By: Michael Sarko | April 20 2011
Posted in Seattle - Cook It - Seattle

Homemade cheese after curds have set. Photo by: RBerteig on Flickr

Cheese has been a delicacy for thousands of years with recipes spanning countless cultures around the world. Like many kinds of food, cheese has a wide spectrum of style and quality, ranging from the simplest supermarket cheese to the powerful (and sometimes acquired) tastes of artisan cheese.

A lot of people don't know exactly how cheese is made. Like wine, it requires special chemical processes to achieve a block of tasty, safe-to-eat cheese. But making cheese at home isn't as difficult as it may seem at the outset. Using common kitchen gear and easy-to-obtain ingredients, homemade cheese is a snap.

Equipment

First, let's talk hardware. You're going to need a heavy, stainless steel pot. Stainless steel is essential for cheese making because it's non-reactive material, meaning that the metal won't be affected by the acids in the milk you use and impart unpleasant flavors to the final product. The thickness of the metal also prevents burning during the heating process.

Aside from measuring cups and a whisk, which are standard in any properly stocked kitchen, you'll also want to get your hands on a kitchen thermometer and some good cheesecloth. Achieving exact temperatures is essential in making cheese safe to eat, and ensuring that the dairy goes through the right chemical processes at the right time.

As for cheesecloth, ignore the stuff sold in grocery stores. Honestly, a white cotton dish towel (smooth, not terry cloth) is exactly what you want. Meshed cheese cloth often lets the curd of homemade cheese slip through. You'll want something that's better suited to separating the solids from the liquids.

Ingredients

When it comes to the milk you use for your homemade cheese, you can use store-bought, pasteurized whole milk, but it will generally be less flavorful than farm-bought, and you'll have to supplement the calcium content with calcium chloride in order to actually form a solid curd. There's nothing wrong with this, especially considering that cheese made from unpasteurized milk should be cured for two months before eating, but it couldn't hurt to buy raw milk from a local farm you trust. There's also no reason to bother buying special cheese “starters” for this basic recipe. Adding three teaspoons of buttermilk per gallon of fresh milk will do the same job with better results.

Making your cheese

To begin, thoroughly sterilize the stainless steel pot and warm your gallon of fresh milk in it until it reaches 68 degrees F. Add the buttermilk and combine. Kill the heat and let the mixture sit covered at room temperature overnight. The good bacteria in the buttermilk will work its chemistry and by the next day, you'll be ready to add your rennet.

Rennet is a natural enzyme you can easily find in any grocery store, usually in the form of tablets. This is what allows the milk solids to separate from the whey. After re-warming your milk/buttermilk mixture to 86 degrees, dissolve ¼ tablet of rennet in a ¼ cup of cold water and add to the warm milk. Stir to combine, then kill the heat. Cover and let sit for one hour without disturbing (stirring or shaking will interrupt the chemical process). If, after an hour, the gelled milk breaks cleanly when touched, it's ready for the next step. If it's gelatinous or flowing, it still needs more time.

Once it's gelled, you'll want to start cutting your recently formed curd. Using a long knife, cut the curd in the pot into ½ inch cubes, starting from the edge of the pot and rotating 90 degrees until the entire surface is broken up.

Next, turn the stove burner to low and very gently stir the curd. Try not to put too much pressure on it, but feel free to break up larger curds as they appear. Do this continually for at least 15 minutes or the curds will lump together, then raise the temperature to 92 degrees. The warmer this final temperature is, the firmer your cheese will be, so adjust accordingly - but try not to go beyond 100 degrees.

Now you're ready to separate the curds from the whey. Position a strainer over a pot and line it with your cheese cloth. Gradually transfer the curd into the cloth, then place the curds in a mixing bowl. Save that whey. It has a variety of uses on its own. Add 2 teaspoons salt to the curd to keep it from spoiling while you cure it.

 If you want a harder cheese, you can choose to press the curds further by putting a clean weight onto cloth-wrapped curds to remove excess moisture.

Curing

To cure your cheese, make sure it is thoroughly salted, wrap it in a clean cloth, and place it in the refrigerator. Change the cloth every day until a yellow rind forms on the surface. This may take as long as two weeks, or as long as two months if you use unpasteurized milk. You can serve your finished cheese right away, but if you want it to keep longer, you'll need to dip it in melted wax. That will keep it good for around a month. The longer you keep your cheese, the sharper its flavor will become.

Onced you've mastered your first cheese, experiment with different flavors by adding spices, herbs, garlic, and even wine to your curd while it rests in the refrigerated wrap. Then pair your cheese with a loaf of crusty bread and a locally-produced wine and feast away!

Sink your teeth into more cheese on The Local Dish:

Top Favorites from Bay Area Cheesemongers

Sweet Grass Georgia Cheese

Artisan Goat Cheese from Pholia Farm 

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