Reddit mentions: The best cheese tools

First off, Pchops is the best overall price grocery. Hannaford is your nicer but still affordable grocery. Save-A-Lot is dirt cheap but sketchy as hell. Save the farmers market for when you'd like to treat yourself. Farmers market food is delicious but you do pay for the quality. I would advise mixing all of the above to fit with your budget. I dunno if Pchops still does it but when I was still in school they had this deal where every X dollars of groceries you bought and used your AdvantEdge card for, you got 10 cents of per gallon of gas at Sunoco. I didn't drive much further than Pchops usually so I ended up racking up over a dollar between fill ups sometimes which really was awesome. Also one of the Sunocos is always cheaper but I have a terrible sense of direction so you are going to have to figure out which one it is on your own.

Here are some of my easy/solid/quick recipes:

• Pasta with sauce: Put a pot of water on to boil and brown some ground beef in a frying pan. When the water boils, add the spaghetti (or whatever pasta). When the meat is cooked, dump in a jar of sauce. When the pasta is done to your preference, drain it. You can either mix them together or spoon out some pasta and then spoon some sauce on top. If you go with option 2, be sure to add a bit of olive oil on top of the pasta and cover it, otherwise when you come back for seconds you are going to have a giant glob of sticky spaghetti.
  
  
• mac and cheese: boil some pasta, when it's done, drain it and add some shredded cheese (cheddar typically, but whatever strikes your fancy), stir until melted (it will be really stringy looking) then add a glug of milk and stir to smooth it out to a nice creamy consistency. I advise stirring with the fork you will eat it with because you get a delicious cheesy glob. (mac and cheese is awesome because you can put leftover vegetables, sausage, chicken, hot sauce, cajun seasoning, etc. in it to make it more interesting/nutritional)
  
  
• lasagna: yeah I know this is kind of a pasta trend. Lasagna is a good weekend project because it does take some time to assemble. Look up a recipe if you want specifics but the main thing to remember is to make sure the noodles are all surrounded by sauce so you don't get any rubbery crap. You can by no-boil noodles at almost any grocery store too. The cool part about lasagna is that making two doesn't take much more time than making one and you can freeze the second one for easy dinner during finals week.
  
  
• Quiche: Fancy name for an egg pie. Grab a frozen pie crust, cream of something soup (mushroom and broccoli are my favorites), cheese (cheddar is good if you don't know what you want) and meat/veggies (sausage and bacon are good meats, mushrooms, olives, broccoli, asparagus, and spinach are standard vegetables). Mix everything together and dump it in the pie crust (seriously). Then bake it. Then try not to eat it all at once.
  
  
• oatmeal: oatmeal with various additions makes a very versatile breakfast. People are used to sweet versions (raisin, apple cinnamon, etc.) but they are also delicious with savory things (marinara and mozzarella (pizza-oats), egg cheese and salsa (nach-oats), etc.) You are going to have to trust me on this one. Oats are not sweet on their own. Also a big plus to oatmeal besides it being pretty healthy is that it is super cheap.
  
  
• Crockpot whole chicken: You can cook a whole chicken in the crockpot. Take the giblets out (if it came with them) and season it (whatever seasoning you like) stuff it with a cut in half lemon (if you want it lemony) and cook it breast side down for about 7 hours. It's super simple and the meat literally falls off the bone. If you want to stretch it even further, put the bones back in the crock pot when they're de-chickened and fill the crock pot most of the way up with water. Cook that overnight (or all day) and then strain the bones and junk out and save the chicken broth for making soup.
  
  
• Chili: You can look up chili recipes yourself but basically meat + beans + tomatoes + onions + spicy. Increase bean to meat ratio to lower cost.
  
  
• Fiesta Rice: cook some rice (medium or long grain white rice has worked best for me). Dump the rice in a frying pan with a can of beans (black or pinto), a can of tomatoes (with chilies if you have them), and a can-sized amount of cheese (cheddar or a mexican blend or pepper jack or whatever) and then stir it until everything is gooey. Add hot sauce if you like. This is one of those cool vegetarian dishes that doesn't taste like it's pretending to be chicken but failing.
  
  That's probably way more than you needed and perhaps too simple. I don't know your skill level so my apologies if they were too easy/hard. Feel free to message me if you got any questions on anything. I strongly encourage you to try recipes you find online. Foodgawker has a pinterest-like interface but the recipes are generally good. Pinterest itself I would advise against, people put all kinds of crap up there and you can't really trust it. Some foodgawker recipes are pretty intense, so don't feel bad if you think they are way too complicated because some of them are.
  
  Also one thing I do advise you spend money on is a nice cheese grater. I have a microplane that cuts in both directions (well now I have two different ones, one for hard cheeses and one for stuff like cheddar). Mine was a little under $20 and it was so worth it. I got it my senior year at RPI after the $2 walmart version broke badly enough that it didn't work. Shredding cheese yourself is cheaper than buying the pre-shredded kind and spending the money on the decent cheese grater will save you from a lot of swearing and bleeding. I am serious. It is worth it. (Mine is almost exactly like this one but it has a plastic handle.)
  
  Other miscellaneous tips for cost effectiveness:
  
  
• I generally advise Saran or Glad brand for plastic wrap.
  
• Save takeout containers and jars and reuse them as free tupperware.
  
• Buy the giant thing of olive oil and then fill an empty wine bottle with it and buy one of those pour-y tops like for booze. They are only like $1
  
• The cheap ass silverware set from walmart will be fine
  
• Buy a couple decent knives (steak knives, a paring knife, and a big chef knife) You can get the KitchenAid brand somewhere around $20 I think. An inexpensive knife sharpener might be a good idea to go along with that or to purchase later when it seems like it's dulling.
  
