How to Make a Simple Little Cheese
Last Updated September 30, 2017 · First Published October 26, 2011
I’ve been a fan of New England Cheesemaking Supply ever since I picked up a copy of Ricki Carroll’s book, Home Cheese Making
We at New England Cheesemaking Supply Company are proud to support you in your pledge to eat healthy food. Andrew has been one of our guest bloggers several times and we’re big fans of his website.
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!
Simple Little Cheese
Ingredients
- 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
Nutrition
Photos by George Wesley and Bonita Dannells.
Great post! No need to enter me into the contest. I have been following The Cheese Queen for years and love their site. Even eating vegan and raw, I still love the idea of making one’s one cheeses. New England Cheese Supply has ALL the answers. It also makes you realize just how tough it is to find NOT ULTRA-pasteurized milk. This search led me to a local grass fed dairy and a found several sources for goat’s milk, in turn. Thanks, Andrew, Rikki and Jeri. Try it, folks! You’ll learn more than you think!
I can’t wait to try this at home..
I have made ricotta, but I would love to try making mozzarella.
I’ve never made cheese before, but would love to try it. This recipe makes it sound so easy!
I would so much appreciate winning the cheesemaking starter kit! I have been wanting to make my own cheese for quite some time, and it seems that the books at the library don’t make it sound like an easy task. However, I am encouraged by your post, and excited to check out the book and DVD. Thanks for giving me a chance at this!
This is super interesting! I’ve always wondered about how cheese was made. Thanks for the fabulous giveaway!
I’ve always wanted to try cheesemaking, and this recipe looks super easy–thank you!
I have made this simple cheese but used lemon juice. I used it to make a light cheesecake. I’m excited to try more complex cheese. I hope I win!
Oh, and I like the new system for entering. Simple and efficient.
I’ve been wanting a cheese starter kit AND this book. I have a great source of fresh raw milk and can hardly wait to replace our store bought cheese with some from our own kitchen 🙂
I’ve made panneer cheese before.. I’d love to get into easy cheese making