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Squeaky Cheese Curds

Everyone in Wisconsin and anyone who lives near a cheese factory knows the joy of freshly made, squeaky cheese curds. These salty little cheddar-style gems are a great snack food.

1 gallon whole milk (nonhomogenized for best “squeak”)
¼ teaspoon Mesophilic-A starter culture
½ teaspoon 30% calcium chloride solution
½ prepared rennet tablet
2 teaspoon flaked salt

Combine milk and calcium chloride in the cheese pot. Heat milk to 86°F.
Sprinkle culture onto milk surface and let rehydrate for 2 minutes. Gently mix culture into milk using an up-and-down motion. Cover pot and allow milk to ripen for 45 minutes.
Add rennet and gently mix using an up-and-down motion. Cover pot and allow milk to set for 30 to 45 minutes. Check gel for a clean break.
When gel shows a clean break, cut into ½ -inch cubes. Allow curds to heal for 5 minutes.
Gently begin stirring curds, cutting any larger pieces into smaller ones. Apply heat to slowly bring the temperature to 100°F, gently stirring the whole time. This should take 30 minutes. Avoid heating too quickly. If the temperature rises too fast, remove the cheese pot from heat for a few minutes. Resume gently heating and stirring.
After reaching 100°F, hold this temperature for another 30 minutes. Stir occasionally (every 5 minutes) to keep curds from matting. Placing the pot into a water bath at 100°F will help maintain the temperature.
After 30 minutes, check curds for matting. If they mat when gently squeezed in your hand and then separate easily with fingers, you are ready to drain whey.
Scoop out warm curds using a strainer or clean hands and place them into a colander in the sink. After removing all curds, place the colander on top of warm whey and put the lid on the pot. Allow curds to mat (cheddar) for 10 minutes.
Curds should now be one solid slab in the bottom of the colander. Cut slab in half and place one half on top of the other. Cover the pot and allow curds to cheddar for 10 minutes.
Flip curd slab over. Cover and allow it to cheddar for another 10 minutes. Continue flipping and covering every 10 minutes for 1 hour.
Remove slab from the colander and place on a cutting board. Mill curd slab by cutting it into pieces ½ x ½ x 2 inches long. Toss milled pieces with 2 teaspoons salt.
Place curds in a zip-lock bag for storage. Curds will keep in the refrigerator for up to 1 week; however, the squeak is strongest right after they are made.

one microbial tablet will set 8 to 12 gallons of milk

Microbial coagulant contains for animal products

This product contains no animal products. Marschall milk coagulant tablets are enzymatic preparations specially designed to be used in small volume cheese making to coagulate milk and to produce cheese of excellent quality. Each tablet is uniform allowing tablets to be divided as needed for the most economical usage. One-half of a tablet will set 3 gallons of milk in approximately 45 minutes. Each tablet is individual wrapped and will keep in the freezer for three years. Available worldwide.