• box mix cakes and brownies are just fine and often go on sale after the season (valentine funfetti at the end of February etc.)
  
• You can make all sorts of stuff with bisquik (pancakes, shortcakes, waffles, etc) and you can even make your own bisquick for probably cheaper.
  
• You can buy a lot of your spices at the Indian or Asian stores in Albany for a lot cheaper
  
• It's cheaper to make your own coffee. Depending on what you're used to, the breakfast blend price chopper brand coffee is not bad. I've gotten to a point where I no longer like it but you may still find it palatable.
  
• Freeze your leftover coffee into ice cubes and in the summer you can pour regular coffee over them and have iced but not watery gross coffee. I would advise sweetening the hot coffee before adding the ice, otherwise it's all grainy from undissolved sugar.
  
  Sorry for the super long post.

Now, I'm no pizza expert, but I have made dozens at home. So, your pizza has far too much sauce on it, which I think is a common beginner's mistake because I still make it from time to time. Also, you rolled the edges of the pizza a bit too much and too sharply. The technique to shoot for is taking your dough (which you should knead by hand for ~10 minutes, which builds the gluten connections and makes it really stretchy which translates to more flavor and chewy crust) and laying it on top of your fists and stretching it into the shape you want from the ever growing center area of the pizza. This will give you a natural bit of excess dough around the outside of the pizza, and you can then pat the dough down in front of it and you have your natural crust without rolling. It will look like this:

I then put the dough alone into the oven @ 450F for 9-12 minutes depending on how thick it is, then I pull out the primed "blank" and put sauce and cheese on it and put it back in for another 10-12. My pizza is always cooked through this way. I've found it to be the best way to make pizza without using a pre-heated pizza stone and screaming hot oven.

Don't be afraid to go pretty light with the sauce, you would be surprised how little you actually need. IMO this looks like just the right amount of sauce.

Now, when it comes to the mozzarella, I personally shred my whole-milk block mozarella because it browns better that way and I can get it a light golden color. I think the mozz has more flavor that way. However, many people would look at your mozz and say it's perfect. The mozz and basil placement are the best parts of your pizza IMO.

On the whole this is a really good first attempt. You should have seen mine HAHA it was, er, twice as thick, raw in the center and the dough tasted awful. I actually use Emeril's dough recipe with honey instead of white sugar. I also use 1/2 cup less flour than he recommends but the same amount of everything else (except water). My friends have told me my dough is some of the best they've ever had.

That's a really good first attempt. The key is to keep practicing, and find out what you like and after like 15-20 iterations you'll have it down pat. The whole point to me is to make it how I like it. Exactly how I like it.

edit: For the 10 minute knead, do it immediately after your pizza dough has risen, as soon as you pull it out of your bowl that has a damp paper towel or kitchen towel over it. Before grabbing it, sprinkle a little flour on your hands and rub them like you're washing your hands, then sprinkle a little all over your ball of dough, then pull it out rotate it in your hands and sprinkle flour all over it (rotate your dough), then place your hands over the ball of dough like a sorcerer holding a ball of energy, and push inward from your shoulders, then rotate the dough and push inward again. If you're watching TV the time passes quickly. I like kneading the dough by hand because it puts me in touch with something kind of primitive and old school, like how Italian mom's did it back in 1900 or something. There is no substitute for lots of kneading. On the whole, the more kneading the better. Most pizza places have professional-quality dough mixers and they'll have that knead their dough for anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour. Their dough must be so freaking stretchy, I'm jealous. If you have a Kitchen-aid you can use a dough-hook attachment to do something similar.

Also, use bread-flour only. All-purpose flour tastes like shit IMO. Bread flour has more protein in it which results in chewier crust and better flavor, IMO.

Also, one of my secrets is actually to put a little bit of marjoram in the dough. Not too much, but it adds noticeable flavor. I also use a little more olive oil than is called for. Use extra-virgin, and if you can afford it, buy some good olive oil, like this. The difference between it and glass-bottle stored supermarket EVOO is immense (olive oil should always be stored in a light-proof medium because light breaks down the quality of it). Buy a big jug like that (which is actually the same price as the supermarket stuff) and fill up a bottle like this with it, and store that bottle in your cabinet away from light.

edit again: It seems like mozzarella might be a passion of yours. You can make your own using this kit. It's actually really easy to make mozzarella. That kit worked great for me. You can seriously make your own mozzarella in under an hour. All you'll need that you don't have in that kit are a set of thick rubber gloves like this for kneading the hot mozz to your desired thickness (more kneading = less water in the mozz).

Good luck on your pizza journey! Oh, I also sprinkle a small amount of cornmeal on the pan I use to keep the pizza from sticking, and I believe the cornmeal adds a small amount of flavor to the finished dough. Not too much corn-meal though.

Yay that your boss went for an Amazon GC :) It's great of you to share!

I really, really want a second gen Nest Protect smoke alarm. Kind of pricey but you get what you pay for in a good way! It's the best selling smoke alarm on Amazon. The company makes really good advanced products. They have dual sensors and a carbon monoxide alarm. No other alarm has that. They interconnect with each other wirelessly, and talk to give you information. They alert your phone and have different color alerts, and more. (Actually, I really want 3 of these, but 1 would be a good start. What we have are so old and crappy that I don't trust them at all. They are the $10 kind, and I should have replaced them at least 3 years ago.) I think this is what people need to be safe.

I also want this professional stainless steel mandoline badly, either one of the versions available, because it's built tougher than the others that have plastic parts. The reviews are so good, and I think it would outlast two of the others, and be easier to use, so it would be very worth it. A lot of the others don't cut as evenly or are difficult to hold and move the fruit or vegetable. I want this for making healthy homemade snacks.

