History in the Making Part Two

History in the Making Part Two

Here is a clip from one of my favourite British sitcoms, Lenny Henry's "Chef". The whole episode is great but the reason I uploaded it here for you to watch is the first three minutes. Using his trademark acerbic wit, Henry's character, Gareth Blackstock lances the boil of an issue--pasteurizing milk for cheese making.

Making Cheese at Home

There are many reasons to begin making cheese in your home not the least of which is the high cost of cheese products in the supermarkets. Ideally you would use raw milk but good luck finding any that's legal to buy, here in Ontario. Consensus is that no matter your view on raw milk vs. pasteurization , drinking and making cheese from milk that has all the microflora and enzymes present is a healthful practice. If you have to get your milk for cheese making from the supermarket, try for milk that has been pasteurized using the low temperature method so that a few of the necessary enzymes to make tasty cheese are still present in the milk. Supermarket milk (non-UHT milk only) will do but know that you are not really going to make a better cheese than that found in the supermarket not to mention what is available from cheesemongers today. Sometimes, the cheese will be better however, for example cream cheeses. Take a look at the label next time and you will see things added to the cheese to extend the shelf life, which of course changes the texture and flavour. 

Making cheese at home can range from an easy task, as in the case of yoghurt cheese, to a time consuming task requiring more equipment and advanced skills as with Gouda or Cheddar. Starting out with a few fresh cheeses will let you know if that is all you can handle doing at the moment or if you love it and want to do more.

Sanitation
Cheese is a relatively safe product to eat but only if you follow the basic sanitary rules of preserving and canning( long term storage i.e. canning requires bacteria control like cheese making).

Put a pan of water on to a rolling boil and place your equipment i.e. spoons, cheesecloth into the water and keep boiling for 5 minutes minimum before removing. Air dry completely or you can leave the items in the water until you are ready for them. Larger items such as the colander can be washed in the dishwasher or hot water and soap right before use. You can sterilize your pan for the milk by boiling water (about 2") in it for ten minutes, with the lid on, then draining.

A separate room like an enclosed porch or summer kitchen equipped with electricity is ideal for cheese making but a clean and pet free kitchen will do as well. In older times, farmhouses usually had an attached summer kitchen for all baking, preserving and cheese making needs and if you went further back in time, the farm would have had a separate 'dairy' just for the cheese and butter making. Today, an adequately equipped kitchen is more than sufficient.

Note: some books or other sources of information will say to use a diluted bleach solution to sterilize your equipment but I don't recommend it. Food and bleach do not mix, in my opinion, even with rinsing,  Bleach is toxic to septic systems and respiratory systems and I don't use it anywhere in my house.

Equipment
Even though making fresh cheese is quick and easy, there is still some equipment necessary. As you advance in cheese making you will need more equipment and more time to devote to the process. I am only going to be covering the making of fresh cheese in this article but there will be future articles on intermediate and advanced cheese making.

Most of the following items can be found in your kitchen so no extra purchases need to be made yet.

Fresh Cheese
Colander: 
                  choose one that has a high foot to the bottom to keep the curd away from the       
                  whey while draining.

Slotted spoon: 
                   stainless steel is the better choice

Cooking pot: 
                   stainless is best as other metals can be reactive to the acids present and will  
                   impart a metal taste to the cheese. It should be big enough to hold 8 to 12 
                   litres of milk (2 to 3 US gallons).

Cheese cloth or Butter Muslin: 
                   loose-weave cheese cloth you can get at the supermarket  
                   or bulk store is adequate for fresh cheese if you double or fold over the cloth but  
                   butter muslin, which you get online or at a cheese making supply store, is better  
                   for more advanced cheese making.

Thermometer: 
                   a candy thermometer is not going to be adequate here as the measuring  
                   must be in 1℃(2℉) increments. A digital thermometer, instant-read or clip-on 
                   constant-read, is best for monitoring milk temperature. 

Catch bowl:
                    any bowl for catching the draining whey.

Method
There are two types of fresh cheeses you can make in your home - cultured milk cheese where acid or a starter culture is used and uncultured milk cheese such as yoghurt cheese. Both of these types require curdling which separates the fluids and solids (whey and curds) so that you can drain off the whey and retain the curds. (Yoghurt cheese is already curdled in the yoghurt making process.)

Cultured Milk Cheese
Curdling milk for fresh cheese making can be done one of two ways: with acid in the form of lemon juice or buttermilk and using bacterial cultures.

Curdling with Acid: 

• place cooking thermometer in cooking pot or into top of the double boiler, if using; add water to the base.
• turn burner to medium-low (pot) or medium (double boiler), add milk to pot (or top of double boiler) and heat slowly about 20 to 30 minutes until it reaches 77℃ (170℉).
• remove from heat as soon as it hits that temperature and place pot into sink or basin filled with ice water to cool. Don't use just ice as that will not be as cold as ice water. Keep in the ice water, adding more ice as necessary, until the milk is between 21℃- 22℃ ( 70 to 72℉).
• remove from ice water and wrap with a kitchen towel to keep at that temperature.
• let sit the length of time called for in your recipe.         

Curdling with Bacterial Cultures:

• follow above directions with the exception of the heat temperature you need to reach, which in this case is 38℃ (100℉).
• when temperature is reached, add the starter culture type and amount called for in the recipe, stir and wait for the curds to form.

