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1/2 Gallon Whole Milk (Goat or Cow)
1/4 cup white vinegar or 1/4 cup Lemon juice
Salt to taste 
1. Put milk into stainless steel pot and heat over medium until between 190 and 200 degrees.
2. Slowly stir in vinegar or lemon. Remove from heat and allow to curdle and cool until it’s not too hot to touch.
3. Pour cheese into cloth lined bowl. Pull together the 4 corners of cloth and twist around a spoon. Hang dripping cheese for a few hours.
(BTW, it’s not touching the bottom of the bowl. It just looks that way.) 4. Salt to taste and check consistency. I like a fairly hard cheese, so I hang it in the fridge overnight. That’s about the max.
5. Untie, (add any garlic or herbs or more salt, if you like) place in airtight container, and chill. Depending on how long you hung it, it should be about 12-16 oz of cheese.
Enjoy!!
Ivory
{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }
Really great I will try this in my new kitchen — it sounds very easy thanks
@sanna–It really is!
What kind of cheese would you compare this to? I like to remake recipes with homemade ingredients when I can now.
@Satsuki–chevre. It’s the consistency of that goat cheese, or if you blended cream cheese and feta together. Schmear type cheese.
Is there a cut and dry way to make cheddar cheese, too? (I work in a deli and am a cheeseaholic anyway, so just one type of cheese isn’t enough of a challenge!)
@Tacy–Check out Leener’s site for exact instructions and supplies…but sorry, no. Cheddar requires a couple of special ingredients. It’s not hard to make, but you do need rennet and some things not usually found at the Val-Marche.
i just made the cheese! it’s drying now – my bowl wasn’t tall enough for it not to touch the bottom, so i have my spoon resting on two cups, and dripping into the bowl. i love the smell of it! thanks so much for this recipie – i can’t wait to try it. how much salt do you usually put in, and would it work to put it in before you pour it into the bowl?
I love making cheese. Ricotta is very simple and delicious too:
http://culinarytravelsofakitchengoddess.wordpress.com/2009/02/27/a-cultured-post/
If you don’t have cheesecloth, try a coffee filter. We had one of those older Mr. Coffee “gold” ones. It hangs nicely in a 1 qt. container as the cheese drains
Until I made my first batch of cheese I didn’t know what Little Miss Muffet was eating while sitting on a tuffet!
And don’t forget to save the whey. I used mine in some ham and bean soup and homemade doggie treats in place of water or broth. I even drank some – it tasted kinda “yeasty”.
Carolyn – good idea with the filter.
Tacy – I’m with you on the challenge! That is how I found this site. Wanted to make homemade wing sauce but all called for bottled hot sauce. Then I stumbled on TL’s homemade hot sauce story. So funny I almost peed my pants! You must read it!
200 degrees F or C ????
Eleanor–F…we is in da USA
I use this cheese instead of ricotta in lasagna and it worked out very well…
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