I really need the Levo Deluxe holder for tablets so I can see and use my ereader and old tablet while I'm flat on my back. I'm planning ahead and trying to get the items that will help during recovery from surgery and I won't be able to prop up my head or use the laptop or TV. It's a bit expensive, but this is the second generation one that works better. This holder seems better than all the other ones I've seen because this can suspend the tablet facing down from above. This can also be great for mounting the tablet when you're sitting on the couch or bed, or at a desk, like pictured, so I would use it regularly. (The non-deluxe version is $54.99 on Amazon. They also have a version that stands on the floor instead of clamping on a table.)

I also would be so happy to have the pink vibrator from my NSFW list. I am not linking to it because of it being NSFW. It came out last year and won an award for the unique motion it has. It has some great reviews, and I would love to try it. I think most women should try toys like this one, even if you're currently happy, maybe this would be better!

Another thing that would be extremely cool and useful to have is a portable scanner that is really light and small. Any that's good, but I have put this color mobile document scanner on my wishlist. It has better reviews than the Epson and it's currently cheaper because a seller has refurbished ones available. It's quick and has such good reviews. This will help prevent things from getting lost and cluttered when we are out of town or just out in the car. I think these are going to sell out before you get a chance to decide because Amazon is ranking it number one for mobile scanners. A few minutes ago, the seller had 3 left, and now they have 2 left. But it says "more on the way" so hopefully these can be backordered or gotten later.

If you'd use a tortilla press, then you'll probably get a lot of use out of a citrus squeezer. I feel like the lever kind gets you the most juice, and the orange ones do lemon and limes just as well.

Microplane -- great for citrus zests, spices, ginger and garlic. I like to have one with slightly bigger holes for cheese as well --- the microplane makes really fine, fluffy cheese that basically disappears when it melts, and sometimes that's not what you want.

Seconding a cast iron skillet --- great for so many things, searing steak, frying chicken, bacon, stews.

Tongs --- tongs, a spatula and a wooden spoon and you can basically cook anything

Fine mesh strainer --- can use for pasta or whatnot, but it's also great for things like gravy or pan sauces where you want plup to get through but no chunks of stuff

probe thermometer --- super handy for meats.

Nice to have: Coffee grinder. Awesome for spices --- you can buy whole spices, which keep their flavor much longer and are way cheaper. The difference between, say, cumin from a jar and cumin seeds you toast and grind fresh --- it's ridiculous. Mortar and pestle, same deal --- there's some kinds of sauces, like mole or Thai curries, that you get much better flavor when you use a mortar and pestle. You can usually get them pretty cheap at Asian or Latin American groceries.

I agree with everyone here that good knives / cutting boards are essential and truly all you NEED.

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However...

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Sometimes it's nice to be able to chop up a TON of onions in a jiffy if you're batch cooking.. or to be able to quickly and evenly slice thin potatoes for chips.. the list goes on and on. So on that vein I have two recommendations for you:

Cuisinart 14 Cup Food Processor - I've had a similar model for about 15 years and it is virtually indestructible. I use it when I do once a month cooking, big batch cooking, pie doughs, and for sauces or chili when I don't want my kids to realize they're eating a bunch of veggies. :-) I've also heard they make the best whipped cream, but I've never actually tried that (I love my Kitchenaid too much). Definitely comes in handy if you have a whole bag of onions to chop and time is precious.

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Mandolin Slicer - I don't have this particular brand, but the reviews are really good. I typically pull mine out when I need to slice a bunch of things and they all need to be precisely the same width (like if I'm making chips, for example). It's far from a necessity, but it is nice to have when it's needed.

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I have wasted countless dollars on gadgets like food choppers and garlic presses and all they end up doing is taking up space. These two items, though, have stood the test of time. I turn to pretty frequently and think any cook would be happy to have them.

For six years of my life, I was in an emotionally/verbally abusive relationship. I was able to finally break free from my ex with the help of a wonderful friend who supported me more than my ex ever had, despite being half a country away. A huge defining moment in my life was when my son and I flew across the country to meet that man in person for the first time. I knew right away that he was the one I'd been hoping to find my whole life, and the three of us became a family almost right away. Almost two years later, we are now married, and he has been a wonderful father to our son.

If I win, this would be a huge help. Our tap water is gross and our water filter won't stay on the faucet anymore. If that's too expensive though, this cheese slicer would make me happier than I'd like to admit.

I_Define_Me

Thanks for the contest!

Fage used to make full fat yogurt, but it seems to no longer be available. What I did last week was buy some Trader Joe's French Vanilla plain cream line (fat all at the top) yogurt and strain it through this http://www.amazon.com/Cuisipro-Donvier-Yogurt-Cheese-Maker/dp/B000064841

The results:

Almost wonderfully delicious, very thick yogurt. I think I erred in that after leaving it to strain for 18 hours or so, I should have put it into its own dish. Eventually it seemed to me to pick up a metallic or off taste. Some reviewers say it tastes like the metal screen.

Also, I do wish it were bigger so I could just put 32 oz in it at once. But I really did like its size as well as the lid on it and the minimal space it took up.

I was also shocked by how little 32 oz of yogurt becomes when it is strained -- I understand why good greek yogurt is more expensive now.

But wow, it was really amazing in terms of thickness, creaminess, mouth feel.

There is rumored to be a Kirkland Greek Yogurt, but it hasn't made it to my Costco yet.

Very cool! Been thinking about investing in one of those. I want it more to fry up some battered shrimp or something, though.

