Can I make cheese at home?
Post categories: cheese
| 11:16 UK time, Thursday, 1 March 2012
If the Food Inspectors were in charge, we’d probably ban cheese. A product that is essentially formed from curdled milk – usually poured down the drain with disgust – and then injected or smeared with bacteria and mould, left for months at a time, in a cave… You’ve got to admit that cheese-phobes have a fair point. But along with bakers and chocolatiers, cheese makers are the alchemists of food production.
So where did it come from? The earliest remains of cheese were found in an Egyptian pot in the stepped pyramid of Saqqara dating fromÌý2300BC, making it among the oldest known food products. Through what must have been phenomenal trial and error, the earliest cheesemakers would make a brine solution to extract the enzymes from the stomach lining of milk-fed calves to make a cheese somewhat like feta.Ìý
Ìý
But you can make your own cheese in as little as twenty minutes at home with just a few ingredients. A fresh cheese, made without rennet, can be brought to life using a little yoghurt as a bacterial starter and vinegar as an acid.Ìý These form curds in the milk which can be scooped out and drained through a muslin cloth held in a sieve. The length of draining time will determine how crumbly or firm the cheese is.Ìý You can also play with the fat content of your milk – adding cream if you want a more spreadable version. Or press it further to make a sliceable, fryableÌýpaneer.
The crumbly ricotta-style cheese we made in a few minutes. Next time - more cream.
It’s crumbly and tangy and the smell as you make it is amazing – it’s like the smell of a baby’s head filling your kitchen. This cheese won’t melt like a rennet-curdled cheese – the protein structure is too fragile. But on top of a pizza (possibly mixed with chopped, wilted spinach), as part of a lasagne, drizzled with honey and served with soft fruits, your own homemade cheese lets you be a dairy alchemist for a half an hour.
Here are some great adventures in simple, rennet-free cheese:
Five questions about cheese
What is vegetarian rennet?
Since the 1980s, biotechnologists have created a rennet substitute from bacteria, yeasts or fungi that synthesise chymosin – the enzyme that causes curdling - these have been used to meet the huge demand for cheese and to provide a vegetarian alternative to animal-derived rennet.Ìý However, plant-derived rennet is not a new invention to meet a modern demand. Wild cardoon flowers were used by sheep and goat farmers to form curds in cheeses such as Serra and Torta del Casar. The thistle flowers contain a close biochemical relative of the chymosin.
What makes the holes in Swiss cheese?
The same bacteria that causes spots makes the holes in Swiss cheese. Well, the same species, anyway. Propionibacteria forms part of the Swiss starter culture that feeds on lactic acid during the ripening phase and converts it to other acids and carbon dioxide. These gas bubbles form holes in the cheese as it ripens at a warm temperature for a few weeks. Propionibacteria acnes, its rather less popular cousin, inhabits human skin and particularly, blocked oil glands.
Why does cheese sometimes crunch?
Cheese crystals – the little salty crunch you sometimes feel in a piece of aged gruyère, parmesan or cheddar – are calcium lactate salts form during the ripening of the cheese, rather than the salt added by the cheesemaker.Ìý Pecorino, feta and roquefort are the saltiest, containing about 5% salt content.
What’s American process cheese?
Processed or ‘process’ cheese is very popular in America. It pops up here in fast food outlets and in ready-wrapped slices. This cheese is made by melting together the scraps and unripened cast-offs of industrial cheese production. Phosphates and acids are added to transform this into a homogenous mass which can be molded, cooled and sliced. These cheeses melt very well, but have a lower calcium content for it.
Does cheese clean your teeth?
Research published in 2007 showed that caseinophosphopeptides contained in cheese (and other dairy products) do help dental enamel recalcify – or harden up- after eating. As opposed to brushing your teeth directly after eating, which can brush away small bits of softened enamel from the tooth. So cheese doesn’t clean your teeth, but it can help them stay strong.
Bonus factoid: Cheese is in the world.
Have you tried making cheese - what were your findings? Tell us your cheese factoids!
