How to Make Cheese: 7 Basic Steps to Making Homemade Cheese

How to make cheese in 7 basic steps with equipment that you can find in your kitchen at home. Cheese making is very satisfying. Just make sure that all cheese making equipment has been thoroughly sterilized before you use it as rouge bacteria will spoil your final product.

HOW TO MAKE CHEESE - WHAT MILK TO USE?

Raw milk these days is almost impossible to get hold of, unless of course you have Daisy in the backyard that you milk twice a day. But for many of us who want to make cheese, we have to rely on making cheese from store-purchased milk. Where you can, buy whole milk that has been pasteurized as it has a higher butterfat content than low-fat milk, and you need this property in the milk. Using UHT milk for cheese making is also never successful as the high heating process it goes through affects the whey proteins and your milk will not form curds. When purchasing your milk for making homemade cheese, just make sure that it is fresh.

HOW TO MAKE CHEESE - RENNET & CULTURES

Rennet is important for you milk to coagulate. You can get animal rennet that comes from the lining of sheep's stomachs, or you get vegetarian rennet. Either one will work well and comes in either tablet of liquid form from cheese suppliers. 3 drops of liquid rennet or 1/2 tablet rennet are usually diluted in a 1/4 cup of cool water.

Cultures are either mesophilic or thermophilic. Yoghurt is an example of a thermophilic culture, while buttermilk is an example of a mesophilic culture. You can either make your own cultures, or you can buy them from you local cheese supplier.

STEP 1: HOW TO MAKE CHEESE - EQUIPMENT

You will need a large, heavy-based pot for warming the milk in and a colander to assist in draining the whey. You will also need a ladle that has holes in the bottom to allow the curds to drain off the whey. Cheesecloth or butter muslin is required to further help in draining the excess whey. You will also need a long-handled knife to cut the curds and a thermometer that can clamp onto the edge of the pot. This is important, because if you don't you will be measuring the heat of the pot itself, not the contents. Finally, if you want your cheese to look fancy you can buy a cheese mold. However, I have made do with round stainless steel cutlery holders, which work just as well, or plastic bowls that have holes to allow the whey to drain off.

STEP 2: HOW TO MAKE CHEESE - BRING MILK TO ROOM TEMPERATURE

To be successful with your homemade cheese making, you will need to bring your milk to room temperature before you start. You can do this by taking the milk out of the fridge for 1-2 hours before hand, so that you can start.

STEP 3: HOW TO MAKE CHEESE - HEAT THE MILK

When making any type of cheese the next step is to heat the milk. This is necessary for the sugar in the milk to covert to lactic acid. The presence of lactic acid is necessary for your milk to coagulate and helps the curd separate from the whey.

STEP 4: HOW TO MAKE CHEESE - ADDING STARTERS

Your starters are those additives that react with the milk, further aiding the process of converting the sugars to lactic acid. These starters may be lemon juice, vinegar, buttermilk, yoghurt, or dried cultures from cheese suppliers in the form of mesophilic or thermophilic cultures, each of which when added, will result in a different type of cheese.

When you add your starter, make sure that it is well stirred through the milk for even distribution. After that, leave the milk alone and don't touch it so that the coagulation process can take place.

STEP 5: HOW TO MAKE CHEESE - ADDING RENNET

After your milk has been left to ripen, you can start adding your rennet. However, using rennet is a bit of a science as if you add too little, your milk won't develop curds, and if you add too much, your milk will give you curds that are too dense.

Dilute your rennet as above, and when you add it to the milk, stir it thoroughly for even distribution. After the rennet has been added, the milk is again left undisturbed so that the curds can form.

STEP 6: HOW TO MAKE CHEESE - CLEAN BREAK & CUTTING THE CURD

When your curd has formed, and you have the clean break that you are looking for, you will need to take that long-handled knife mentioned earlier and cut the curd into 1-2 inch blocks. When doing this make sure that the knife goes all the way down to the bottom of the pot.

So how do you know when your curd has reached that stage of a clean break? If you put your finger into the curd and pull upwards the curd should break away and whey should pool in the hole that has been left behind. If it doesn't, you will need to wait a little longer. Patience! ...

STEP 7: HOW TO MAKE CHEESE - CURDS & WHEY

This part of the process always reminds me of Little Miss Muffet! However, I digress! Back to the job of cheese making. What you want for making cheese is of course the curds. However, never throw the liquid, called the whey, out. It is invaluable for those of you who are homesteading today and own pigs and backyard chickens as they love whey. More importantly, as a baker it is like manna from heaven. Substituting milk or water for whey in muffins, homemade bread, pancakes and cakes will result in an excellent finished product, light and moist; you will surprised at the results.

Place your butter muslin, or cheesecloth in a colander and with your slotted spoon, scoop the curds out of the pot and into the colander. Collect the whey at the bottom by placing your colander in another bowl. Leave it to drain like this until all excess whey has been removed.

HOW TO MAKE CHEESE - CONCLUSION

So you can see, that by making sure that your equipment has been sterilized, and that you have the right type of milk, rennet and cultures, in 7 easy steps, you too could me making homemade cheese. We have a number of Cheese Making Recipes, from the simple to the more complicated if you are ready to start.

RECOMMENDED BOOKS ON HOW TO MAKE CHEESE

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