Microwave chips are easy. You don't even have to peel the potatoes...just give them a good scrub. Slice them really thin (mandoline helps with this). I like to cut them right into a bowl of cold water, because it helps to get a bit of the starch off, and it keeps them from browning. Bonus tip: salt the water beforehand to give it a bit more flavor. Take them out, pat them dry.

From here, couple ways you can do it. If you have one of those microwave bacon trays, give it a coating of veggie oil so they don't stick, and put the chips on in a single layer. Cook for 5ish minutes, until they start to brown and curl up a bit.

If you don't have a microwave bacon thingy, just arrange them on a large dinner plate. Cooking time is 3-5 mins, depending on your microwave, so experiment to find your ideal time, and don't be discouraged if you undercook or burn a couple batches to find the right time.

Put on whatever you want, and enjoy some chips that are healthier than those fried in oil.

I have one of these cheese knives, and it works really well for softer cheeses like Brie/Camembert or young Gouda and cheddar... pretty much ideal for blocks of Cracker Barrel/Cabot lol.

I'm looking into buying a tool to get thin shaved slices of harder cheeses like aged Goudas... either a wire cutter like [this](Norpro 330 Heavy Duty Adjustable Cheese Slicer https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000HMB0IM/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_aEx2xbSPK2T23) or a tool like [this](Norpro Stainless Steel Cheese Slicer https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000SSYY88/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_fDx2xb2E8RQMG). Any recommendations would be appreciated.

A good set of calipers. A good set of hex wrenches. A soldering iron with a heat set insert tip. A pair of good needlenose pliers for grabbing things. A set of deburring tool bits. A Tandy Leather #4 leather edging tool (works really well for removing brim) A knife (I use my leatherman Wave for most plastic shaping tasks) And most important of all, my super high tech part from bed removal tool: http://www.amazon.com/Calphalon-Gadgets-Dual-Cheese-Plane/dp/B000SDQGL6 (that with the slicy bit taped over is the best part separation tool I have ever found, and I have literally tried hundreds of them at this point)

Getting started will cost a bit of money.

1. I got this cheese making kit. Honestly you don't need that though. The kit contains cheese salt, rennet tablets, citric acid, cheese cloth, and a thermometer. For mozzarella you do not need cheese cloth and you should already have a digital thermometer in your kitchen (the one they give you isnt even digital). Cheese salt is just flaky non-iodized salt. The flakiness does help the salt incorporate into the cheese a bit better, but you really can use any non iodized fine grain salt for this. You can buy citric acid from the food store and you might be able to get rennet tablets there too (if not it'd cost you $10 on amazon). Whole foods sells citric acid in the bulk spices section and it'd cost you a nickel for enough acid for a pound of cheese.
   
2. Next you need some lactase enzyme drops. I get the bigger bottle since it lasts a long time and I use it for making ice cream as well. smaller one is here
   
3. Now for a recipe... I think I've been using this one here. It calls for twice the rennet as others... Not sure why. The cheese comes out fine so I haven't thought much of it. You should be able to get away with only using 1/4th of a tablet (instead of 1/2 a tablet) though.
   
   So to make it lactose free, you need to buy a normal gallon of whole milk that is pasteurized. NOT ULTRA-PASTEURIZED. It will say on the carton if its ultra pasteurized or just plain pasteurized. I've never seen any lactose free milk that is not ultra pasteurized. If you use ultra pasteurized milk, the cheese will not form correctly. So now you have a gallon of pasteurized milk and your lactase drops. I put twice what they say on the bottle into the milk (it says 5 drops per liter (about 4 liters per gallon), so I use 40 drops for a gallon of milk). I don't use it until two days after I put the drops in (instead of the 12-24 hours they say on the package). I also shake up the milk every time I'm at the fridge just to make sure it distributes evenly. Two days after treating the milk you can follow the normal recipe.
   
   I also take 4-5 of these pills when eating the cheese even though it probably is not necessary. I'd rather swallow a dollars worth of pills than risk ruining my day.
   
   Only problem is that the cheese doesn't seem to melt very well.

I recently bought one and I bought the Mueller V-Pro. It's $30 on Amazon and has great reviews. It works really well.
https://www.amazon.com/Mueller-Austria-Adjustable-Mandoline-Slicer/dp/B01CT63964/ref=sr_1_1?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1498255424&sr=1-1&keywords=Mueller+Austria+V-Pro+5+Blade+Adjustable+Mandoline+Slicer+%E2%80%93+White%2FGrey

When shopping for mandoline you want to look for sharpness of the blade especially if it isn't removable, being able to adjust thickness reliably, stability (make sure it isn't handheld and will stay on surface well), versatility (can you switch out the blade for different cuts), is the thing easy to wash (if it's not, you'll never want to use it), is it easy to store (do you really have space for a bulky thing that doesn't fold up). You may not be able to find something that satisfies ALL of this, but choose what matters and buy accordingly.

I agree with someone else's suggestion about a cut glove. I have one and it's what I use to make sure I don't slice my hands. Also, an extra-wide mandoline is helpful for big veggies, otherwise they scrape on the sides.

