Cheese is a term used to describe a diverse group of fermented milk food products. Cheese is produced all over the world in different ways and hence has a wide range or texture, color, flavor, taste and form. The difference in taste, texture, flavor etc depend not only on the animal from whom the milk came but also on the animals diet, butterfat content of milk, whether its pasteurized or not, flavoring agents like pepper, herbs, wood smoke etc added during the process of making etc. In this article we will take a look at the most basic and easiest way to process cheese at home.
Ingredients required:
- 4 cups of milk
- 6 table spoon of vinegar or juice freshly extracted from 3 lemons
- little salt
- spices or flavoring agent of your choice if you would like
- saucepan
- Ladle to stir
Method:
Pour the milk into the saucepan and slowly bring it to a boil. Keep stirring the milk continuously. Once the milk starts boiling turn it off. Now add the 6 tablespoons of vinegar. Or if you aren’t using vinegar add the juice of the lemons you extracted before.
Keep stirring the milk with a spoon and let it sit for around 10-15 minutes. When the curd starts separating from the whey (leftover liquid) use a cheesecloth or a handkerchief to separate the curd. Press the cheese in the cloth to squeeze out all the remaining whey and moisture.
Open the cloth and add salt if you like. This might be a good time to add your favorite flavoring or herb if you hadn’t done so already before heating the milk. Mix the cheese and flavoring and press it in the cheesecloth again to make sure there is no whey or moisture left. Now you can use a mold and shape the cheese, cut it in pieces or simply leave it in its ball form. Congratulations you just made some cheese.
Tips:
If you have more patience you can use mesophilic culture instead of vinegar or lime. For this after heating the milk add mesophilic culture to it (about 10-12% by volume) and then let it set for 18-20 hours. Then follow the same steps to extract the cheese. This method will give your cheese a distinct flavor.
Let the cheese sit out for a while to harden and to get a nicer texture.
Cheese can be refrigerated and stored for a long time.
Feel free to experiment with different spices and herbs to give a different flavor to your cheese every time. You could also try changing the type of milk to achieve distinct flavors.
Be careful around fire and make sure you take adequate precautions while cooking.
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