Bacterial Culture
The second method of acid coagulation begins with adding a bacterial cheese starter culture to milk at room temperature 72 F. . Cheese starter culture bacteria are one-celled living organisms who live by eating milk sugar lactose . When added to milk at room temperature these bacteria will consume lactose and produce a byproduct, lactic acid. As time passes these bacteria reproduce rapidly and after fifteen to twenty-four hours there are an astronomical number of starter bacteria living in the...
Gouda Cheese
Gouda is a cheese of Dutch origin. It is washed curd cheese with a smooth texture and deliciously tangy taste. It looks particularly distinctive when covered with a traditional red cheese wax. Makes 2 pounds. 10 minutes 90 F. 4 ounces mesophilic 2 gallons whole milk cheese starter culture Warm 2 gallons of whole milk to 90 F. Add 4 ounces of mesophilic cheese starter culture. Mix in thoroughly. 1 hour 90 F. 1 4 rennet tablet or Dissolve 1 4 rennet tablet or 1 teaspoon liquid rennet in 1 4 cup...
Renneting
The next step is the addition of rennet. This, too, must be diluted in twenty times its own volume of cool water before being added to the ripened milk. Rennet tablets or liquid rennet may be used, and you must remember that it takes about ten minutes for a rennet tablet to dissolve. One-quarter cup of cool water is usually enough to dilute the rennet. If rennet is not diluted, it will be unevenly distributed in the milk, which could produce a faulty curd. It is helpful to have a slotted spoon...
Lactic Cheese
This is a delicious, soft, spreadable cheese which keeps for up to 2 weeks under refrigeration. Either cow's or goat's milk may be used. You may add herbs to it in any number of combinations for truly tantalizing taste treats. You can roll it up in a crepe with a fruit sauce for a gourmet dessert. It is easy to make and is ready to eat in 24 to 72 hours. Makes nearly 2 pounds. RIPENING RENNETING AND COAGULATION 24 hours 72 F. 1 gallon whole 4 ounces mesophilic for skim milk cheese starter 1...
Large Curd cottage Cheese
This cheese has slightly larger curds and is coagulated by the action of starter culture and a small amount of rennet. Makes 1 1 2pounds. 8 hours 72 F. 4 ounces mesophilic 1 gallon skim milk cheese starter Rennet tablet or culture Warm 1 gallon of skim milk to 72 F. Add 4 ounces of mesophilic cheese starter culture and mix in thoroughly. Dissolve 1 4 rennet tablet in 2 tablespoons water or 1 4 teaspoon liquid rennet in 2 tablespoons water . Add 1 tablespoon of the diluted rennet to the milk and...
Equipment You Will Need
Much of the equipment you will need for cheesemaking can be found in your kitchen. There are a few precautions that must be taken in the use of this equipment, and these are extremely important. 1. All utensils and this includes everything that comes in contact with the milk at any stage used during cheesemaking should be made of glass or stainless steel, or enamel-lined with no chips or cracks, please . During cheesemaking, milk becomes acidic, and if aluminum or cast iron pots are used,...
How to Prepare starter culture Mesophilic
1. Sterilize a clean half-gallon canning jar and its cover or two one-quart canning jars with covers by placing them in boiling water for five minutes. 2. Cool them and fill the jar with fresh skim milk, leaving 1 2 inch of head space. Cover the jar tightly with its sterilized lid. 3. Put the jar in your canner or a big, deep pot with the water level at least 1 4 inch over the top of the jar lid. 4. Put the pot on the burner and bring the water to a boil. Note when the water begins to boil, and...
Applying White Mold Spores
Prepare the white mold by placing a quart of water in an atomizer. Empty the contents of the powdered mold into the atomizer. The powder will not dissolve so shake the atomizer to mix well. Lightly spray all surfaces of the cheese. The cheese should not appear wet. Place the cheese on a plastic or wooden reed cheese mat and age at 45 F. and 95 percent relative humidity. Let the cheese set for 5 days or until the first whiskers of mold appear on the surface. When white mold appears, turn the...
Molding and Draining
The curds are placed into cheese molds. Many of these are a traditional shape and size. The molds are usually placed on wooden reed cheese mats or plastic cheese mats, situated so that the whey will readily drain into the sink. The mats rest on a cheese board because the molds must be flipped over quite often and the cheese boards make this task easier. So, with a mold resting on a cheese mat which is resting on a cheeseboard, you can fill the mold with curd. The mold is filled to the top. Whey...
Soft Goat Cheese
This is a delicious, soft goat's milk cheese. The milk is ripened for a lengthy period with goat cheese starter culture. A very small amount of rennet is also added to the milk. After 18 hours the milk coagulates. It is placed in small goat cheese molds to drain and in 2 days small and delicious 1 1 2- to 2-ounce cheeses are ready for eating. These are firm yet spreadable cheeses which will keep under refrigeration up to 2 weeks. Makes almost 1 pound. 1 ounce mesophilic goat cheese starter...