Make Cannaoil. Here's what you'll need:

-Crockpot
-Coconut Oil (Extra Virgin works the best)
-Big Coffee Mug
-Soy Lecithin (Not entirely necessary but will increase your potency)
-Cheese Cloth (it'll look like this)
-Rubbers gloves (shit gets hot, yo)
-Strainer
-Glass bowl

Step 1: Turn on your crockpot to low and let it heat up for about 30 minutes.
Step 2: Put the Vaped Bud into your coffee mug.
Step 3: Heat up your oil until it's liquid. I usually do this by putting the glass jar into a pot of boiling water.
Step 4: Place your mug with the vaped bud into the crockpot.
Step 4.5: Grind up some soy lecithin (a couple of teaspoons) and just sprinkle over your bud.
Step 5: Pour enough water into the crockpot to come almost to the top of your coffee pot (water is needed to conduct the heat)
Step 6: Pour your now liquid oil over your bud - just enough so it covers all the bud. You may have to pour it slowly.
Step 7: Cover your crockpot.
Step 8: Stir for a few seconds every 15 minutes. You'll only have to do this for the first hour or so.
Step 9: Wait 6-8 hours. Take a nap. Read a book. Smoke a spliff. Whatever. Also, your place will probably smell a bit but not too bad.
Step 10: Using gloves, remove the coffee mug from the crockpot.
Step 11: Set up the cheese cloth over the strainer and glass bowl, like so
Step 12: Squeeze the shit out of that cheese cloth. This is liquid gold so you don't want to leave any.
Step 13: Throw out the actual bud and the cheesecloth.
Step 14: Cover the bowl and place it in the fridge (not the freezer) over night.
Step 15: Bake with it. Spread it on toast. Put it in caps and eat them. ENJOY!!

I was closer to $100, but we had 50 guests yesterday. Still, so much awesome cheese left! Also, you should get your dad one of these as a gift: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000KJLQCC/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_dp_ss_1?pf_rd_p=1944687682&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B001WSFJVY&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1N89WFZV1NDF530B7NEW

Everybody loves to make cheese curls and the cheese for it (Basque) is delicious.

Cheesecloth, grade 90 as they use for cheese making, folded a few times. Never had flies in anything. It can be washed, sterilized, and reused, which is the big incentive for me. Less waste, more productive life. Possibly can find it cheaper at some fabric stores, where it'll be labeled 100% cotton muslin - just check the grade on it, make sure it's 90.

Also, you don't need a pellicle (what you're referring to as a scoby) to make starter liquid, you could just pick up a bottle of any raw kombucha at the store and use it as your starter liquid. Pellicles aren't necessary to brewing kombucha and can be thrown out between batches if you want. All that matters is the liquid, this is the scoby. Pellicles do contain some scoby on/in them and can be dried for mailing/transportation - this is where the idea that you NEED it comes from, before kombucha became more widely available by retail means. Unless you're looking for very particular strains or types of bacteria and yeast, it's faster and easier to pick up a bottle of your favorite retailed booch and use it as your starter. Just make sure it's labeled as raw kombucha, if it's pasteurized it won't work. Edit to add: start with an unflavored one, either black or green tea doesn't matter & it doesn't matter if you add either to black or green tea. What's important is inoculating your new batch with healthy and desirable bacteria and yeast to prevent the growth of the unwanted ones.

Thank you so much for the pointers !

>Cheesecloth, grade 90 as they use for cheese making, folded a few times. Never had flies in anything. It can be washed, sterilized, and reused, which is the big incentive for me. Less waste, more productive life. Possibly can find it cheaper at some fabric stores, where it'll be labeled 100% cotton muslin - just check the grade on it, make sure it's 90.

I think this is the detail I missed, I got a random cheesecloth from wholefoods, and folded it up into three layers, but it clearly wasn't enough.

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>you don't need a pellicle (what you're referring to as a scoby) to make starter liquid,

Dang, I wish I had known about this sub and this piece of advice earlier. I bought a $30 starter liquid from a homebrew store, instead I could've just bought a $3 off the shelf booch. Ah well I guess I supported an independent local business.

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>start with an unflavored one, either black or green tea doesn't matter & it doesn't matter if you add either to black or green tea.

Yea that's the plan, I'm looking at various online stores to buy cheap bulk full leaf tea.

My parents use this to slice cheese and it works well:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00KFO3BMK/ref=s9_zwish_hm_b1DNY_g79_i1

IIRC, it's not big enough to make "normal" sized cheese slices, but it's perfectly fine if you don't mind making the slices a little smaller.

Edit:

Otherwise there's this, which might work better for you but I've never used one: http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000HMB0IM/ref=s9_top_hm_b1DNY_g79_i1

Me too for the same reason! I bought a great cheese shredder in amazon. It’s dishwasher safe makes it sooo much easier to shred cheese. Plus you can make zucchini noodles, slices etc with the different pieces. Saves time and energy with food prep.

cheese shredder

A really good mandolin for quick slicing of veggies
What makes a mandolin 'good'

• easy (or no need) to dis/assemble for easy cleaning
  
• excessive use of metal and/or massive body frame
  
• easy blade replacement (manufacturer supplies replacement blades)
  
  This was my Xmas gift for myself.

I don't find them so bad actually. I have a large and scarier one but i also like this handheld one https://www.amazon.co.uk/OXO-Good-Grips-Mandoline-Slicer/dp/B000YDO2LG which i find very easy and fairly safe to use.

I wasn't really thinking a centrifuge (news to me that's used in cooking), I was thinking more like basic deep fryer to large basket deep fryer.

Or basic hand held mandoline vs high quality mandoline.

An old adage says get the cheap tool first, if you use it enough that it breaks, get the high quality version. Then again there's also the adage of, get the thing that'll do the job the best even if it costs twice as much as the other option, the saved frustration is worth it.

I use this cheese cutter from Amazon. It works super well and has cut probably 100 bars of soap and the original wire is still working fine :)

Rotary cheese grater like this. Luckily it was a gift.

I have a microplane, a box grater, and a paddle grater. Why would I need such a device ? Feel like it's going to break when I use it.

There are a few of them on amazon like this one and this one. They look pretty cool. My cheese grater is just a flat grate with multiple attachments on it.

