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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
{ 35 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…
So I just tried to make this and followed all directions but the milk did not curdle at all. What did I do wrong? Could it have been the milk (i used goats milk). I used a good thermometer and got the milk up to 190 then stirred in the vinegar and took off heat but nothing happened. The milk was whole goats milk. Any suggestions? Are there tips and tricks? Thanks, Nate
I use whole goats milk for mine. Hmm. I’ve never heard of this. the only trick I know about is that the ‘stirring’ in of the acid needs to be really gentle, but even then it should have curdled, just in a dusty tiny curd way. How concentrated is your bottle of vinegar?
I scrapped the goats milk and just got some cows milk and it worked great. Not sure what the deal was but I think that the goats milk must have had something in it so that it would not curdle under any circumstance! I flavored my cheese with garlic and salt and it is amazing. I’m excited to try other flavors! Thanks for the great blog.
Mmmmmm…is all I could say when I stumbled upon your blog! It was like falling into the cushions on a good friend’s couch! I may never leave…
Has anyone tried this with soymilk? Or any other dairy free variety?
I make a cheese very similar to this with either goat’s or cow’s milk! It’s delicious.
Thanks, poverty could fade ……. with this kind of tips
Is this raw milk or homogenized/pasturized milk?
Homogenized, store-bought.
Someone asked a while back if you could add the salt (or pehaps other flavorings) prior to the draining in the cheese cloth, but I didn’t see answer. Do you think it would it still firm up?
I made this cheese this morning, it is excellent!! After draining it , I added some Extra Virgin Olive Oil, some puree of garlic, and some Italian Spices, and kosher salt. Then I pressed the cheese in a oiled ramekin dish and covered it with plastic wrap, and put in the fridge, will enjoy with crackers tonight!!! It is so easy!!
If curdling is an issue, it could be that the milk has been ultra-pasteurized (extra-high heat to ensure better preservability (is that a word?)) -it alters the molecules of the milk enough that it won’t work for making your own cheeses. (Info from what I’ve read on newenglandcheesemaking.com -they have great information and supplies for making your own varieties)
I’m definitely going to be trying this tomorrow! I’m also interested in whether or not you can add salt, herbs, garlic, etc. before the cheese sets – as in, when it’s draining.
Absolutely. Add any of those things you want.
Could I use this recipe with soy or rice milk?
I wouldn’t think they would have enough fat.
I found an old recipe in my mother’s recipe index that is identical with the exception that it used skim milk. The recipe is over 40 years old and Mom passed away about 20 years ago otherwise I’d just ask her…Was skim milk different back then or do you think this would still work?
You can certainly use skim or lowfat milk in the recipe, but the end result will be a little less volume and less creamy. Your mom probably used skim milk because it was readily available to her, likely in powdered form.
I use an old cloth napkin to strain cheese (or almond milk or rice milk or whatever else needs straining.)
Great recipe!
I found if you bake it for about an hour at 300 °F then another 10-15 minutes at 375 °F (to make a crust) you get a good hard cheese that keeps well. It is great crumbled on almost anything! Like squeaky cheese crossed with cheesecake.
@MCR – I heard that skim milk is used in parmesian cheese. So your mom might have used it on pizza or spaghetti? Hmm… that sounds good…
@Aubree – Soy and rice “milk” are actually juices. So the vinegar trick doesn’t work (I tried.) But if you add a coagulant like nigari (magnesium chloride), you can make tofu with soy “milk” since it thickens it up. I haven’t tried with rice “milk” or coconut juice.
great recipe, thank you! nailed it on my first try.
added some fresh dried herbs and cracked pepper. i can’t wait to eat it!
bonus- i now also have a big ol’ jug of whey to use in other recipes!
I must did something wrong, I only have small amount of curd and alot of whey
milk. Can you tell me what I did wrong . Thank you
Please help! I’ve attempted this cheese twice now, using two different but very similar recipes – the difference was in the amount of lemon juice/vinegar called for. Both times, I have heated the milk, added the lemon juice, and then waited, but my milk won’t curdle. I’m not sure where I’ve gone wrong. I’m using whole, raw, Jersey cow’s milk. Is it possibly the rawness of the milk that’s throwing off the recipe?
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