# Cheesecloth/ butter muslin alternatives?



## Lorelai

Hi everyone! Milk surplus happening here, so I'm going to make my first soft, farmer's style cheese today. I'm headed into town and plan on stopping at Jo Ann's; they have a large selection of fabric, and I'd like to buy something I can use and reuse to strain soft cheese. Regular muslin, or real cheese cloth? Any particular type I should look for, or size recommendations? What do you use? I would prefer not to order online, as my milk situation is getting ridiculous, and I have limited freezer space. I'm not a crafty person (just taught myself to crochet, but that's the extent of it), so I really have no idea when it comes to fabric. It would be nice if I could potentially use it to strain yogurt eventually too, to make a thicker Greek style yogurt. Or should I get two different things?

Thanks in advance, especially if this is a silly question!


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## opalcab

I use tea towels from walmart I like it better than butter muslin


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## Lorelai

This probably _is_ a silly question, but what kind of fabric are the tea towels made from?


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## DarleneJ

I haven't tried this myself, but I have seen videos of people using clean old sheer curtains to drain the cheese. It's a very inexpensive alternative and they can be picked up at thrift stores or garage sales on the cheap.


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## Alice In TX/MO

Yes, I use shear curtains or shear fabric. Cut to size and hem. Wonderful stuff.


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## opalcab

Their a semi open weave towel and come in a pack of 4 and measure about 26 inches square there cheap 2 or 3 dollars for 4 I will not use cheese cloth any more just throw them in the washing machine any their clean 
Have fun making cheese 
Stan


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## opalcab

to be high tech I think the fabric is like 40 thread per inch

Stan


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## opalcab

I strain every thing from cheese to rinsing potatoes and wring them dry for frying 

Have fun 
Stan


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## Lorelai

Thanks for the ideas everyone! I didn't get to read a lot of the responses until after I got back from town, so I ended up just getting some unbleached muslin from the fabric store that I'm going to cut to size. It only cost me $4, so even if it's a failed experiment, at least it was a cheap one. I'm going to investigate getting some of those tea towels too, I think, just because they sound really versatile. I'll let you all know how my cheese turns out... my day went a little sideways yesterday, so today is devoted to cheese. And yogurt... I got the Nancy's organic whole milk plain yogurt to start it, which I know works really well. The plain Zoi Greek yogurt? Not so much. Tried it twice with unsuccessful results. Now I should have enough milk to keep the yogurt going using my own to start the next batch. Think I can use the same material to strain my yogurt? I really do like thick Greek style yogurt.

:stirpot:


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## chewie

I am with alice, the sheers from the thrift store work very well, and I think the cheese comes off it easier than cotton cloth. plus, they're around .25 per panel. just my price range!


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