I used to be like that, then I got one of these, it makes it really fun! Got mine at the thrift store. It even came with both a “fine” attachment for Parmesan and one for bigger shreds, like cheddar.

It depends on what kind of cheese or what I'm doing with it.

I have one of these for cutting small blocks into sort of thick-ish slices like I might want with sliced apples or pears or something like that.

I use a slicer like in your post for getting thin slices off a big block of cheese for serving with thin sliced meats or for making sandwiches like Rubens or Monte Cristos.

For most plain grilled or cold sandwiches I just buy American, Swiss or Provalone already sliced.

Cheeses like Mozzarella, Cheddar and Parmesan to use in lasagna or on tacos or enchiladas or casseroles I usually just run over a cheese grater, though I sometimes get lazy and don't grate the Mozz.

I adore Longhorn Colby which I buy in waxed cylinders. I just cut it into thick slices with a knife and then into cubes. I usually spear it on toothpicks with some kind of sweet fruit like red grapes or halved strawberries.

We use quite a bit of cream cheese too. Just spread that on bagels or spread on ham, covered with thinly sliced green olives and rolled up!

I got this one, which worked pretty well.

http://www.amazon.com/Mozzarella-Ricotta-Cheese-Making-Kit/dp/B00014CEXG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1291491911&sr=8-1

Never cured bacon personally, but my dad raises a couple pigs every year and sends them to a butcher shop for what has to be the best bacon I've ever tasted.

Rotary cheese grater. It's what we used growing up and it kept me safely occupied while the parents focused on food prep 😂

ZYLISS Classic Rotary Cheese Grater - NSF Restaurant Certified https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01HX6HAK6/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_6swOCbPFDMP38

Are these style of slicers any good? http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0000VZA2W/ref=mp_s_a_1_5?qid=1449354004&sr=8-5&pi=AC_SX110_SY165_QL70&keywords=cheese+slicer&dpPl=1&dpID=31vYyx2LJZL&ref=plSrch Are there any that are better than others? Anyone used a cheese knife like this? http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0040ZQQ0O/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?qid=1449354314&sr=8-3&pi=SX200_QL40&keywords=cheese+knife&dpPl=1&dpID=21uR4%2BuZ-1L&ref=plSrch

When I moved away to college my mom bought me a Vidalia Chop Wizard and a mandolin slicer and I use them both every day. Vegan cooking requires a lot of prep for fresh vegetables and this cuts down on the knife work significantly! Plus all my food comes out in perfect dices and slices so it cooks and looks better.

Use the smile link to donate to your favorite charity! https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B000KJLQCC/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_Xe9DAbFT0SFZS

Yeah. Mozzarella. Bought a kit online and used a gallon of milk. Pretty easy. Takes 30 min.

http://www.amazon.com/Mozzarella-Ricotta-Cheese-Making-Kit/dp/B00014CEXG?ie=UTF8&psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_search_detailpage

I got something like this: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000YDO2LG/ref=psdc_289783_t2_B01N34VS2I I've used it to make zucchini "lasagna noodles" and it works pretty well. Just mind your fingers!

This cheese making kit is food but it can also be organic so it fulfills 2 categories. ;)

Congrats on your sale, I might have missed it in a previous thread but what's the link to your etsy shop?

I really really want it!

You can do ricotta and fresh mozzarella in about 30 minutes! This is a really good starter kit. Comes with everything but the milk :)

Yay for add-ons!

Boobies

Thanks for the contest!

Hi, I love chicken Parmesan. I get good Fresh mozzarella and Real Parmigiano Reggiano from Costco and Sam's Club. I cut the Parm, up into cubes so it fits in my grater and put into a baggie and freeze only grating up a bit at a time.

This is the grater I have

[Rotary cheese grater]
(https://www.amazon.com/ZYLISS-Classic-Rotary-Cheese-Grater/dp/B01HX6HAK6/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1501771264&sr=8-3&keywords=cheese+grater+rotary)

this is one of my favorite recipes for chicken Parmesan. but I use my own homemade marinara sauce. recipe below. This recipe should solve your breading issues too.
[Chicken parm]
(https://www.copymethat.com/r/y4xVq9K/oven-fried-chicken-parmesan-my-recipesco/)

[Italian pasta sauce aka marinara]
(https://www.copymethat.com/r/y4xVq9K/oven-fried-chicken-parmesan-my-recipesco/)

I use this, which is pretty good. http://www.amazon.com/Norpro-330-Adjustable-Cheese-Slicer/dp/B000HMB0IM/ref=sr_1_4?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1453310513&sr=1-4&keywords=cheese+slicer

https://www.amazon.com/Premium-Marble-Cheese-Replacement-Stainless/dp/B0000VZA2W/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1505355864&sr=8-4&keywords=cheese+cutter

These things are fun for parties.

I got you, here :) it just looks nice

Amazon

Works great with any hard or semi hard cheese like parm, asiago, pecorino etc.

I have a small handheld mandoline cutter that is a definite must have. it's not as precise as the big ones with specific measurments, but is small ad has the best size for anything, with thick thin and paper cuts.

here's the link. 10/10

https://www.amazon.com/OXO-Adjustable-Handheld-Mandoline-Slicer/dp/B000YDO2LG

If you want perfect cubes each time, use a large mandoline slicer to slice the tomatoes into discs, then use a vegetable chopper to cube the discs.

If you don't care about perfection, quarter the tomatoes and pulse a few times with a good food processor.

