining ingredients, adjusting the amount of hazelnut oil to taste.

    Categories
    Recipes

    Zuke Ghanouj

    Zucc-ghanouj, variation on baba ghanouj using zucchinis
    Photo by Judith Hausman

    Grill or roast the zucchini before mixing it into this recipe to extract some of the water out of the squash. The oil in tahini [sesame paste] will bind the zucchini and tighten the zucchini mixture.

    Yield: 2 cups

    Ingredients

    • 3 large (or one huge) zucchini, sliced or coarsely chopped
    • 1/4 to 1/2 cup fresh chopped parsley, cilantro, basil, or mint or any combination thereof, to taste 
    • 4 roasted or 2 fresh garlic cloves
    • 3 T. tahini
    • 1/2 tsp. cumin
    • salt and pepper, to taste
    • juice of 1/2 lemon
    • 2 to 4 T. olive oil

    Preparation
    Grill or roast the unpeeled zucchini in chunks or slices. Let cool briefly. Chop the herbs and garlic in a food processor; then add zucchini and remaining ingredients and pulse to form a thick paste. Adjust lemon and olive oil to achieve desired flavor and consistency.

    Categories
    Crops & Gardening

    Trend Spotting: Edible Ornamentals

    Swiss chard as ornamental planted in concrete planter at Busch Gardens
    Photo by Jessica Walliser
    It thrilled me to see Swiss chard planted as an ornamental at Busch Gardens.

    I hope you and those you love had a wonderful holiday season and that 2012 brings you much success—in the garden and in life. We had a great Christmas, followed by a trip to Florida for a few days of sunshine. While we were there, we spent a day at Busch Gardens in Tampa. In addition to watching my son enjoy the rides, I spent a good bit of time checking out all the plants.

    While all the gardens were beautiful (and exceedingly well-maintained!), the most striking plantings we saw were those involving edibles. Using edible plants as ornamentals is a huge trend now, and I completely understand why. The leaf textures and foliage colors are just amazing, both on their own and in combination with flowering annuals and perennials. I especially like them paired with tropical plants.

    Edible and non-edible ornamentals planted side by side
    Photo by Jessica Walliser
    Edible ornamentals, like kale and collards, were planted in rows along non-edibles.

    Near the entrance to the park, two concrete planter boxes that stood 4 feet tall and measured 8 feet long and 3 feet wide. They could have been filled with geraniums or begonias or petunias, but instead they were filled with the brilliantly colored stems of Bright Lights Swiss chard. The plants were huge and lush and simply lovely. They caught my attention right away. It’s a shame they don’t serve the chard for lunch in any of the restaurants (yes, I did check the menus!), but I suppose the planting wouldn’t have had as much of an impact if half of the stems were gone.

    Many of the ground-level beds also contained edibles partnered with annuals. Kale, collard greens and lettuce partnered with wax begonias and dusty miller. It was nice to see something different in such a public place. I only hope other people were paying as careful attention as I was.

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    Categories
    Homesteading Recipes

    Clear Out the Pantry and Try New Recipes

    peppermint biscotti
    John D. Ivanko

    Every January, our family plays a game that avoids waste and saves us money. No coupon clipping or deprivation is required. We don’t even need to leave our farmhouse. What’s the secret? Eating through and clearing out our pantry, savoring delicious meals prepared with ingredients collected, preserved or stored on the back shelves over the past year.

    Eating at home and focusing on culinary creativity with ingredients we already have is our kitchen-based New Year’s de-cluttering ritual. Here are guidelines we use for eating through our pantry:

    1. Stop Shopping
    Go cold turkey on buying food. This can be harder than it sounds, but it offers an easy way to rack up savings on your food bill. Unless it’s an absolutely essential ingredient for a recipe that maximizes those other accumulated pantry ingredients, we just say no.