Draining Fresh Cheeses:

• line a colander with doubled over cheese cloth, making sure that the cloth is big enough to cover the cheese in the finishing process.
• spoon curds from boiler or pot into colander, fold the cloth over the curds and drain whey into catch bowl for two hours.

Finishing:

• with some fresh cheeses, gather cheese cloth into a ball, tie to wooden spoon and let hang for the length of time called for in the recipe instructions.
• when cheese is drained to recipe specifics, remove from cheese cloth and place in airtight container.
• store for two weeks or as long as the recipe states.

Yoghurt Cheese

This cheese is the easiest to make and is fun for kids to help with--the making and the eating!

(Although yoghurt is made with a starter culture, for the purposes of cheese making, this step is not necessary so I have included it in a category all its own.)

Yoghurt cheese is simply following the last two steps in the above list substituting the curdled milk with yoghurt. You can use any flavour yoghurt as long as  it is labelled as containing live cultures and it is not the Swiss-style or custard yoghurt as that will have gelatin(e) in it to stop the whey and curd from separating.

Fresh Cheese Recipes

Yoghurt Cheese

900g (2 lbs) low-fat or non-fat yoghurt --will make half as much cheese as yoghurt used

1. line colander with doubled over cheese cloth, place catch bowl underneath.
2. pour yoghurt into colander and spread cheese taking care not to compress yoghurt. 
3. cover with plastic wrap and place whole set up into refrigerator to drain.
4. after two hours gather cheese cloth and tie to spoon, suspending from the rim of pot or deep bowl.
5. continue draining in refrigerator for another 8 to 24 hours. 8 hours will give you a soft spread;  24 hours will give you a consistency like cream cheese.
6. remove from cheese cloth, shape into a ball and store it in an airtight container for up to two weeks.

Lemon Cheese

1.9L (1/2 gallon) whole milk

60 ml (1/4 cup) fresh-squeezed lemon juice

1. heat milk to 74℃ (165℉), stirring frequently to prevent scorching.
2. remove from heat and stir in lemon juice.
3. let rest for 15 minutes. If you are using homogenized milk, the curds after 15 minutes will resemble thin threads.
4. pour into colander lined with doubled over cheese cloth, gather and tie the cloth. 
5. drain into catch bowl in refrigerator and drain for one hour or until the whey stops dripping.
6. remove from refrigerator, discard cheese cloth and place in bowl. 
7. add salt to taste and add herbs like chives or dill for added flavour.
8. store in airtight container and keep for up to one week.

Cream Cheese

1L (4 cups) non-ultra pasteurized half and half (10%)

250 ml (1 cup) non-ultra pasteurized whipping cream (35%)

28 ml (2 tbsp) buttermilk

salt

herbs (optional)

extra tools: glass or stainless steel mixing bowl

1. heat both creams to 32℃ (90℉), stir in buttermilk
2. pour into glass or stainless steel mixing bowl, cover with plastic wrap.
3. wrap a few towel around bowl and place in warm area for 24 hours.
4. consistency should be like yoghurt with no movement when bowl is tilted sideways.
5. let sit if desired consistency has not been reached, from another 6 to 12 hours.
6. place mixture into cloth-lined colander, fold cloth over and let drain for 15 minutes.
7. place colander in deep bowl and continue draining, covered with plastic, in the refrigerator for 12 to 14 hours.
8. remove curd and add salt to taste and optional herbs.
9. reshape into balls and wrap in fresh cheese cloth; put back into refrigerator in the colander/catch bowl set up.
10. cover with plastic wrap and let sit 36 to 48 hours, until desired consistency is reached.
11. store in airtight container for up to two weeks.

Cottage Cheese

3.8 L (1 gallon) skim or whole milk

calcium chloride (about 1ml (1/8 tsp) diluted in 60ml (1/4 cup) water per 1 gallon milk)

about 1 ml (1/8 tsp) mesophilic direct-set culture

cheese salt

heavy cream (optional)

will yield approximately 454g (1 lb) cheese

extra tools: bowl or cup to dilute calcium chloride

                     long, thin knife to cut curds

1. heat milk to 22℃ (72℉), add the calcium chloride and the starter culture, stirring well between additions.
2. let sit at room temperature for 24 hours. Don't let milk fall below 20℃ (68℉)
3. after 24 hours, cut curds into 4mm (1/4") cubes and let sit for 15 minutes.
4. place pot on stove and heat curds to 38℃(100℉), stirring occasionally. It should take 25 minutes to reach that temperature.
5. when temperature is reached, keep there for another 10 minutes, continuing to stir.
6. slowly increase temperature to 44℃ (112℉)-will take 15 minutes.
7. keep at that temperature for 30 minutes and then check curds for firmness.
8. if they are still soft, cook for an additional 5 minutes. 
9. let rest for five minutes when desired consistency is reached.
10. pour into cheese cloth-lined colander and tie cloth into a ball.
11. dunk ball into a bowl of cold water several times to get rid of any extra whey.
12. place colander in catch bowl and let drain for 5 minutes.
13. in a bowl of ice water, rinse the cheese cloth bundle of curds and let drain in colander for another 5 minutes.
14. untie cloth and break up any large pieces of curd.
15. salt to taste and 30 to 60 ml (1 or 2 tbsp) of heavy cream for creamier cheese.
16. store in airtight container for up to two weeks.

Note: since these recipes were originally written with Imperial measurements, I'd trust them over the metric conversions.

End of Part Two

Read Part Three

Read Part One