Homemade Cottage Cheese making instructions

homemade cheese making instructions and supplies

Recipes for Semi Hard Cheeses

The following recipes will introduce you to the preparation of store bought milk, the use of calcium chloride and rennet. You will also learn to cut and cook the curd. In advance of preparing these recipes please make sure that you have a small supply of distilled water on hand. You will need to dilute the calcium chloride and rennet during the process and the use of tap or well water is not recommended.
You will be amazed at how easy it is to make your own cheese. You already have most of the equipment in your kitchen and we supply the rest. A simple cream yogurt cheese spread can be ready for breakfast overnight. Mozzarella cheese is ready the same day its made and even the aged cheeses like Cheddar, Gouda and Colby are ready to eat in just a few weeks. Unlike many cheese kits on the market, ours is complete. Even the cheese press and wax are included. Our complete cheese making instructions are right here on the web to help you understand the process.

Ingredients

Types of Milk

Store Bought Milk

Starter Cultures

Rennet

The Process

Pasteurization

Ripening Milk

Renneting

Cutting Curd

Cooking Curds

Draining & Salting

Pressing

Dry, Wax & Age

Soft Cheese Recipes

Yogurt Cheese

Lemon Cheese

Mascarpone

Cream Cheese

Hard Cheese Recipes

Monterey Jack

Cheddar Cheese

Gouda Cheese

Colby Cheese

Mozzarella
GLossary

Cheese Making Instructions
Cottage Cheese Recipe

1 gallon skim milk

1 pint heavy cream

1/4 teaspoon Mesophilic-M

1/2 teaspoon calcium chloride

1/2 teaspoon liquid rennet

1/4 teaspoon cheese salt

This is an old fashioned large curd cottage cheese with a clean acid flavor which will keep under refrigeration in an air tight container for up to a week.
   Combine milk and cream then pasteurize the milk by heating in a double boiler until the milk reaches 161 degrees F. Place the milk pot into a sink of cold water and cool to 85 degrees F. Stir in 1/4 teaspoon of Mesophilic-M. Let the milk set at 85 degrees F for 30 minutes.
   In a glass dish combine ½ teaspoon of calcium chloride with 2 tablespoon of cool distilled water. Add this mixture to the milk and stir gently for 30 seconds. Keep the temperature of the milk at 85 degrees F.
   Add ½ teaspoon of liquid rennet to 5 tablespoons of cool water. Stir the diluted rennet gently into the milk. Cover and allow the milk to set undisturbed for 30-45 minutes at 85 degrees F. The milk will become a solid mass that shows a clean break. To test if the curd is done insert your thermometer into the curd at an angle. If the curd breaks cleanly around the thermometer, the curd is ready to be cut. If the curd is more like a soft yogurt you need to wait longer before cutting.
   Cut the curd into l/2 inch slices with a long bladed stainless steel knife. Turn the pot 90 degrees and repeat the process. The top of the curd should look like crossword puzzle. Take a large spoon and gently break up the curd into 1/2" cubes. Be very gentle and do not make the pieces to small. Avoid mashing the curds together.
   Slowly heat the curd in a double boiler to 115 degrees F by increasing the temperature of the curd 2 degrees every five minutes up to 115 degrees F. Cooking the curd shrinks the size of the curd pieces by forcing water from the cheese. The entire process can take from 1 to 1-l/2 hours.
   Line a colander with fine cheesecloth and pour the curds and whey into the colander. Allow to drain for 5 minutes. Take the bag of curd and rinse in cool water. This removes some more of the whey reduces the acidity on the cheese. Hang the curd to drain the curd for one hour.
   Remove the cheese from the cheesecloth and place in a bowl. Break up the mass into small pieces with your hands but do so gently. Mix in 1/4 teaspoon salt and a little fresh cream if desired. Cover and refrigerate until ready for use.