# Made my first cheese, now how do I clean the cheese cloth?



## critterluv (Jan 17, 2008)

I am sooo proud of myself! I just made my first cheese, I made mozerella and it is sooo good, had to stop myself and put it in the fridge for cooling, Almost did not have enough to share tomorrow...lol. I Love these goats!!

My question is whats the best way to clean the cheese cloth?

thanks


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## suzyhomemaker09 (Sep 24, 2004)

Hmmm...
I honestly don't ever remember seeing cheesecloth used in making Mozz..
I usually will let mine dry and then sort of rub it together to dislodge any big bits still clinging..then wash with soap and water...


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## critterluv (Jan 17, 2008)

I used the cheese cloth to line the strainer to seperate the way from the curds. thats what the recipie said to do anyway.


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## goatsareus (Jun 23, 2007)

I use my home made muslin bags to make my mozzarella cheeses. The curds hang for about one hour before slicing and heat treating. I also use the same bag immediately after heating the whey to make a ricotta, so I get two cheeses from the bag before I wash it.

I wash the bag in cold water with some liquid dish detergent, swish it around a lot, a lot of whitish fluid will come off the bag. Then rinse in several cold water rinses. When I have used all my cheese bags, I run them through a laundry cycle in the washing machine.. Occassionally I will add bleach to the washing machine, when the bags get an odor to them. The odor occurs when I have cheeses hang for many hours.


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## suzyhomemaker09 (Sep 24, 2004)

I apologize..after rereading my post that came across rather snarky.
It was not my intention.
While I personally don't use cloth to drain my curds when I make mozz there are others that I do use it on. I love disposable cheese cloths for the simple reason that we have pets in our home...any hair that floats around will eventually end up in the cloth.


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## gone-a-milkin (Mar 4, 2007)

I second the disposable cheesecloth. It *is* reuseable and it does not absorb odors like the cotton. The curds don't stick to it, and the whey drains out faster.

You can use it several times before it gets holes in it too.


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## backachersfarm (Jun 14, 2005)

I just trhow mine in the washer with the next load of whites. I always put it in a bowl of water with a dab of vinegar in it to soak just before I use it for cheese again to make sure it is disinfected.


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## cmharris6002 (Jan 27, 2006)

goatsareus said:


> I wash the bag in cold water with some liquid dish detergent, swish it around a lot, a lot of whitish fluid will come off the bag. Then rinse in several cold water rinses. When I have used all my cheese bags, I run them through a laundry cycle in the washing machine.QUOTE]
> 
> After each use I do mine like goatsareus. Also, when needed I boil mine for 10min with a little baking soda in the water. Turn I off the heat, wait 10min and add 1/2c bleach to the 2gallon pot. When cool I'll wring them out and hang them in the sun to dry. This will make them sparkling white and odor free
> 
> Christy


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