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Comment by throwup238 | Hacker News Reader

> Overall learning the process was fun, and a cool thing to do, but if you want good cheese, well, find a good cheese store :)

Strongly seconded. Unless you have a full blown cheese cellar in which to store a hundred wheels and experiment over years, there's pretty much only one cheese that the average cook can make that would be cheaper and taste better than buying in a store (unless you're in Italy) and that would be burrata. Store bought burrata has a much bigger markup than other cheeses and the machine method they use to make it here in the US is inferior to the hand shredded version.

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Also paneer! Paneer is so easy to make and you can go from milk to useable product in literally about 2.5 hours.

It’s honestly so much nicer also, I always find store bought paneer to be somewhat hard and lack the buttery taste of the fluffy homemade stuff

Try soaking store-bought paneer in warm water. I simmer it on low for 10 minutes while cooking the rest of the meal.

The paneer turns so soft and fluffy that it’s hard for me to distinguish from homemade.

Don't forget the whey! If you're making burrata, you get ricotta for practically free. From there, if you're feeling fancy, you can make ricotta salata. Otherwise, put both into a divine lasagna.

Also, cheese curd is super easy. Ripening it into something fancy is a trick, but, poutine!

Never heard of burrito before, but mozzarella is quick so easy to make, so this looks like a fun one to do.

I expect, like most quick cheeses, it's all about the texture, not the flavour?

> Never heard of burrito before

I would start with the Americanized version at Chipotle and move up from there :)

On a serious note, I'm not sure if you can use the usual quick mozzarella recipe [1] for burrata because the mozzarella might not be stretchy enough to form the shell or the mixture might be too acidic - I forgot what the issue was. You'll have to use the proper recipe [2] which is quite a bit more involved (I also recommend looking up videos of Italian cheesemongers making burrata for the technique, there are tricks to it). A sous vide recirculator comes in real handy.

Burrata is more about the flavor of the cream which combines very nicely with the texture of the cheese. Definitely recommend getting the cream from a proper dairy even if you don't get raw milk for the cheese. The stracciatella absorbs the cream which creates a unique and very rich flavor.

[1] https://cheesemaking.com/products/30-minute-mozzarella-recip...

[2] https://cheesemaking.com/products/burrata-recipe

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