If you have goats or dairy cattle, you may want to try making your own cheese at home.
Cheesemaking techniques vary depending upon the intended final use or consumption of the cheese. Cheese can have widely varying characteristics.
Food safety is critical for fresh cheese. There are four major pathogens associated with fresh cheese. These can cause foodborne illness. They are: Salmonella spp., Escherichia coli, Listeria monocytogenes, and Staphylococcus aureus. These pathogenic bacteria are controlled by good sanitation of equipment and food contact surfaces, proper cooking, cooling and handling of cheese curds during processing, and proper hand washing.
For more information, see http://aces.nmsu.edu/pubs/_e/E216/.
