Cheese is a simple thing to make from the milk of cows, goats, sheep – or yak, llama and horse if you’re feeling a bit adventurous! It’s best to start simple and get the steps of the fresh cheeses mastered before jumping in at the deep end, unless you have chooks or pigs who would appreciatively eat your mistakes. Fresh cheeses, or cheeses which are not cooked or aged, are very simple to make, and you can be eating your delicious results in as little as 12 hours from paddock to plate.
Using a starter
Milk becomes cheese through the actions of bacteria. Raw milk will have a variety of naturally occurring bacteria (and even pasteurised milk will pick up bacteria from the environment). But if we rely on this random mix of bacteria to produce our cheese, we’ll get inconsistent results. Instead, we seed the milk with a culture of bacteria known to produce good cheese. We use a mesophilic starter culture for lower-temperature cheeses (for which the milk is heated to between 25degC and 40degC), such as feta, gouda, cheddar, chevre, and manchego. If we’re heating the milk to between 45degC and 80degC (as for parmesan), we use a
thermophilic starter.
Cheese is a living, breathing thing, and results can be as variable as the environment in which it is prepared and the cultures that are used. Commercially available starter cultures are readily available and will give you more consistent results while you are perfecting your techniques of making and aging cheese. Bin Inn carries some cultures, Trade Me has a number of sellers, and there are online mail order places that sell cultures as well, such as Cottage Crafts.
Which milk?
Supermarket milk is fine to use, as long as it’s not the UHT milk, out of which any useful bacteria has been completely destroyed by the heating process. Green top milk also isn’t that great to use, as there’s not enough milk solids in it. Full fat is good, whole milk is even better. Calcium chloride will have to be added to supermarket milk to get a good curd. Calcium chloride, available online and at some Bin Inn shops, should be added according to the label’s instructions.
Easy Cheese
The easiest recipe to make can hardly be called a recipe. Just about every culture has its own version of it. It’s just fresh milk and food acid. Using lemon juice or vinegar is the most basic, about ¼ cup juice or vinegar to 2 litres of milk. You may have to adjust the amount of acid you use, as acidity will vary. Our favourite curdling agent is apple cider vinegar, which leaves a very pleasant taste with the cheese.
Heat the milk slowly to 85degC, stirring occasionally to avoid scorching. When it has reached the correct temperature, remove from heat and stir in your curdling agent. Immediately you should see small curds forming. What you are looking for is something that resembles very small cottage cheese curds. If you don’t get this the first time, stir in a little more of whatever curdling agent you have chosen to use.
Strain through a dampened cheesecloth, muslin, clean cottontea towel or something with a similar fine weave. The reason for dampening is that the whey will drain out easily rather than splashing up in your face. Hang the curds in the cloth to drain overnight, or up to about 24 hours. This is a fun cheese to experiment with, and one you can enjoy right away, sliced on crackers or a crusty loaf, or fried and served with a nice garlicky bruschetta. It will keep well in the fridge for up to 2 weeks, stored in an airtight container.
Variations: Have some fresh or dried herbs ready before you add your acid. Basil and oregano are especially nice. As you ladle out the curds, add a sprinkling of salt and herbs, so it will be layered up when it hangs. You can also add things like chopped olives or jalapeño chillies, sundried tomatoes – the limit is your imagination. Another nice thing about this cheese is you can fry it and it doesn’t melt! If you get really ambitious, you can invest in or make some cheese moulds, and drain it in different shapes.
Chevre Cheese
Chevre is the generic word used for any goat cheese and comes in many shapes and flavours. Originating in France, this versatile cheese can be used as a sweet or a savoury, served fresh or aged. One of the simplest recipes follows, and can be adapted for use in so many recipes. We use this mixed with minced garlic and sea salt as a spread or dip, plain in lasagne in place of ricotta, and with icing sugar added to taste in a sponge with liberal lashings of raspberry jam and chocolate fudge sauce. You can even use it in place of cream cheese in cheesecake recipes.
- 4 litres goat’s milk (you can use half the amount, and then use half the amount of starter. You can also use cow’s milk, with a thicker result and slightly different taste.)
- 1 packet direct-set chevre starter culture (which also contains the setting agent) OR 1/8 teaspoon mesophilic culture OR if you have your own homemade starter culture, use 1 tablespoon.
- Rennet (if you use the prepared starter culture, omit rennet and water)
- Water (non-chlorinated)
In 5 tablespoons of cool water, place several drops of junket rennet (Renco is readily available in many New Zealand supermarkets. Again, if you are using the directset starter, leave out this step. If you are using something other than junket rennet, follow the packet instructions for the volume of milk you are using. The amount of rennet will vary according to the type of curd set you need for the cheese you are wanting to make. Heat the milk to 30degC. Add the starter culture and stir thoroughly. Add 1 tablespoon of your dilute rennet solution, and stir again, slowly and thoroughly. Cover and let set at room temperature (approx 22degC) for 12 hours, or until it is set like a loose jelly. It may take more time, it may take less. Line a colander with a fine towel or two layers of cheesecloth. Ladle the curd into the colander. Tie the corners of the cloth into a bag and let drain for 6-12 hours, till a nice, spreadable consistency is achieved. This keeps up to two weeks in the fridge. If you can bear to leave it to age for two weeks in a dark corner of the fridge, it takes on a whole new dimension of flavour complexity.
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