If you put it on a smooth surface and turn the lever, does it stick to the surface? Some kitchen gadgets like apple corers and vegetable slicers use a lever-actuated suction cup to stick to the counter. It might be the base of something like this: https://www.amazon.com/Valuetools-Manual-Rotary-Cheese-Grater/dp/B07896RK6Y/ref=sr_1_2?qid=1556497951&refinements=p_n_feature_twenty_browse-bin%3A3254109011&s=kitchen&sr=1-2

It seems this is the best: http://www.amazon.com/ss/customer-reviews/B001WSHP1G/ref=cm_cr_dp_qt_see_all_top?_encoding=UTF8&ref_=cm_cr_dp_qt_see_all_top&showViewpoints=1&sortBy=byRankDescending

So if you buy a replacement...

It doesn't take that much more effort to cook a reasonably healthy meal than it does to make some of that junk food.

Chicken breasts: poultry seasoning, black pepper, a little olive or vegetable oil, pan fried. "Prep" time is about 2 minutes, then it's time for the chicken to cook. If you really want you can make a bag salad on the side, otherwise get yourself a salad spinner and a couple of heads of red leaf and green leaf lettuce. Wash the lettuce, and just leave it in the spinner for several days. It will last. Toss in a side of frozen veggies if you don't want to do the lettuce thing.

Burgers: Get a few pounds of regular ground beef. You can pre-shape your patties or you can freeze the whole pound and take it out a day or two before you know you'll want burgers. If you want cheese, watch for a sale on the block stuff, get yourself a cheese slicer, and slice up the cheese when the burger is cooking.

There's a plethora of simple chicken and pork recipes out there that don't take long to prepare.

There are also blogs like Budget Bytes where the meals are cheap, relatively easy, and don't take up too much time.

I know what it's like to come home dead tired and just want to make a box of mac and cheese or toss a frozen pizza in the oven. There's nothing wrong with doing that on occasion. However, it doesn't take nearly as much effort as you seem to think it does to make a meal that's actually fairly healthy.

Yes! Here’s a table top one

1.)
https://www.amazon.com/NutriChef-Raclette-Countertop-Paddles-Skewers/dp/B01JIBOFQ6/ref=mp_s_a_1_16?ie=UTF8&qid=1537213608&sr=8-16&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=raclette

2.) This is a traditional raclette

https://www.amazon.com/Boska-Holland-851200-Collection-Raclette/dp/B0017WFJEM/ref=mp_s_a_1_25?ie=UTF8&qid=1537213741&sr=8-25&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=raclette

It doesn’t make it any easier, but that seems to be the way the packaging is designed. You need a wide slicer for the big face like https://www.amazon.com/Westmark-Germany-Stainless-Cheese-Adjustable/dp/B000VJ81QK/

You can totally mince onions and garlic with a micro plane grater. This 'pulps' and rips apart the cells. Also works great for ginger and can zest a lemon and lime.

You can get uniform slices with a simple Mandoline slicer:

https://www.amazon.com/OXO-Adjustable-HandHeld-Mandoline-Slicer/dp/B000YDO2LG/ref=sr_1_5?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1498966588&sr=1-5&keywords=mandoline+slicer

This will at least give you disks of onions at 1mm or 2mm thickness, then you use a knife for the rest.

It's easy to lean as long as you follow the steps. I already have that kit and made mozzarella. The only thing missing from the kit is store bought milk. I just received their other kit for hard cheeses (and waxes!) and can't wait to try them. (I'm not really a mozzarella fan so my new kit looks more fun for me). They are cheaper on there website for you since I believe you are in the US right?

FOUNDIT!!!.

Now, I just need to stop by Whole Foods, or Trader Joe's and pick up a wheel, or two.

Oh, and, acquire friends, to share this joy with.

Wow, its expensive:

http://www.amazon.com/Boska-Holland-Collection-Raclette-Quattro/dp/B0017WFJEM/ref=pd_sim_sbs_k_1

For $200+ I'll melt my own cheese.

Here you go :) We used to have these at my old job. It was amazing

There is an amazing instructable article on it.


http://www.instructables.com/id/Great-Mozzarella-Cheese/

And you can get all the basic ingredients with this kit. Minus the milk.

Tip, use the online instructions, not the ones with the kit.


http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00014CEXG


EDIT: The kit has enough ingredients for 30 servings (~1 lb) of cheese.

You ever used a cheese cutter like one of these? Instead of an actual blade, it uses a thin wire. Because the wire is thin enough, the intensity of force applied is great enough to cut.

Your weed whacker is the same way. It whips around the string so fast that it can cut through grass and weeds.

TL;DR
Kitchen Knife is to Lawnmower as Cheese Slicer is to WeedWhacker

why not a hand held wire cutter like this: https://www.amazon.com/Westmark-Germany-Stainless-Cheese-Adjustable/dp/B000VJ81QK/ usually much easier then a knife (less effort required and more even slice)

You can have your own! I have one and it’s a lot of fun. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000KJLQCC/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_Xe9DAbFT0SFZS

You could probably get away with a one-wire cheese slicer, something like this -- I have one at home and it's not bad for the price.

> Update: Cute Cheese Maker

No problem! This is the kit that I originally bought. It makes ~30 lbs of cheese (each gallon of milk makes about a pound) and was the best value I could find at the time for the ingredients.

Thanks, bookmarked. Gonna try this too, https://www.amazon.com/Norpro-367-Natural-Cheese-Cloth/dp/B0000VLVBQ

Something like this

A knife + my hands = Chunks

I meant something like this

https://www.amazon.com/Mueller-Austria-Adjustable-Mandoline-Slicer/dp/B01CT63964/ref=sr_1_5?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1549099561&sr=1-5&keywords=mandoline+slicer

Buy a [cheese slicer] ( http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000HMB0IM/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1375248814&sr=1-1&pi=SL75) . You'll thank me later.