    In addition to the monetary savings, putting the kabash on food purchases for many winter weeks serves a higher environmental purpose: avoiding food waste. We pride ourselves in not wasting food on our dinner plate, but what about the quinoa lurking on the back pantry shelf, nearing its expiration date? Past-code pantry staples add up and contribute to embarrassingly high amounts of food waste: Americans on average waste more than 200 pounds of food a year, according to the 2011 report Global Food Losses and Food Waste. If you consider that, according to the USDA, individuals eat about 5.3 pounds of food per day, that amount of wasted food would feed us for well over a month.

    2. Inventory
    We assess and organize what we have. We find it easiest to take everything out of the pantry shelves and make a list of key ingredients to use up. Then put everything back so we can locate the rest of our staples. If we can see it, we’ll use it.

    While focusing on clearing out the pantry, we remind ourselves to apply the same process to our preserved garden abundance. What did we zealously put up over last summer that needs some culinary dedication before spring rolls in? We had a bumper crop of basil last year and realized we have stacks of containers of delicious pesto in the freezer. To avoid tiring of pesto pasta, we also add pesto to grilled cheese sandwiches or as a filling for homemade ravioli.

    For more ideas on organizing and using up summer garden bounty, check out Lisa’s article “Taste of the Season” in the January/February 2012 issue of Hobby Farm Home.

    3. Plan and Research Recipes
    Once we identify our ingredient abundance, let the culinary games begin. Winter gifts us with the perfect time for recipe research—from Internet surfing to cookbook reading—to find new ways to use what we have. Get hardcore: If you have it in your pantry, do something with it. Still have Halloween candy? Think cocktails or a caramel-apple bar. When we found a big bag of leftover candy canes during our pantry clear our a few winters ago, we came up with the Peppermint Biscotti recipe below, which creatively uses crushed canes.

    4. Repeat: Stop Shopping
    This mantra bears repeating. The longer we can hold out before re-stocking up, the more money we’ll save. Plus, we’ll reap the benefits of having open space open on our shelves as spring rolls around, a symbolic way to create some room for the newness of the spring season to come.

    Recipe: Peppermint Biscotti
    From Farmstead Chef by John Ivanko and Lisa Kivirist

    Yield: 3 dozen biscotti

    Ingredients

    • 3/4 cup butter, softened (1½ sticks)
    • 3/4 cup sugar
    • 3 eggs
    • 2 tsp. peppermint extract
    • 3¼ cup flour
    • 1 tsp. baking powder
    • 1/4 tsp. salt
    • 1½ cup crushed peppermint candy, divided (about 24 regular-sized candy canes)
    • white-chocolate bark for frosting

    Preparation
    Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

    In large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Then add extract.

    In separate bowl, mix flour, baking powder and salt. Stir in 1 cup peppermint candy.

    Gradually add flour/candy mixture to creamed mixture, beating until blended. (Dough will be stiff.)

    Divide dough in half. On baking sheet, roll each portion into a 12-inch by 2½-inch rectangle.

    Bake at 350 degrees F for 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown. Carefully move to wire rack. Cool 15 minutes. On cutting board, cut 1/2-inch slices at an angle. Place cut side down on baking sheets. Bake 12 to 15 minutes until firm.

    For frosting, melt white chocolate. Drizzle over cookie in a swirled design.

    Categories
    Urban Farming

    Recipes: Holiday Leftovers

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    As I’ve reported here before, I’m kind of a nut about leftovers; it’s nearly my hobby to repurpose them. This year’s holiday entertaining has offered me many opportunities … shhh … don’t tell the guests.

    A couple of standouts were a quiche appetizer, which was originally the dip from a previous gathering; chopped salad composed of the vegetable side dishes (fennel, green beans, onions, hazelnuts); and a cream-less bisque built on a broth made from the shells of the lobsters from our family feast. The New Year’s Day black-eyed peas that I make for good luck will be pasta e fagioli, and the mulled red wine leftover from post-hiking refreshments that day will become a simple chocolate cake with added illusive flavors. Dried-out Christmas cookies have already been whirred into crumbs in the food processor and frozen to become crumb pie crusts or toppings later in the year.

