Standing Stone Farms Complete Cheese Making Kit

I was talking to a friend today who was interested in making cheese from scratch and recommended that she buy the same kit I bought back in 2016. In fact, I told her I would look up the kit I bought and send her the link. I then realized that I had never posted a review on how much I loved the kit! So... better late than never! The kit is just wonderful, and once you make cheese from scratch, you will be hooked forever! You get everything you need, and the DVD is very helpful if you have never made cheese before, which was me. My first attempt was mozzarella and it turned out delicious, far better than any mozzarella I had ever had before. But the most incredible thing was that I had questions along the way and contacted the company. They were so helpful and emailed me immediately with the answers. Then, when I lost my cookbook, they sent me a digital copy by email. I cannot tell you how much I love this company. You might find someone on the internet who sells products for a cheaper price, but there is no one out there with better service! And they definitely have the experience to help you with any problems you may encounter!

We just made our first two batches of cheese, the goat cheese and mozzarella. To begin, the wonderful lady in the video included is just wonderful! She explains the process extremely well and does a great job pointing out potential pitfalls and what might go wrong She is just so helpful, we love watching her! Next, the cheese came out great!! Goat cheese is so easy to make and all we needed was the goat milk. Started with just a half gallon, it came out perfectly by watching the videos and reading the instructions. The mozzarella is incredible, took less than an hour, having it on our pizza tonight. Again, thank you so much for the helpful video and instructions. No issues with what is or isn't included, everything but the milk, was in the box and we now have the confidence to make more cheese!

After watching the included video, we made the Quick Mozzarella as our first cheese making endeavor. It came out fine. It was a bit harder than we liked. The video states how important it is that you do certain steps at specific temperatures. The thermometer that came with the kit is very difficult to read to those exact temperatures. In the video, she uses a digital thermometer. That should be included in the kit. Also in the video, she mentions that she much prefers using kid (goat) lipase vs. calf lipase - yet, again, she includes the calf lipase, which we didn't really like the taste of in the mozzarella. Next time we'll try making it without any lipase. It's a good starter kit. After using it the first time, though, we created a list of items we need to buy in order that we're more successful with the final product(s). It would have been nice if they were included.

I had been thinking about making cheese for awhile, and this product is perfect for the beginner. I recommend starting with the mozzarella cheese. It's very easy, and you'll see instant success, which will give you confidence, when making other cheeses. I think a digital thermometer would be better, and perhaps more products. Even if they have to raise the price somewhat. It's a bargain. I was very excited about trying it for the first time, and have now made mozzarella three times, ricotta twice, and I'm making provolone today. Perhaps a larger recipe book would be helpful as well. I bought a cheese recipe book separately.

This is a complete kit, but it's only for small batches of cheese. Disclaimer: I am a novice cheese maker (which is who would buy this). I have some goats. I milk the goats. They give me more milk than my family can drink, so I process the rest into "Chevre" (fresh goat cheese). With this kit I can process up to 1.5 gallons at a time. It's really made more for 1 gallon batches... which makes about 1.5 lb of fresh cheese. What is "fresh" cheese? Cream Cheese is fresh cheese, Cheddar is not. Cheddar is aged cheese. Soft cheeses are fresh cheeses. Hard cheeses are aged. You need a way to age cheese at 50 degrees if you want hard cheese. I separately bought a cheese press and mold. I think they are useful. I make fresh goat cheese then use a food processor to turn it into "cream" cheese. Then I eat it fresh (perhaps add some ranch flavor powder to make a ranch cheese) or I use it to make Cheesecake. The kit isn't complicated. The key pieces are the rennet, the mesophilic culture and the cloth. You could get by getting them separately but I'm glad I bought the kit. It's a good starting point for the extra money. My only pointer is that it is for small batches. Particularly the basket for draining. It's really small. I haven't used it because I bought a separate cheese press with a larger basket.

This was a gift for the Hubs. I actually ordered this one over another kit after reading a review and seeing the company offered to replace a lid that was damage, even though the customer didn't request it. That alone made me feel comfortable in paying a little extra for the kit. Since he received the it, he has made a few batches of Mozzarella cheese and really is please with the kit. The directions in the kit are basic and limited, so you will want to look on line or get a really good book on what to watch out for (ie. avoid ultra high pasteurized milk, etc). But this kit, although a tad bit high in price, IS worth getting because there is nothing left out besides your raw supplies. AND, excellent customer service (which is far and few).

On opening I was thinking I spent too much for so little, but it really is the perfect sampler of products in a scale you would really want to sample with. Anyway, great collection and the DVD is worth everything! Truly well done and informative! A book can only do so much…but this narrative with her hands on explanations are priceless! No way to screw up your cheese if you watch and listen! Happy cheesemaking!

Just a great starter kit! Would’ve liked just a little more of the ingredients and enzymes I suppose, but really great for the beginner. Customer service was spot on! My first batch of Feta is AMAZING!