The craft of home cheesemaking is exploding in popularity. However, most 'beginner' books are essentially loosely organized collections of recipes which lack a progressive approach to teaching the fundamentals of this exciting and satisfying traditional skill. Mastering Basic Cheesemaking provides a complete hands-on guide to making cheese and other fermented dairy products from scratch, geared toward helping the novice cheesemaker to develop the intuition and abilities to position them for success, especially in the real world of the home kitchen. This well-illustrated and clearly written practical guide assumes no prior experience on the part of the aspiring cheesemaker. Topics include: * Tips and secrets for essentials such as choosing milk and the differences between goat, cow, and sheep milk * Bonus recipes for exciting cheeses such as burrata, quick cheddar curds, and ghee * Options for choosing cultures, ingredients, and equipment to make home cheesemaking more affordable * How