    Here are two of the recipes:

    Recipe: Quiche That Was Dip

    INGREDIENTS

  • A dip made with part mayonnaise or yogurt will also work. One cup is an estimation; somewhat more or less won’t hurt.
  • 1 cup sour cream- based dip, such as French onion soup, spinach or artichoke dip
  • 5 eggs
  • 1/4 to 1/2 cup milk
  • 1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped, or other suitable fresh herb (optional)
  • 1/4 cup grated Parmesan, Asiago or Gruyere cheese (optional)
  • 1 pie crust

    PREPARATION

    Prepare the pie crust and line an 8- to 9-inch pie plate or quiche baker. Whisk together the eggs and dip. Thin the mix with enough milk to create a pourable consistency, adding chopped herbs if desired. Fill the prepared pie crust and sprinkle the cheese on top, if using. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit until firm, golden and puffed up, 40 to 50 minutes.

    Recipe: Cocoa and Red Wine Cake

    INGREDIENTS

  • 2 cups flour
  • 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
  • 1 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 sticks butter, softened
  • 1 3/4 cup sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 1/4 cup red wine*

    PREPARATION

    Grease and flour a 12-cup bundt pan. Whisk together dry ingredients.

    In a second bowl, beat together butter and sugar with a hand-held mixer until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time. Add vanilla and beat 2 more minutes until well-mixed and light. Fold in dry ingredients in thirds, alternating with the wine; do not overmix. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 45 minutes.

    Let cool 10 minutes before turning out of the pan. Cool completely and dust with confectioner’s sugar.

    Serve with whipped cream or best-quality vanilla ice cream.

    * I used leftover mulled wine, which was flavored with orange peel, clove, cinnamon and star anise. Adding the grated peel of one orange, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon ground clove and 1/4 teaspoon ground star anise would approximate my cake. Or, use the orange rind and 1 1/2 teaspoon Chinese five-spice powder or French quatre epics spice mix.

    Read more of Locavore Recipes »

    • Categories
    Equipment

    New Tools for a New Year

    Metal bender and electric drill
    Photo by Jim Ruen
    I can’t wait to put my metal bender (top) and electric drill (bottom) to work in my shop.

    Christmas has come and gone, leaving behind (in my case) new tools for the shop. Of course, it helps that I dog-eared the tool catalogs for my wife. That way she has a number of possible gifts across a wide range of prices.

    This year, I identified a number of items that would be helpful as I set up my shop, and she came through for me. Chief among them was an attachment for my electric drill. Called an Orbiter, it will allow me drill holes at a right angle to my drill’s chuck.

    I can’t wait to try it out on wall studs, making holes for electric cable runs. It should make wiring my “shop in progress” a lot easier. Setting screws in small spaces should be easier, as well.

    A second tool I received this year was a metal bender. It consists of a V-block and a breaking edge. Rare-earth magnets in each hold them in place against vise jaws or other metal surfaces. Use the V-block alone, and it turns the vise into a secure clamp for holding rods or pipes. Put a rod against one jaw and a piece of steel strap against the V-block, and you can create a U-shape. Slip both pieces over the jaws of the vise and slowly bring them together to make a bend of up to a 90 degrees in any piece of mild steel up to a thickness of 1/8-in. It will also do a dandy job crimping tubing. The bender will let me make the small bits of hardware often needed for handyman projects.

    The Orbiter and the metal bender are the type of tools that really appeal to me. Each adds to the versatility of an existing tool, neither was that expensive (less than $30 each), and neither will take up much space in my compact shop. I couldn’t ask for better gifts if I tried.

    << More Shop Talk >>

     

    Categories
    News

    Conservation Stewardship Deadline 2 Weeks Away

    *Editor’s note: Since the posting of this article, the deadline for the Conservation Stewardship Program has been moved to Jan. 27, 2012. Updates have been noted in the text below.

