Yes, I had to start with a pun. Although the whey actually gets tossed. Sorry whey!
You heard it right. I made my own cheese. That seems like a task doesn't it? Well it is, but making small batches at a time, its not very hard. It does take time and lots of patience before the finished product can be enjoyed, but to me it is worth every bit of it. I like the idea of knowing I made it myself, I know whats in it and that it is fresh and healthier. Yes real cheese, not Velveeta or chem-veeta, but yes even I admit that stuff is tasty. But as I always say sometimes things that taste too good, are too good to be true. I also like learning the process involved in making the foods I eat. I have more of a passion for cheese now that I know how its actually made. I am definitely becoming a cheese-foodie. I love gouda, colby, feta, brie, ricotta, marscapone, mozzarella, to name a few.
My first batch is a farmhouse cheddar made from regular grocery store gallon milk. When I get the process down, I plan to switch to organic cows milk, maybe even goats milk, which would make a creamer richer cheese. You can also pack the curds with nuts, herbs and berries to make a cheese ball of sorts. I might use pecans, dried cranberries, etc. However, you do have to research what is good to add, that will not ruin the curing process.
Here are pictures of every step of the process and I will also explain each step and the ingredients used to make cheese, because most of them are not things we keep around in cabinets like sugar and salt, so you might not be familiar with them.
Rennet: is a complex of enzymes produced in any mammalian stomach, and is often used in the production of cheese. Rennet contains many enzymes, including a proteolytic enzyme (protease) that coagulates the milk, causing it to separate into solids (curds) and liquid (whey).
Mesophilic Direct Set Culture: All cultures use the same basic process: rapidly raising the acidity of the milk by consuming the lactose (milk sugar) and converting it into lactic acid, which disables the already-present bad bacteria and helps the rennet or coagulant to set the cheese. Starter culture also aids in development and preservation of the flavor and body of the cheese during cheesemaking and afterwards, in the aging process.
Mesophilic culture is used for most soft cheeses as well as any hard cheeses that are not heated over 102F... 'meso' means middle and these cultures are great for cheese making where the recipe requires 'middle' temperatures (between 68F and 102F).
Definitions from the internet.
So now to the process and the photos. (It took me about 7-8 hours on one Saturday to make this cheese ready for aging. However, there was a lot of sitting and waiting, so not that I spent that much time actually hunched over the stove.)
1. Pour two gallons of whole milk (or 2 gallons of 1% or skim, with 1 pt. substituted with heavy cream) into a large stock pot. Using a cheese or candy thermometer, heat the milk to 90F. If using Calcium Chloride this is the time to add it and stir the mixture.
2. Once milk has heated to proper temp. then add starter culture (Mesophilic culture in this case, thermophilic is used for other types of cheeses). You can Google for mesophilic or thermophilic cultures or look on Amazon if you are interested in purchasing some. Stir the culture in well and leave the pot where it can stay at its current temps for 45 minutes.
3. Add the rennet. To do this dissolve a tablet (recipe suggests using 1/2 to 1 tablet. I decided to go with a whole tablet to insure cheese firmness, since this was my first attempt at making cheese) in 1/4 cup of cold water. To add the rennet pour dissolved mixture into the milk through a perforated skimming ladle which will strew it into the milk. I used a slotted spoon. Stir gently from top to bottom to insure evenness of rennet distribution. Finally topstir the milk for one minute to keep the cream from rising back to the top.
4. Cover the container and leave undisturbed for 45 minutes. After this time a nice block of curd will have formed and be swimming in the whey.
5. Here you are supposed to cut the curd into cubes about 1/2 inch cubed. However, I struggled with making them cubes. I used the longest knife I had and was just glad I was able to cut them up into smaller pieces.
6. Place the pot into a sink filled with hot water and bring the temp of the water slowly up to 100F. (by raising the temp 2 degrees every 5 minutes). This should take 30 minutes. This is what the instructions said, but not what I found to be the case. I left the pot cool, but it never really got down below 100F anyways, so I tried this step, but then eventually skipped it. I assumed the curds were as small as they were going to get. Making the curds shrink was the main goal of this step.
