Where to Start with Ricki Carroll
Ricki Carroll is an American cheese maker, educator, and entrepreneur known as “the Cheese Queen.” She co-founded New England Cheesemaking Supply Company in 1978 and has been teaching home cheese making classes since 1980. Her book Home Cheese Making, first published in 1982, has sold over 400,000 copies and is widely credited with launching the home cheese making hobby in America. Carroll is a founding member of the American Cheese Society and the recipient of their Lifetime Achievement Award. She learned the craft in England and has spent her career making it accessible to anyone with a kitchen, a pot, and some milk.
Start here
Home Cheese Making, 4th Edition
Ricki Carroll · 224 pages · 2018 · Easy
Themes: home cheese making, fresh cheese, aged cheese, mozzarella, cheddar
The book that launched the home cheese making movement in America. Ricki Carroll, known as “the Cheese Queen,” has been teaching people to make cheese since 1980, and this fourth edition distills four decades of hands-on experience into a clear, approachable guide with 100 recipes.
Why Start Here
Most cheese making books either overwhelm you with science or assume you already own specialized equipment. Home Cheese Making does neither. Carroll starts with the simplest possible cheeses, ones you can make tonight with milk from the grocery store, a pot, and a thermometer. Her 30-minute mozzarella recipe has become the gateway drug for thousands of home cheese makers, and it works on the first try.
From there, the book builds gradually. You move from fresh cheeses like ricotta and queso blanco to soft-ripened varieties like brie and camembert, then on to hard aged cheeses like cheddar, gouda, and parmesan. Each recipe follows the same clear structure: ingredients, equipment, step-by-step instructions, and troubleshooting tips. Carroll explains what is happening at each stage without burying you in microbiology.
The fourth edition adds 35 new recipes including burrata, stracchino, and Brillat-Savarin, along with color photography showing key techniques. It also includes 50 recipes for cooking with the cheese you make, which keeps the hobby feeling practical rather than abstract.
What to Expect
A 224-page paperback organized by cheese type, from the simplest fresh cheeses to the most complex aged varieties. The opening chapters cover equipment, ingredients, and basic technique. You will need to source rennet and cheese cultures, but Carroll runs New England Cheesemaking Supply Company and provides clear guidance on where to find everything. The tone is encouraging and unpretentious. This is a book that wants you to succeed on your first attempt and keeps rewarding you as your skills grow.