     

    Solar panels on a barn
    Courtesy iStockphoto/Thinkstock
    The Conservation Stewardship Program offers incentives to farmers for conservation efforts, including energy efficiency.

    Less than two weeks are left for farmers to enroll in the USDA National Resources Conservation Service’s Conservation Stewardship Program. To be considered for the current fiscal year, producers must file applications by the Jan. 27, 2012, deadline.

    The CSP, a voluntary stewardship incentives program, is designed to reward farmers, ranchers and forestry producers who maintain existing conservation as well as adopt additional conservation measures that provide multiple environmental benefits beyond the farm or ranch. The program pays producers for clean water, better soil management, improved habitat, energy efficiency and other natural-resource benefits.

    In 2010 alone, 21,000 applicants enrolled in CSP, putting additional conservation on 25.2 million acres of land, which equals about the size of Kentucky.

    Traci Bruckner, assistant director of rural policy at the Center for Rural Affairs, recommends that farmers, ranchers and others call the Center for Rural Affairs’ Farm Bill Helpline at 402-687-2100  with questions about the application process and to share both positive and negative experiences.

    “We know the previous sign-ups have yielded some great success stories for farmers and ranchers, but also some disappointments and frustrations,” Bruckner says. “We want this program to work for all farmers and ranchers employing conservation-based farming systems and firmly believe the CSP is a step in the right direction for policy to financially reward historical commitments to conservation, as well as encourage further adoption.”

    She encourages producers who decide to call the helpline to have specific information available when they call, including a complete copy of their application materials and, more specifically, the Conservation Measurement Tool responses and ranking information for their state or ranking area. The NRCS office will provide only a summary unless the producer specifically asks for a complete printout that includes their ranking information, the highest scores in their state or area and how far down the ranking list NRCS was able to provide contracts before the money ran out for the last sign-up period.

    “One of the main goals for our Farm Bill Helpline is to identify the strengths and weaknesses of programs, such as the CSP,” Bruckner says. “It is only with that information that we are able to push for any needed changes and improvements.”

    Producers can also receive guidance for applying for other conservation programs through the helpline.

    Producers who intended to submit a CSP application for this fiscal year but ran out of time during the holiday rush can sign up for CSP at any time throughout the year. However, once this year’s cutoff date has passed, applications will not be considered until spring 2013. To sign up, producers should visit their NRCS local service center.

     

    Categories
    Animals

    Acting Weird!

    Ram and wether bashing heads
    Photo by Sue Weaver
    Salem was talking trashy to the rams, so he and Othello bashed heads.

    Mom thinks we animals are acting weird. For instance, Ursula, the fat, black ewe, is in passionate love with me. Yes, really! She strolls past 10 grumbling rams to purr and bat her eyes at me. (That’s where the phrase “making sheep eyes” comes from.)  That proves I’m a really studly guy, don’t you think? But Mom won’t let me come out to play. That’s because bucks can get ewes pregnant, but the babies don’t survive long enough to get born. We don’t want that to happen here.

    And yesterday, Salem decided he’s a big, bad, blubbering buck. He’s a 6-year-old wether and he’s never done that before. He parked himself by the ram pen and courted the rams. That made Othello, the Scottish Blackface, really mad. Othello growled and pawed and insulted Salem until they got in a fight. WHAM, their heads smashed the fence! Mom bolted out of the house, yelling, because Othello’s bashing’s already damaged the fence, and then she led Salem away.

    Arthur, the ram lamb, is making this year’s lambies, but he’s acting pretty strangely, too. When Mom puts a girlfriend in his pen, instead of breeding her, first he bashes her around a bunch with his head. That makes Mom mad, so she puts Ursula in with them for awhile (but not while Ursula is in heat because Ursula is taking a break this year). Ursula is a warrior sheep! She knocks Arthur around until he behaves.

