Yesterday I finally made cheese! I’ve been wanting to for a long time and it was so easy. If you love cheese, are a foodie, and have never done this before, I highly recommend it. It was so much fun and I loved it! I got a thrilling satisfaction when the milk started to curdle and then coagulate. Right before my eyes it was turning into cheese.
The first cheese I made was a Paneer type of cheese. It was super simple! (The recipe is below.)
Herbed Cheese Crumble with Olive Oil and Crushed Red Pepper
Then, (experimenting around) I took about a cup of the paneer cheese, while it was still soft and warm and attempted to make mozzarella by following a recipe that I randomly found on the internet. It was a little strange and said to microwave the cheese for a minute, which I did. Then it said to work with the cheese, get out any more whey, knead it, and then put it back in the microwave for another 35 seconds. Which I did. Then when I took it out of the I couldn’t pull it and knead it like the directions were instructing to. Mine kind of just crumbled… so I worked with it and added about a teaspoon of Italian Seasoning and a little sea salt, crushed red pepper and olive oil. Mixed it all together and it turned out kind of like a feta/mozzarella herbed cheese crumble. I put some on top of our salads today at lunch and it was really yummy!
Not satisfied with just my cows’ milk cheese, I then proceeded to make some goat cheese! This cheese turned out so creamy and luscious that I may never buy goat cheese again.
Paneer Cheese
Fresh Paneer Cheese with Coarse Salt
INGREDIENTS
1 gallon of whole milk
½ cup heavy cream
juice of 1 lemon (about 5 Tablespoons)
5 drops of liquid Rennet
METHOD
Pour milk and cream into a large stainless steel pot. Do not use aluminum or cast iron! Heat until it is just about to boil (75 degrees F).
Turn off heat and add the lemon juice and rennet. Stir a few times with a wire whisk to blend together. Wait a few moments and stir again.
While you’re waiting set up a large bowl with about 4 layers of cheesecloth. You will be pouring the finished product through this cheesecloth, allowing the whey to go through and the curds will be caught in the cheesecloth. Set this aside.
Back to the cheese. Give it a stir. By now you should start to see solid curds separating from the whey. You have the option to remove the curd with a slotted spoon and place it into the cheesecloth; or if your bowl is big enough go ahead and pour the whey through the cheesecloth capturing the curds.
Next you want to wrap the curds/cheese in the cheesecloth. I tied it and hung it to drain out more of the whey.
Once the liquid had stopped dripping, I opened the cheesecloth and tasted it. It was creamy but bland. That’s when I added some sea salt. I mixed it together and then shaped the cheese back into the cheesecloth, wrapped it up tightly and placed it in a colander in the fridge. I placed something heavy on top of it to press down and continue to remove any excess whey.
When I was satisfied with the solidity of the cheese I removed it from the cheesecloth. I covered it in a coarse salt and allowed it to set overnight. Before serving remove all the excess salt.
Yummy!
Fresh Goat Cheeses - peppered, herbed, and plain
Goat Cheese
Fresh Goat Cheeses - peppered, herbed, and plain
Yield: 10 inch log
INGREDIENTS
1 quart of goats’ milk
3 Tablespoons of lemon juice
2 drops liquid Rennet
METHOD
Pour goats’ milk into a large stainless steel pot. Do not use aluminum or cast iron! Heat until it is just about to boil (75 degrees F).
Turn off heat and add the lemon juice and rennet. Stir a few times with a wire whisk to blend together. Wait a few moments and stir again. I let this sit for about 4 hours and got great results/yield.
Making the goat cheese was different. You don’t get large curds, you hardly get curds. What you will see is a slight separation.
Set up a large bowl with about 4 layers of cheesecloth. You will be pouring the finished product through this cheesecloth. Then you can hang the cheesecloth to drain out any of the excess liquid. I did this for about an hour until I heard no more dripping.
Open the cheesecloth and put the cheese into a bowl. At this point you can season it anyway you’d like. I just added sea salt. Then place it on some saran wrap and roll it into a log shape. Cover and refrigerate. The longer you refrigerate this cheese the drier and more flavorful it becomes.
The next day I cut the log into 3 pieces. I rolled one in fresh black pepper, the other in some herbs, and the third I left plain… perhaps to enjoy with some nuts and honey!
Fresh herbed goat cheese on a multi-grain cracker - enjoy!
Did you use rennet for the goat cheese? It is not listed in the ingredients, but you mention it in the instructions. Also, where did you buy the Rennet, not something I’ve seen before.
Hi Kyla! Yes, I did use Rennet for the goat cheese. Thanks so much for pointing that out to me (I adjusted the recipe ingredients). Even though I used the Rennet, I don’t really think I needed to. Next time I am going to just try it with the lemon juice. I bought the Rennet at Whole Foods, as they didn’t have it at the regular grocery store. The type at Whole Foods is vegetarian. Are you going to give cheese making a try at home?
Excellent post thanks for sharing. Food is something I can enjoy all around. If I’m not eating it. I’m reading and looking at pictures about it.
Hi! Thanks for your comment. I’m the same way, ha ha, I’m always involved with food or food preparation in one way or another!
Love this blog on making cheese. I have been intrigued for quite some time and made cottage cheese a week ago. I was quite impressed with my effort and really enjoyed it. I would love to make some real cheese now but can not find a recipe that is easy without fancy ingredients. I have never before heard of Rennet and do not know if it is even available in South Africa. Do you have some other ideas of what I can use. The cottage cheese that I made was basically milk that you curd with some salt added – nothing fancy.
Hi Anette! I’m glad you enjoyed my cheese post! From different things I’ve read on the internet I believe you can make cheese without using the Rennet. You basically need some type of acid, so lemon juice or vinegar would work. I’d love to hear how your next cheese making session turns out! I looked online and there are places you can order the Rennet in South Africa. Here’s a link to one of them:
Hi Helena
I am also searching for Rennet in South Africa. I have asked in various pharmacies as well as Health Stores but some people do not know what I am talking about.
I would love to get the link to purchase Rennet.
I have made some lovely Ricotta / Cream cheese without the use of Rennet.
Fromage de Chevre is my all time favorite cheese! I can’t believe it looks so easy to make, I will definitely be stopping by whole foods and trying this. They have the goats milk as well, right? Cause I don’t think I usually see that in regular grocery stores..
Love!!
Come try some before we eat it all!!
There’s a company just south of Brisbane that’s putting on a “How to Make Cheese” course next month and I have been thinking, “should I???” After looking at your method and photos I think I have to go.
I would definitely recommend cheese making to anyone that hasn’t done it at least once. It was so cool to see the milk change and the results were very gratifying. Go for it!!
My favorite daughter, with one of my favotite dishes.
Awww! That’s so sweet Dad. Thanks!
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