7. Cover the pot when done and let the curds settle for 5 minutes. Pour the curds into a cheesecloth-lined colander. (Finally actually using cheesecloth for its namesake) Tie the cloth around the cheese and hang the bag of curds to drain in a convenient spot for an hr. I put a plastic container underneath my cheese to catch the whey.
8. Pour the drained curds into a bowl and break them up gently with your fingers or a spoon. Make the cheese look like FETA. Mix in table salt 1/2 tbsp. at a time (1 tbsp total).
9. Pack the curds firmly into the lined cheese mold (comes with kit, that I will put a link to below, or you can purchase mold on the net, probably on Amazon). Fold the remaining cheesecloth over top neatly. Apply 10 lbs of pressure for 15 minutes. I used my crock-pot bowl as weight, it was approx. 10 lbs when weighed. I also had some disks from a weightlifting set, that were 10 lbs, but couldn't find them so this was the best I could do. Turn the cheese over after this time and increase the pressure to 20 lbs and let sit for 12 hours. I then added another 10 lbs by putting a full glass casserole pan of brownies below the crock-pot. I had to get creative about where I could find 20 lbs of weight that I wouldn't mind sticking on top of my cheese, so I used dishes. However, for the last step, I took the cheese out of the mold and put it on a plate and then placed the weight on top, because I felt like the cheese in the mold was too low in the mold to actually feel the brunt of the weight to drain its remaining whey properly.
10. Carefully peel away the cheesecloth as to try not to rip the cheese surface. Then air dry the cheese at room temperature on a wooden cutting board (butcher block or cheese serving board will also do). Air dry the cheese until a nice rind has developed and its surface is quite dry. This takes from 3-5 days, depending on the weather. While drying the cheese turn it several times a day so moisture will not collect on the bottom.
11. Cheese waxing! Bought a small block of red cheese wax from cheesemaking.com it was about $11 with shipping. It can be reused indefinitely. It just needs to be peeled away from the cheese and remelted down. So it was definitely worth its cost. However, wax is a fun thing to clean up (if you have ever made candles or soap you know what I mean).
12. I chose to use a glass pot inside my stock pot for easy clean-up later. I used a double boiler method, because you should never put wax directly on an open heat source. If you use a glass or ceramic pot, versus a metal pot, then you can microwave the pot later to heat up the wax residue and then use a paper towel to wipe it off. Obviously you cannot microwave a metal pot, so that is why glass and ceramic are best. Otherwise if you want to use a metal pot, you might want to find a pot you don't particularly care about and make that your designated waxing pot. You can just let the wax re-harden in the pot and put a lid on it, store it and pull it back out whenever you need it. I used the ceramic pot, because I didn't have a metal pot worth sacrificing to the cause for an indefinite amount of time. When I was done I poured the wax into another pot lined with parchment paper and let it re-harden there. Then I gathered the parchment paper together at the end to close it and secured it with a rubber band. I stuck it away in a drawer for later use. It will just release right from the parchment paper without any waste.
Cheese has been waxed. Now for the waiting game. In 1-2 months I will have a nicely aged cheddar. We will have to wait and see if my first cheesemaking attempt was successful. The hard part is the waiting, but knowing that I did something most wouldn't even imagine doing themselves, is worth the effort. I like that my cheese contains a limited amount of ingredients; I know what all of the ingredients are and what their purpuse is, so I know my cheese will be healthy. This is just one more step in trying to go a little bit more off the grid. Someday, if I ever have goats again (I did when I was in high school, but never drank their milk or used it in cooking- I had Alpine Mountain Goats- 3 to be exact), then maybe I will be able to control the whole cheesemaking process from start to finish. That is a dream of mine.
www.cheesemaking.com
The place to find all things cheese-making. Its a smaller company that has been making cheese and teaching about cheese-making for years and you should support them.
Come find me in 2 months to try out my cheese with me.
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