    But we aren’t the only sheep and goats acting weird! When Mom told her friends at the Hobby Farm Sheep Yahoo group how strange we’ve been acting, a lady who raises Finnsheep posted this reply:  “My ram lamb has been in with his ewes since Thanksgiving Day, and from what I can tell, he has had no interest in them other than to play with them or try to nurse them. He hops and skips about, leaping into the air when the ewes approach him, wagging their tails. Now a Mallard duck has taken up residence in the brook that runs through the pasture and my ram lamb is completely ‘taken’ by him. So, my wethers are chasing the ewes, the ewes are chasing the ram lamb and the ram lamb only has eyes for duck, who because he is the only normal one in the whole bunch really is NOT sharing the love! He is only interested in the girl Mallard and even this should not be happening at this time of the year; it’s too early to nest. I am thoroughly confused! I hope this isn’t some kind of a sign for things to come in 2012. I don’t know if I can take it!”

    We’re confused, too. Are your animals acting weird? We don’t know what’s making us crazy. Do you?

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    Categories
    Urban Farming

    Natural Mosquito Control

    Excerpt from the Popular Farming Series magabook Organic Farm & Garden with permission from its publisher, BowTie magazines, a division of BowTie Inc. Purchase Organic Farm & Garden here.

    Organic gardeners and farmers know that they can save money and help the environment by cultivating rain gardens or collecting rainwater in rain barrels or other receptacles, but some people fear that conserving water in these ways will form active breeding grounds for mosquitoes. Pesky mosquitoes do more than just disturb people and pets with their incessant buzzing and biting – mosquitoes may also carry dangerous diseases like West Nile virus.
    Mosquitoes lay their eggs on the surface of standing water and within two days, the mosquito eggs hatch into larvae that live in water for up to two weeks. Mosquito larvae come to the water surface to take in oxygen through a breathing apparatus that resembles a snorkel. After a resting, pupal stage of a few days, the adult mosquito emerges. Male mosquitoes dine on flower nectar, while female mosquitoes bite and drink blood from humans and other mammals.
    Fortunately, there are earth-friendly solutions to deterring mosquitoes. Obviously, your first line of defense is to keep your rain barrels tightly covered with a lid after rainfall, but remember that mosquito eggs are extremely small and may still make their way through these barriers. There are a number of ecological precautions you can take to keep your standing water free of mosquito larvae and subsequent adult hatchings.
    Your pesticide-free garden already has a natural way of holding down mosquitoes. Birds and bats on your property will enjoy a hearty meal of mosquitoes and other unwanted insects. Some beneficial, predatory insects also dine on mosquitoes and mosquito larvae; for example, dragonfly larvae feast heartily on mosquito larvae.
    To ensure that mosquitoes don’t proliferate in your rainwater barrels or backyard pond, consider non-toxic water treatments. One of the best-known treatments is the use of Certified Organic mosquito dunks. These small, donut-shaped products slowly release Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis (Bti), a type of bacteria toxic to mosquito larvae, but harmless to humans and other mammals. You’ll need one dunk per month during mosquito season for approximately every 100 square feet of surface water (regardless of the water’s depth). Unused dunks can be stored for long periods of time without losing their potency.
    Quick Kill Mosquito Bits is another product that contains Bti and promises results within 24 hours. One tablespoon of the bits sprinkled into standing water every two weeks during mosquito season will kill mosquito larvae before they can develop and emerge as adult insects. For longer-lasting protection, use a follow-up treatment of mosquito dunks, which tend to last longer.
    Another product that’s designed to control these insects is called Mosquito Barrier; its active ingredient is garlic juice. Sprayed on grass and the lower leaves of trees, it repels adult mosquitoes. Sprayed on the surface of standing water, it prevents mosquito larvae from obtaining oxygen. Keeping your garden and yard free of mosquitoes doesn’t have to involve toxic chemicals – stay organic and natural while keeping these pests at bay.