Cheesemaking In Thailand.

[Brewster67]

Is there anyone in Thailand that is making cheese in a big way?

 

I make my own cheeses at home, mostly mozzarella, cream cheese, brie and a handful of harder cheeses now and again.

 

I get my cultures and rennet from cheesemaking.com so I have excellent access to all the necessary stuff and they ship really fast.

 

I did look at scaling up to a business model, but the barrier i am facing is the availability of milk. I do know of two local dairy farms that will sell me milk, but the price at 25 baht per litre makes it very low profit. One of the farms was skimming off the cream to make their own ice cream without being honest about it and the low amount of fat made the cheese very low yield per proportion of milk. The other farm was having bad hygiene issues that I found out the hard way when a batch of brie weas spoiled because of a coliform infection which comes from not sanitizing the cow's teats properly. i pointed this out to the farmer and he swore he would improve it, but a week or so later and I had the same problem.. So I had to dump them.

 

I have had the wife ring around a lot looking for a supply of cheap milk and the best we could find locally was at 19 baht per litre on orders over 1000 litres. But then proceeded to tell us that the Thia-Denmark Dairy Co buys every drop of their milk (why didn't they just tell us that at the start?)

 

So I guess this is why all the cheese we see in Thailand is imported. Which is a crying shame, because that is what makes it very expensive and many more thais would eat cheese if it was cheaper.. In that I am in no doubt. I would love to hear from anyone who has any advice on how to overcome the milk access problem. I am raring to go with a commercial venture, I have the skills and knowledge and funds for an upscale project, i just don't have the most important ingredient.

Edited July 4, 2020 by Brewster67

[ezzra]

Cheese making in Thailand have been discussed on several occasions on TVF but mostly by hobbyist and not by medium to large producers such as yourself, and that is the first time i hear that large producers are hogging the milk market, Thai people not being cheese eaters or big on milk drinkers but perhaps the milk production are indeed in short supply,

I know the guys that run HomeMade-Cheese Co and i'll try to ask him where does source his milk from that is if he be willing to share such info...

 

 

[male expat]

please contact me  (email address removed by Moderator - of interested PM the poster)

[Kerryd]

I've wondered about "Thai" cheese as well as it all seems to be imported. Not a huge dairy industry here (lots of cows, not a lot of dairy). In the g/f's home village there must be a couple hundred cows and I've yet to see anyone milk any of them.

It is one of the "cultural" differences between Asians and "Westerners". We like cheese and don't eat dogs. A lot of Asian cultures balk at the idea of deliberately adding bacteria to something (like cheese), but happily eat dog.
Things are changing though, thanks in large part to "fast food" items like cheeseburgers and pizza.

I like my sharp cheddars. Over here I mostly end up buying Mainland Epicure or Bega "Strong and Bitey". 

Occasionally I'll buy some Maasdamer if I can find it (in block form, not the pre-sliced stuff which tastes "watered down"). Problem with the Maasdamer is I'm sure it's been frozen then thawed (at least once) before hitting the shelf. Something in the cheese crystallizes when it's frozen and stays that way after thawing. Despite the original wrapping and then the additional cellophane wrapping it gets here, I sometimes find the cheese has dried out around the edges by the time it hits the store shelves as well.

I've also endulged in a bit of Roquefort now and then (usually diced and added to a salad). Problem is, even the smallest wedges tend to be too much for me to eat before it goes bad.
(I'm a fan of Blue Cheese Salad Dressing too. I use it on my Som Tam salad quite often to give it a different flavour.)

I've often wondered if a dedicated Cheese Shop would do OK over here, perhaps in a Mall or other high-traffic tourist area. In addition to local and imported cheeses you could also offer the ingredients to "make your own" (like the beer hobby stores do).

The girlfriend is doing an apprenticeship in Germany right now. Last year one of the courses she was sent on was cheese making (seems she's not a fan of it). Piqued my interest though as it occurred to me that would be one way of getting some locally (and I have a bit of spare time on my hands these days, as in, pretty much all day everyday).

However I'd need to look at it a lot closer before trying to commit to making any myself. Seems a bit complicated but probably gets easy once you "learn the ropes". Or would that be "learn the rennets" ? (A cheesy bit of humour to Brie-ten up your day !) 

(What does the "whey" go after the curds are removed ?) 

[sirocco]

hello, Kerrid, post 4

Every time I make cottage cheese, we drink the whey we love.
In addition, it is good for inflammatory problems, against certain bacteria.

[Genmai]

1 hour ago, Kerryd said:

(I'm a fan of Blue Cheese Salad Dressing too. I use it on my Som Tam salad quite often to give it a different flavour.)

