Homemade Raw Milk Farmer Cheese - Tradition with Cooking

I am one of those people who likes to know how to do things myself. This is the most true with food. I love knowing how people in the past before the advent of big grocery stores made all of the items in their kitchen, especially cheese. I figure if people were making cheese for hundreds of years before all of our technology, then surely I can learn to make it with all of the conveniences of a modern kitchen. As it turns out you don't actually need much to make cheese. It's kind of sad that it's a lost art for so many, because cheese making isn't particularly hard and it can taste oh so good!

I've made this farmer cheese quite a few times now. I only make it during the spring, summer and fall when I'm able to get fresh raw milk. Since farmer cheese isn't aged, you have to eat it within about a week before it starts to go south. I do have a recipe for an aged cheese which is awesome and I'll be sharing that in the next couple of weeks.

The biggest learning process of making this cheese was trying to figure out how much salt to add. The original recipe from Moon Wise Herbs didn't specify how much salt was needed. The first time I added about a teaspoon or so and this wasn't even close to enough. Each time I made the cheese I added a bit more and finally this last time I made it I think I added the right amount, which was 2 tablespoons.

What You'll Need: makes approx. 1 pound of cheese

• 1 gallon of raw milk
• 1 quart of whey - optional
• 2 tbsp. sea salt
• Liquid rennet - Twin City folks, you can get rennet at Whole Foods in the yogurt section.

• Cheese press - if you don't have one, no big deal. I don't so I used some heavy books and 2 plates to make my press
• Cheese cloth
• Large pot
• Mixing spoon
• Thermometer
• Sharp knife
• Slotted spoon
• Large Strainer
• Containers to store 1 gallon of whey - 1/2 gallon mason jars work great
• 2 Large bowls

Getting Started

1. First we want to sanitize our cooking items so we don't accidentally introduce any unwanted bacteria. Fill your large pot with several inches of water and bring to a boil. Add your mixing spoon, cheese cloth and knife if possible to it and boil them all for about 10 minutes.

Also, as you make your cheese, make sure your hands are very clean.

2. In your large pot, heat your milk and whey to between 80° and 90° Fahrenheit, then remove from heat. Add 13+ drops of rennet to the milk and stir well. Let the milk sit for 45 min – 1 hour until it has taken on the texture of tofu. You'll know it's ready when you stick your CLEAN finger into it and get a clean break. To understand a clean break better, check this link out, it's explained very well: Clean Break




3. Cut the mass into 1/2" chunks, using a grid pattern. Here is how the Fankhause cheese page explains it: Once a clean break is achieved, cut the curd with a long knife : begin at edge of pot, cut straight down to bottom. Cut repeatedly parallel to first cut, but increasing the angle of the knife until reaching other side of pot. Rotate the pot 90 degrees, cut as before . Rotate and cut two more times, yielding ½ inch cubes of curd .




4. Return the pot to your stove and slowly heat the curd chunks to 100 degrees. You want to do this very slowly about 2 degrees every 5 minutes. Continually stir the curd with your hands or a spoon, making sure nothing burns on the bottom of the pot. If you find any large pieces of curd cut them up. You'll notice the curds will start to shrink in size as they release the whey.




5. With a slotted spoon remove the curds from the whey and place into a large bowl. Add your salt and mix thoroughly. You notice the whey will continue to release from the curds.




6. Place your curds into a cheese cloth lined strainer that has been placed over a large bowl for catching the whey.




7. Bring your corners of your cheese cloth together and tie together, then hang the curds for about an hour over your large bowl to catch any more whey that might come out.




8. Put your curds into a clean cheese cloth and then place into a cheese press or put between two plates with a heavy object placed on top. In my case I used two huge art history books from college. I knew I'd find a use for those babies again! :-) Press the cheese for 12 - 24 hours .




9. Now it's time to enjoy some of your homemade cheese! You'll love it. Any leftovers can go in the refrigerator for up to a week.

Note: You'll have about a gallon of whey left over from making this cheese, don't throw it away! You can keep whey in the fridge for a couple of months or freeze it to use for all kinds of things or you can just drink it. You also can make ricotta cheese with it, which I'll show you how to do in the next couple of weeks.