Making homemade cheese isn’t hard at all. Once you get the hang of it, you can add all different spices and seasonings to create your own masterpiece!
Here are the basics:
- Start by gently heating 1 gallon of milk to 55 degrees. My thermometer won’t sit on the side of my pot, so I bent a paperclip to hold it. Neat idea, huh?
- As the milk is heating, place 20 drops of liquid rennet into 1/4 cup of cool water. Stir gently.
- When the milk reaches 55°, then stir in the rennet/water mixture. Let heat to 80° and turn off heat. The curds will begin to form, and it will look similar to yogurt.
- Remove the curds with a slotted spoon, and drain the whey back into the pot. Squeeze remaining liquid out of the curds with your hands (use gloves as it’s very hot). Place in bowl.
- Add your spices/seasonings. For this recipe, I used 1 teaspoon salt 2 teaspoons dill weed and 1 teaspoon garlic powder. Stretch with your hands and mix into the cheese.
- Bring the whey back to 170° and then place the cheese ball into the whey for 30 seconds to heat. Again, using gloves, stretch the cheese, folding it over on itself, like kneading bread.
- Repeat step 6 2-3 times until the cheese is stretchy, and no longer crumbly.
- Use right away for best results, or store for up to a week in the fridge!
This post is one of the Eating Garden Fresh series, where we bring you delicious, simple ways to enjoy garden fresh produce.
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