[Kerryd]

21 minutes ago, Genmai said:

[WebGuy]

Yes, the issue with milk supply exists. If you wanna go big, you need to make a special arrangement with one of supplayers

[PETERTHEEATER]

16 minutes ago, Kerryd said:

Truly sad.....

[Kerryd]

17 minutes ago, PETERTHEEATER said:

Truly sad.....

I've eaten plenty of "pok pok" plain and after a while it starts tasting bland. And the local vendor throws the chilies in whole and when he's done, most of them are still whole so you end up eating whole, raw chilies and I started to dislike the taste of them. Still like the heat, just not the taste.

(It was the same with Tabasco sauce years ago. At first it was OK. After awhile everything started tasting the same and it was - tedious.) 

And Papaya salad is just that. Salad. Some different ingredients and preparation methods but not that much different than a chef's salad or other green salad. 

Nothing "sad" about it. No law or tradition says you have to eat Papaya salad plain every single time for your entire life.

[pikao]

The Thai "ROYAL PROJECT" brand makes good Feta cheese (good price also) and I think "CAROLINE" brand is Thai too

[Genmai]

7 minutes ago, Kerryd said:

And Papaya salad is just that. Salad. Some different ingredients and preparation methods but not that much different than a chef's salad or other green salad. 

Nothing "sad" about it. No law or tradition says you have to eat Papaya salad plain every single time for your entire life.

 

This is not a criticism of you - but if you're having to squeeze goops of chunky blue cheese dressing from a bottle onto a dish to make it enjoyable maybe the problem is with the plate of pickled bait with shredded raw fruit and rotten fish juice in front of you... God almighty up in heaven and all that is holy - if I've learned anything from living in Thailand it's an appreciation for how underrated and CIVILIZED a good burger or steak w/ fries are.

[Brahmz]

I get raw milk from local coop; price 25THB per litre. Has been tested.

I make Kefir cream cheese, about 2-3 kilo per week. A very simple and tasty cheese eaten fresh.

We eat it as part of our keto diet http://www.ibsexplained.com

This cheese is fermented, and the fermentation process overcomes problems with bacterial contamination.

Kefir is a colony of 50 or so yeasts and bacteria that will eliminate foreign micro-organisms.

 

I worry about milk supply in the future, perhaps the government may get silly and ban raw milk sales.

Cheese from pasteurized milk is junk. Then I will need to get a house cow/goat.

Edited July 5, 2020 by Brahmz

[rwill]

http://www.chiangraicheese.com/eng/

 

https://www.facebook.com/Heath-Farm-Cheese-Thailand-384889698376019/

 

https://www.facebook.com/Heaven-On-Cheese-507217885990688/

 

https://www.delcasaro.com/

[Fairynuff]

7 hours ago, rwill said:

http://www.chiangraicheese.com/eng/

 

https://www.facebook.com/Heath-Farm-Cheese-Thailand-384889698376019/

 

https://www.facebook.com/Heaven-On-Cheese-507217885990688/

 

https://www.delcasaro.com/

 

7 hours ago, rwill said:

http://www.chiangraicheese.com/eng/

 

https://www.facebook.com/Heath-Farm-Cheese-Thailand-384889698376019/

 

https://www.facebook.com/Heaven-On-Cheese-507217885990688/

 

https://www.delcasaro.com/

I checked all the links here and couldn’t find prices for anything on any of the links

[ericthai]

I would check into water buffalo milk if making mozzarella.  

[Stadtler]

On 7/4/2020 at 5:58 AM, Brewster67 said:

Is there anyone in Thailand that is making cheese in a big way?

One of Stadtler's greatest pleasures, is to cut the cheese.  For some odd reason, Mrs. Stadtler is not fond of Stadtler involving himself with cutting of any cheese.  Mrs. Stadtler prefers to cut her own cheese.

 

[Stadtler]

On 7/4/2020 at 5:58 AM, Brewster67 said:

not sanitizing the cow's teats properly.

Stadtler finds this notion most alluring.  Stadtler was totally unaware that cow teats needed sanitation.  Stadtler assumed that cows much like cats, clean their own teats.

 

Is there a proper way to clean the teats on anyone other than a cow?  Mrs Stadtler is also curious as she thinks it might be an interesting new version of foreplay.

[elgenon]

Isn't there cheese making in Chiang Mai? I was told that by the local expats and saw it on the map made by what's-her-face.

[CLW]

On 7/6/2020 at 2:14 AM, ericthai said:

I would check into water buffalo milk if making mozzarella.  

https://www.murrahfarm.com/

 

To my knowledge the only professional buffalo milk farm in Thailand.

Not sure if it profitable.

I've visited them once, looks more like an agro tourism place with the usual cute stuff such as DIY courses, petting zoo etc.

Not sure they are making money. Haven't seen their products for sale except direct sales.