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How to Make a Simple Little Cheese

By Andrew

4.68 from 31 votes

Last Updated September 30, 2017 · First Published October 26, 2011

We want to take this opportunity to tell you that you don’t have to be a gourmet cook to make your own cheese. In fact, our mission is to make it very easy for you.  We have many recipes in our book, on our DVD, at our website, in our blog, and in our monthly “Moosletter.”

In fact, just recently we received a recipe from one of our customers, Nancy Ferland, which will be featured in our November Moosletter. It’s basically an American version of queso blanco (South America) and panir (India).

This recipe is absolutely foolproof! The only equipment you may not have is cheesecloth, but you can use an old pillow case or even a paper towel. Any milk (except ultra-pasteurized) will work.

So, try it and we think you’ll be hooked. Then you can come to our website at cheesemaking.com, and we’ll have you aging your own Camemberts in no time!

4.68 from 31 votes

Simple Little Cheese

By: Nancy Ferland

I'd like to share this wonderful, easy, inexpensive recipe for a simple but delicious little cheese. Kids, with adult supervision with the heating, can even make this, as the ingredients are all just simple stuff from your kitchen!

Prep: 30 minutes mins

Cook: 30 minutes mins

Total: 1 hour hr

Servings: 8 servings

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Ingredients 

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• ▢ 1 gallon Goat or Cow Milk
• ▢ 1 cup White Vinegar
• ▢ 2-4 tsp. Sea Salt

Instructions 

• Put milk in stainless pot, sprinkle on the salt and stir it well.
• Heat to 190 degrees F.
• Remove pot from heat and quickly stir in the vinegar, making sure it's well blended; let set for 20 to 30 minutes (checking to make sure it is good and curdled).
• Line colander with cheesecloth, pour milk through (whey should be yellow and a little cloudy).
• Bring up the corners of cheesecloth and squeeze as much whey out as possible; I let it sit hanging from the edge of the pot at this point for maybe 15 to 20 minutes to make sure all the whey has dripped out.
• Open the cheesecloth and you will have a lovely ball of cheese. Put it in a covered crock in the fridge until chilled.
• You can use it as a spread, or in salad like feta, or crumbled like queso fresca in enchiladas or tacos, or instead of ricotta in lasagna or manicotti. We have even made a rustic cheese/pear pie with this cheese when we couldn't find mascarpone locally, letting the mixed filling sit in the fridge overnight to soften it up a bit and make it a bit smoother. You can also use it as the base for filling for cheese danish pastry.
• We like to stir herbs, nuts, roasted peppers, sun-dried tomatoes, etc into it when it’s still liquid (it’s easier to stir that way) and this makes a great spread for crackers as an appetizer. Hope you enjoy this nice little cheese!

Notes

Be sure not to use "ultra-pasteurized" milk.

Nutrition

Calories: 332kcal, Carbohydrates: 21g, Protein: 16g, Fat: 19g, Saturated Fat: 12g, Cholesterol: 52mg, Sodium: 714mg, Potassium: 965mg, Sugar: 21g, Vitamin A: 935IU, Vitamin C: 6.2mg, Calcium: 636mg, Iron: 0.2mg

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Photos by George Wesley and Bonita Dannells.