Artisan Cheese Making at Home: Techniques & Recipes for Mastering World-Class Cheeses [A Cookbook] Hardcover – August 23, 2011

I would consider myself an advancing novice cheese maker in that I have been making cheese for many years now, have made many different types of cheese several times (including more difficult ones), yet I feel I have a lot to learn yet before joining the elite ranks of advanced cheese makers.When I bought this book, I was under the asumption that it was targeted toward a beginner cheese maker. I have read all of the introductory material and glanced through nearly all recipes. Please consider my review from this perspective.First thing I will say is that I love this book! I feel it is very well done and hosts some great cheese pictures (Always a huge plus for me)! I knew it was going to be well worth it when I saw that Peter Reinhart (Author of "The Bread Baker's Apprentice", my favorite bread book) wrote the forward.I feel that the instruction is clear and this author has done a great job of thinking about the weird little "common sense" things which tend to get left out of cheese making books. Stuff like recommending that you sanitize you equipment in bleach then dry on a rack on top of a cookie sheet before starting your cheese making session. To some this may be assumed, but if you have never worked food service- proper sanitation may not be second nature to you.Another thing I really appreciate is the author's presentation of equipment and ingredients. All items are explained in good detail. I was very impressed with the fact that she included a chart with many of the most common cheese starter cultures, what they are used for, and which vendors carry them. I will be photo copying this chart and laminating it to keep with my equipment (big +1 there!).The pictures, as I mentioned, are very nice.Now, the recipes. There are a handful of books out there with more cheese recipes than there are in this one. However, this author seems to have gone for depth instead of breadth. That is to say that the recipes chosen (which does not comprise a small list by any means) are very interesting and compelling to try (I cant wait to make the saffron infused manchego!!).In the spirit of this being a learning book, the author has chosen to organize recipes by level of advancement. Simple cheeses such as paneer come first while more challenging ones such as cheddar appear later. I personally really like this in a beginning cheese making book.So in summary, I strongly recommend this book to those new to cheese making. I think this book is very well done. The greatest strength of this book is undoubtedly the organization of the material, the pictures are a nice bonus. This book will now be my standard recommended Beginner-Intermediate book.

I really like this book. It is informative, has clear instructions and lots of recipes, from simple to advanced.

Cheese making books aren't hard to find and while I've read many of them, Artisan Cheese Making at Home was the first one I was inspired to purchase. Not only does the book contain easy-to-follow instructions for as many different types of cheeses to make as virtually any other book out there, it is by far the most beautiful of the bunch. Rarely is a book as artistic as it is utilitarian, so not only can one see what most of the finished cheese products should look like, they are inspired to want to produce something that has the potential to look as grand. Looking over not only the recipes for making artisan cheeses but also the recipes for what to do with all those cheeses once they are made, Mary Karlin is obviously a chef, a foodie, an epicurean, and a gourmet of the highest level. I have already easily made quite a number of batches of cheese with the help of her sage advice, and really look forward to producing my first bloomy blue cheese chevre log and buttermilk blue cheese that looks as delicious as the finest Roquefort I've ever eaten.This review has been submitted by Allen Deever, author of Writers’ Conference in a Book: Top Ten Truths of Writing Better, Faster, Easier and More Profitably.http://www.amazon.com/Writers-Conference-Book-Writing-Profitably/dp/1511766913

I looked through the book and the recipes and techniques look easy to follow

I would suggest this book as your second cheese making book. Get Ricki Carolls book first. http://www.amazon.com/Home-Cheese-Making-Recipes-Homemade/dp/1580174647/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1359509744&sr=8-1&keywords=ricki+carroll.. Home Cheese Making is the primer where you can begin to learn how cheese works. This was the best book for fundementals for me. She really takes a lot of time to teach you how to make some pretty good cheese. And if pretty good cheese is what you are after you could stop with this book. But if you are really trying to get to the next level Artisn Cheese Making at Home is the book for you.Artisan Cheesemaking at Home is a book of nuance, that may not be appreciated until you have been making cheese for a while. While other books tell you to add starter culture this book gets you into the varieties of starter cultures and how much they can influence the flavor and quality of your cheese. It has recipes for some very difficult cheeses that will challenge you and if you can make them give you a feeling of satisfaction that is hard to describe.In addition to recipes she gives you the basics to begin to experiment with developing your own cheese. If you have been making cheese for a while you know that each cheese no matter what recipe you use is its own cheese. That is the beauty of home made artisan cheese. You can never make the same one twice. Too many variables influence the outcome. She gets you to understand that and encourages you to take some chances with your own ideas.This is just a great book for anyone who wants to become a better cheese maker.