I have the handheld version of a drum grater and love it too! I got it because I was similarly annoyed at regular box graters or microplane style solutions. This isn't the exact one but it's the same general idea:

https://www.amazon.com/ZYLISS-Classic-Rotary-Cheese-Grater/dp/B01HX6HAK6/

My mom uses one of these contraptions for super thick strained yogurt.

I love this mandolin.
Compact and affordable, just wear cut resistant gloves as the guard is frustrating to use.

Or even more simply, a one piece cheese slicer. It's a Norwegian invention and commonplace in basically all Nordic households. https://www.amazon.com/Norpro-Stainless-Steel-Cheese-Slicer/dp/B000SSYY88

A raclette oven, and I guess you can buy anything at Amazon.

I use this: http://www.amazon.com/Cuisipro-Donvier-Yogurt-Cheese-Maker/dp/B000064841

Put regular yogurt in, get Greek yogurt out.

Or here

It's "only" $224 dollars!

I use one of these actually. It can evenly slice an entire brick of cheese in under 5 minutes.

Here's a manual one: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Cheese-Scraper-Tête-Moine/dp/B000KJLQCC

Would you advise getting this instead-- it's only $20: https://www.amazon.com/Mueller-Austria-Adjustable-Mandoline-Slicer/dp/B01CT63964

Rotary grater? ZYLISS Classic Rotary Cheese Grater - NSF Restaurant Certified https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01HX6HAK6/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_Dh1LBbSH6MMBP

https://www.amazon.com/Calphalon-Gadgets-Dual-Cheese-Plane/dp/B000SDQGL6

ZYLISS Classic Rotary Cheese Grater - NSF Restaurant Certified! Only $14.99 from Amazon.com

They call it a grater.

https://www.amazon.com/Mueller-Austria-Adjustable-Mandoline-Slicer/dp/B01CT63964

I present to you this Parmigiano Reggiano grater. It will change your life:

ZYLISS Classic Rotary Cheese Grater - NSF Restaurant Certified https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01HX6HAK6/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_XJb.BbAVKYQYC

Ever try making your own? Mozzarella and Ricotta Cheese Making Kit https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00014CEXG/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_zTA7ybP8C8F8K

Do the Microplane tools work for you? That's what I use at my restaurant: http://www.amazon.com/Microplane-38000-Professional-Coarse-Grater/dp/B00009WE3Y/

https://www.amazon.com/Mozzarella-Ricotta-Cheese-Making-Kit/dp/B00014CEXG


It works.

My cheese slicer, I use it daily

http://www.amazon.com/Fox-Run-Marble-Cheese-Slicer/dp/B0000VZA2W/ref=sr_1_2?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1342228808&sr=1-2

first use a larger chunk of cheese. second I quit using mine for that reason. I now use this (Much Safer)

https://www.amazon.com/ZYLISS-Classic-Rotary-Cheese-Grater/dp/B01HX6HAK6/

Non-mobile: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00KFO3BMK/ref=s9_zwish_hm_b1DNY_g79_i1

^That's ^why ^I'm ^here, ^I ^don't ^judge ^you. ^PM ^/u/xl0 ^if ^I'm ^causing ^any ^trouble. ^WUT?

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000HMB0IM/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1468707627&sr=8-1&pi=SY200_QL40&keywords=cheese+slicer&dpPl=1&dpID=41t1yOdf-CL&ref=plSrch

Microplanes take forever, imo. I use a rotary cheese grater!

I'm not sure you can find it in stores, but you can buy one online

The peeler has a blade. The cheese slicer uses a wire and a rolling pin. The picture you commented on is not the same as the peeler you linked. As you will see from the link below, it is most definitely a cheese slicer - note how the peeler has a blade with a hole in it, but the cheese slicer uses a single wire above a rolling metal cylinder as the cutting mechanism.

http://www.amazon.com/Norpro-330-Cheese-Slicer/dp/B000HMB0IM/ref=sr_1_1?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1374444647&sr=1-1


As hard as it may be to believe, there are different types of cheese slicers. I have been using this type for almost 20 years.

A good chefs knife (+ perhaps a steel and whetstone if you're doing it properly)

A mandolin, especially if they think their fingers are too long (I don't want one because I think they're lethal).

Here's one. They're just handy. Also where are you buying sliced cheese is the same as blocked? I haven't found that before.

I few up with one of these cheese slicers.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000HMB0IM/ref=s9_top_hm_b1DNY_g79_i1

Just a handle with a wire strung across part of it basically. Cheap, adjustable, and Now I wish I still had one because I hate cutting cheese

I have this guy and it doesn't take up much space in the drawer and cleans up in about the same amount of time as a knife with a brush and soapy water. I don't think that I'm more prone to cutting myself while cleaning it than I am cleaning any other kitchen implement.

The cheese grater on the other hand... I have no clue how it gets me every single time...

My favorite thing about mandolins (http://www.amazon.com/OXO-Grips-Hand-Held-Mandoline-Slicer/dp/B000YDO2LG) is when you get distracted and drown your food in blood.

Fuck those mandolins use cheese slicers instead http://www.amazon.com/Norpro-Stainless-Steel-Cheese-Slicer/dp/B000SSYY88/ref=pd_bxgy_79_img_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=157BQZRCKZ31AP23XCQ2

The boiled egg maker, makes 7 boiled eggs in under 10 mins.

Crock pot

Dehydrator

Slicer, I was using one of those choppers but after not even 6 months of use the blades are dull and don’t think I can sharpen.

I found a slicer and originally got it to make chicken jerky for the dog. It didn’t work as it needs an actual meat slicer. But I now use it for all my veggies and they can be paper thin and it’s so easy to use. slicer