Make your own cheese at home with this smart cheesemaker at CES 2019
CES 2019 is making my dreams come true with the promise of an at-home, smart cheesemaker.
Smart home products are helping us brew our own beer, craft our own cocktails and now even make our own cheese. Fromaggio was on display at CES 2019 with its self-titled smart cheesemaker.
This all-in-one, automatic cheesemaker can create a variety of hard and soft cheeses. Once you pour in milk, cultures and rennet, you can choose from a default cheese setting or customize your cheese. Then, Fromaggio goes through the process of heating the milk, mixing the ingredients, cutting the curd, draining the whey and pressing the cheese (if it is of the hard variety).
The team at Fromaggio told me that mozzarella is the fastest cheese to make, taking just 30 minutes, while a queso fresco will take around three hours. Harder cheeses like cheddar take about 24 hours in order to be pressed.
An LCD touchscreen display guides you through the process, while a mobile app acts as your cheesemaking command center, where you can read instructions. order ingredients, share recipes and control settings on the cheesemaker. (With regard to food safety, it'll be up to the users to make sure the device is clean and sanitary before making cheese. Further, users should be aware that consumption of fresh raw milk cheeses aged less than 60 days is considered potentially dangerous by the FDA and is the responsibility of the user.)
If you're eager to make your own cheese at home, you'll have to be patient. Fromaggio isn't available quite yet. The company is planning to launch a Kickstarter campaign in March.
Update: Jan. 10, 3:21 p.m.: Added warnings about food safety and concerns over fresh raw milk cheeses.
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