She Only Cares About Cultivation
Chapter 199: 【198】Tasty and Pretty Fisherman 49 (First Update)

Chapter 199: 【198】Tasty and Pretty Fisherman 49 (First Update)

So the next day, as soon as the sky cleared, Xiao Yu didn’t go out to sea or collect seafood but instead went straight to find clay to make kiln-fired bricks, aiming to make the shed sturdy and resistant to the washout of rainwater. Bricks made from clay and baked at high temperatures are exceptionally solid.

Fortunately, the seaside weather was clear and sunny, so it took only two days to make enough bricks. On the third day, next to the chicken coop, in the place where Yan Qing used to live, she dug a foundation and layered the bricks on top of each other. To prevent roof leaks, she then found some wood to build the roof and placed a waterproof felt underneath in the mud.

After the shed was constructed, the floor was left bare, just the ordinary ground. However, in one corner, she laid some straw for them to sleep comfortably.

After the shed was complete, she hurriedly moved the family of five into their new home, freeing up space for the chickens, who had been put out these past days.

Not sure if it was due to her good feeding or the ewe’s abundant milk supply, which swelled and bleated daily, she had no choice but to help it with milking.

She could squeeze out about five jin of milk a day, and at five yuan per jin, she could only sell it for around twenty-five yuan a day, embarrassingly little.

"If you think the price is low and don’t want to sell, you can try making cheese," suggested Liang Tian. "Pack it in vacuum bags, and it can be preserved for a long time."

Xiao Yu’s eyes lit up, "Right, why didn’t I think of that?"

"These sheep can actually get by without milk. You see, you feed them grass and vegetables, they eat that too. In this way, you can save the milk and make use of it," he continued.

To make cheese, she specifically researched the topic – there are fresh cheese and mature cheese.

To make fresh cheese, pour fresh milk into a container, stir and skim off the cream, then place the pure milk in a warm spot to ferment.

After the fresh milk sours, pour it into a pot and cook. When it takes on a tofu-like consistency, scoop it into a cheesecloth, press out the moisture,

then place the curds in molds or onto wooden plates, press them into shapes or cut them into squares, and fresh cheese is successfully made.

Most people pack a few pieces of cheese in their bags in case of emergencies, as a means to stave off hunger and thirst.

The process for making mature cheese is slightly different than fresh cheese.

When making mature cheese, let the milk that has been boiled for skin or skimmed of cream sit for a few days to ferment.

Once the soured milk has solidified into a soft mass, filter out the excess water through cheesecloth, slowly cook it in a pot, stirring as it cooks, and once it reaches a paste-like consistency, scoop it into cheesecloth, press out the moisture, place the curds into molds or onto wooden plates, press them into shapes or cut them into different shapes.

After the cheese is made, it should be placed in the sun or a well-ventilated area to harden and dry out, allowing for long-term preservation.

After weighing her options, she decided to try making both types, storing the fresh cheese in vacuum packaging and the mature cheese in sealed bags.

Making cheese isn’t easy, as the process is quite complicated, and knowing the method isn’t enough, continuous experimentation is necessary.

Fortunately, there were chickens at home. If the cheese didn’t turn out, she could feed it to the chickens, so there was no waste.

After more than ten days of repeated trials, her skills gradually improved. To enhance the flavor and taste, besides adding sugar, she bought cranberries, red dates, peanuts, kidney beans, etc. Perhaps because her efforts paid off, the taste kept getting better, and with her growing sense of accomplishment, she treated the sheep better and more generously, changing from stingily giving grass once a day to once in the morning and once in the evening.

With the lure of grass, the ewe and lambs became increasingly reliant on her feeding. They went from initial resistance to gradually becoming home-reared.

She thought that without grass and mountain spring water as lures, taming them wouldn’t have been so easy.

She could make about one jin of cheese a day, and her hard work now was all in preparation for launching her products in the future.

She had sworn that if she couldn’t activate her personal space, she would keep trying until she could. Otherwise, how would she take all these good things with her?

Now with the addition of cheese, her anticipation for the opening of her personal space grew even more.

Currently, the sheep relied on the grass from her space, the excess vegetables from home, and the grass she cut outside to feed them. Although it was hard work, they compensated her with their milk, so it was like an indirect exchange, wasn’t it?

— In conclusion, this Chapter includes a 300-word description of cheese-making, bringing the total to nearly 1,400 words. The extra length compensates for descriptive details. If I’m accused of padding the word count again, I can only throw up my hands in defeat ┑(￣Д￣)┍.