Coulommiers Cheese 2
The French style Coulommiers cheese is made with the same recipe as the English style. When the cheese is removed from the Coulommiers mold it is lightly salted and lightly sprayed with a solution of white mold powder. The cheese is aged for 5 days at 45 F. with a relative humidity of 95 percent. After 5 days, small whiskers of white mold will be seen grow ing on the surface of the cheese. Turn the cheese over and age it for 9 more days, at which time the cheese will be covered with a thick...
Rennet
Cheese rennet is not the same as the junket rennet sold in grocery stores. It is possible to curdle milk with junket rennet, but the resulting curd, while it makes a pleasant dessert, will not make an acceptable cheese. Cheese rennet is available as tablets or in liquid form. Rennet that is an animal derivative is extracted from the fourth stomach of a calf or young goat. Its rennet contains an enzyme called rennin which has the property of causing milk to form a solid curd. In the days before...
Flavoring
5 days Remove the cheese from the press and gently remove the cheesecloth. Mix 1 quart of wine, 1 quart of water, and 1 4 cup coarse cheese salt in a bowl. Place the cheese in the bowl and cover with Saran Wrap. Place the bowl in the refrigerator for 4 days, turning the cheese twice a day. Herbs may be added to the bowl to give an added flavor to the cheese. Remove the cheese from the water-wine brine. Dry on a paper towel and cover with Saran Wrap. The cheese may be eaten fresh or aged for...
Ingredients And How To Use Them
Man has taken milk from many animals during the course of history. The familiar cow, goat, and sheep have fed people for centuries, and so have some less common animals such as the yak, camel, buffalo, llama, ass, elk, mare, caribou, and reindeer. Cow's milk and goat's milk are the only ones readily available in this country today, so they will be used in the recipes in this book. If you know how, you can turn milk into cheese without adding a single thing. Over the centuries, man has devised...
Coulommiers Cheese
Coulommiers cheese is a soft white mold-ripened cheese which is in the same family as Camembert. It is a cheese traditional to France and England. The French recipe is for a soft, runny, textured cheese as is Camembert. The English cheese is consumed fresh and is a soft, spreadable cheese which is not mold-ripened. The traditional mold for Coulommiers is a two-piece affair consisting of two stainless steel hoops, one of which fits inside the other. The assembled hoops are 6 inches in height and...
Coagulation HOW and Why
The first step in cheesemaking is to coagulate the milk solids into a curd. There are two basic ways to do this. Each way has many variations used together in combination, the variations are endless. The two methods are acid coagulation and rennet coagulation. You can cause acid coagulation either by adding an acid substance such as lemon juice or vinegar, or by adding a bacterial culture which turns the lactose milk sugar into lactic acid. Both are good ways to make a curd, and each is used...
Using Milk Powder
You can make cheese with whole milk, raw milk when cheese is aged more than sixty days , skim milk, pasteurized milk, or even with reconstituted dry milk powder. One and one-third cups of dry milk powder dissolved in three and three-quarters cups of water make one quart of milk. It doesn't need to be pasteurized because the drying process destroys the unwanted bacteria. The milk you use for cheesemaking must be of the highest quality. Buy the freshest milk possible. If it comes from the...
Ripening 8
1 hour 86 F. 2 ounces mesophilic Warm 1 gallon of whole goat's milk. Add 2 ounces of mesophilic goat cheese starter culture and mix in thoroughly. Allow to ripen for 1 hour. 2 hours 86 F. 1 4 rennet tablet or Dissolve 1 4 rennet tablet or 1 2 teaspoon liquid rennet in 1 4 cup cool water. Stir gently into the milk for several minutes. Cover and allow to set for 1 hour.
How to Pasteurize Milk
Pour raw milk into a stainless steel pot and place this pot in another, larger pot containing hot water. Put the double boiler on the burner and bring the water to a boil. To pasteurize, hold milk at 145 F. for 30 minutes. Then coot milk as rapidly as possible in ice water. To pasteurize, hold milk at 145 F. for 30 minutes. Then coot milk as rapidly as possible in ice water. Heat the milk to 145 F., stirring occasionally to insure even heating. Hold the temperature at 145 F. for 30 minutes...
Sterilizing Your Equipment
You may sterilize your equipment in one of three ways. 1. Immerse equipment in boiling water for up to five minutes. 2. Steam utensils for a minimum of five minutes in a large kettle with about two inches of water in the bottom and a tight lid on top. Wooden items such as cheese boards and mats should be boiled or steamed for at least twenty minutes. 3. Plastic even food grade equipment should not be boiled or steamed, and should be sterilized with a solution of household bleach sodium...