The process of making your own milk-based products is a lot of fun and a great learning experience. I encourage everyone to try it at least once. If you don’t like the taste of what you’ve whipped up, don’t throw in the towel right away. Give it another try—or, better yet, several more tries—before you concede defeat. There are so many subtleties and nuances to cheeses and yogurts that making them can be an addictive hobby once you get the hang of it.
I am fortunate to be able to keep dairy goats, so I have a constant supply of fresh milk. I have to figure out ways to use it because fresh milk doesn’t keep as long as processed milk does, and the goats give us more than we can drink. All of the projects discussed here can also be done with store-bought milk.
You’ll have to decide if the price and process of purchasing the materials and ingredients are worth it for you (although the cost is still less than grocery-store prices), but making your own dairy products is fun, and the results are tasty.
Why would you want to do this?
It’s fun, it’s educational, and you’ll impress yourself and your friends with the tasty results.
How is this different from the store-bought version?
Homemade versions have a richer taste—truer is how I describe it, and I believe it is because they are fresher than manufactured products.
Cost comparison:
For less than the cost of buying these products from the grocery store, you can buy the materials and ingredients and have a larger yield.
This article was excerpted with permission from the book Urban Farm Projects: Making the Most of Your Money, Space, and Stuff, copyright 2014, I-5 Publishing, LLC. For more budget-friendly and environmentally conscience projects and recipes, pick up a copy today!