Comment number 1.
At 1st Mar 2012, fentigergal wrote:would like to make Lorraine's chocolate cheesecake but am unable to buy full fate cream cheese locally. Is there anything that I could substitute without losing flavour? I can get mascarpone.
Complain about this comment (Comment number 1)
Comment number 2.
At 2nd Mar 2012, Judith wrote:My mother used to make cheese (cottage cheese) from sour milk. I presume she must have soured it. It was lovely.
Complain about this comment (Comment number 2)
Comment number 3.
At 2nd Mar 2012, harry wrote:Some years ago, having found some very discounted milk at the local supermarket, I chased down a recipe on the internet and made a Parmesan-style cheese. Apart from over-salting it during the brining stage, it was really quite passable. The taste was obviously a little different but texture-wise it was spot on.
Paneer at home is simple, too.
Complain about this comment (Comment number 3)
Comment number 4.
At 2nd Mar 2012, Daria_K wrote:I made paneer using Simon Rimmer's recipe. It was very good with spinach, tamarind and potato and butternut squash rosti.
Very fresh and tender home-made cheese can be mixed with some flour, sugar, vanilla extract and baking powder, then formed into small discs and fried. They are perfect for breakfast with creme fraiche and jam.
Whey, the by-product of cheese making, can be used instead of water to make bread, and I heard some people make drinks with it.
Complain about this comment (Comment number 4)
Comment number 5.
At 3rd Mar 2012, looksalot wrote:The recipe for paneer sounds delicious - think I will give that a try!
Complain about this comment (Comment number 5)
Comment number 6.
At 7th Mar 2012, graham wrote:I think the important thing to remember is to choose good fresh milk. I found a local shop that has a huge delivery of milk every morning. I did try milk from the supermarkets but the results were poor. Possibly due to the age of the milk. I am trying to record my findings in the cheese lovers group of linked in.
I have made Paneer. Just boil milk and add a tablespoon of wine vinegar.
Also made yoghurt. Just a spoon of natural yoghurt in warmed milk and left it. You can then convert it to Labnah by adding a spoon of salt and leaving it in the fridge overnight to drain the liquid.
My biggest issue is finding rennet but when I do I will have a go at a soft cheese.
I have turned failures into cheese. When the yoghurt failed I just boiled it and added a spoon of vinegar. Boil, drain and fry to make something that has the texture of meat.
Complain about this comment (Comment number 6)
Comment number 7.
At 7th Mar 2012, Emily Angle wrote:Wow - top cheesemaking, all.
Graham, that's interesting about the age of the milk. What effect did it have? I'm guessing the internets is a great supplier of specialist equipment and rennet.
Daria_K - yes, I think whey in breadmaking is quite common. I imagine it would help give the bread a sour flavour - a bit like a sourdough cheat. Have you tried it?
We'll be doing another post on cheesemaking next week - professional, artisan Cheddar this time. But do check back in for more info.
e
Complain about this comment (Comment number 7)
Comment number 8.
At 7th Mar 2012, graham wrote:When I used the supermarket milk the yoghurt/cheese did not set.
I tried to make cheese using essence of rennet used to make junket but I did not get a clean break.
I hope you didnt mind my plugging the Linked in Cheese lovers group I have set up. You are most welcome to join.
Complain about this comment (Comment number 8)
Comment number 9.
At 12th Mar 2012, Daria_K wrote:Yes, I made bread with whey and it gives some savoriness to it.
Complain about this comment (Comment number 9)
Comment number 10.
At 14th Mar 2012, Cathy wrote:Graham,
I found that the golden top milk works much better than the other supermarket milks. I noticed that the jersey milk is actually not homogenised whereas all other milks are homogenised. That's why on the golden top milks, you find the cream at the top of the bottle, and I thought that was the reason it curdled much better.
I use animal rennet, and it makes lovely "fromage blanc".
I am still struggling to make dry cheeses, as I don't seem to dry the cheese properly. Any tips from anyone on the drying process ?
Complain about this comment (Comment number 10)