Simple Homemade Cheese
This is the simplest and most basic recipe for making cheese at home. To make this cheese you don’t need any specialist additives or equipment so it is perfect for first time cheese makers!
|
I took inspiration from a cheese making book called Home cheese making: recipes for 75 homemade cheeses by Ricki Carroll. I highly recommend it to everybody interested in the art of cheese making as the book describes very simple techniques, includes easy-to-follow step-by-step guides and offers 85 different cheese recipes for you to try making at home! It was the first book I bought when I decided that cheese making is something I wanted to try my hands at!
|
|
Making cheese at home
|
I had this book for a while and used this particular recipe before but the first time I made it I had somewhat disheartening results: my cheese crumpled up and didn’t keep its shape. I learned my lesson and this time slightly adapted the recipe - and it worked really well! The cheese stayed in a firm ball shape and was lovely and creamy in the middle. Yum!
Below is a video showing my adapted method for making this farmhouse cheese. It is extremely easy to make, delicious, filling and completely natural. You can easily adapt the recipe by playing around with the herbs and spices, crafting your own unique cheese. |
|
|
|
|
Ingredients:
Yield:
Method: |
Simple Homemade Cheese Recipe
|
- Pour milk into a large pot and heat it up to just below boiling point
- Add lemon juice and stir well
- Cover milk and let it sit for 15-20 minutes allowing the curds to separate from whey
- Pour the curds into a colander and drain from the whey
- Optional: use whey as a nutritious face toner, hair rinse or to make ancient Norse drink called blaand
- Place the curds into a bowl and add salt and herbs to taste
- Transfer the curds into a muslin cheesecloth and tie the corners of cloth into a knot
- Hang the cheesecloth bag to drain for 2 hours
- Remove cheese from the bag and enjoy
- Store in an airtight container in a cool dark place for up to 2 weeks
|
|
|
You can also see the finished cheese in the video below where we take it on a picnic with us:
|
|
|
As you can see, this cheese made a great filling for our picnic sandwiches! It was also delicious on the side of main meals and was greatly enjoyed by James as an evening nibble with some crackers. It was so good to know that there were no additives, preservatives, colourings or other nasties that one may find in commercially produced food and it was entirely homemade. It is worth to note that it doesn’t melt very well but is really hearty, filling, healthy and delicious.
|
|
|
