10. Making cheese

The basic recipe for making cheese is relatively simple.

To make cheese, there is a simple method and within reach of all.

Equipment and ingredients needed to make cheese:

- 1 liter of fresh milk goat, sheep or cow (not sterilized milk)

- A small Swiss

- The liquid rennet (available at pharmacies) or lemon

- A bowl-type container

- a towel

- A strainer. You can retrieve the molds campaigns cheeses presented disposable faisselles commercially (for 1 liter of milk, cottage cheese provide for 500 grams of white cheese)

- A shallow dish.

Preparing to make cheese

- Before making the cheese, bring the milk to a temperature of 20-22 ° and very gently stir in Swiss small (the ideal is to have previously made the small incorporating liquid Swiss are in a little milk). Allowed to stand together at a temperature between 20 and 22 ° for about 2 hours.

- Stir 1 drop of rennet and stir very gently all (essential step to make cheese). Recover the bowl with a towel and let the milk stand for at least 24 hours, about 20 °.

- After 24 hours, the milk has been replaced by a curd (white mass) and serum (liquid more or less yellow or white, you can take and use in place of the Swiss small to re-make cheese ).

- Another tricky step to make cheese: draining the curd gently filling the cheese strainers with a ladle. Let stand a few minutes in shallow dish, then pour the liquid drained and refilled the strainer. You can repeat this for 24 hours.

Drain the curds another 24 hours, but without completing the strainer.

Please note that the size and filling the strainer determines the size of your future cheese.

- Ideally, it is now time to turn the cheeses in their molds. Be very delicate at this stage the cheese is very fragile. The easiest way is to return the cottage cheese in one hand, to get the cheese in the other hand returning it and place it back into its mold. Once in the strainer, take a pinch of salt and salt the part of cheese available.

Renew handling 3-4 days without forgetting to salt the cheese every time. Gradually, you see that go to make good cheese, it must take consistency. At this level, it is possible to roll the cheese in cracked pepper, herbs, etc. to customize taste.

Your cheese is now ready and you can start making its refining. For this, it is best to have a good cellar, airy and about 15 °.

In the absence of cellar, place the cheese in the coolest place in the house, by covering a wire cheese cover to protect it from insects. Do not forget to return it every day.

To make a dry cheese, let stand under these conditions for several days, until the desired consistency. To make a slip cheese, the principle is the same, but by exposing the cheese at a temperature of 20-22 °, away from drafts.

Notes to make cheese on its quality:

Ripening is probably the most important step to value the taste of the cheese. Above we give you the main rules, knowing that depending on the season, milk, salting, temperature and location, your cheese will taste and different flavor. So to you to do several tests to achieve the kind of cheese you want .. indication, to make cheese like "goat cheese", it takes about 0.5 liters of milk. To make larger cheeses, so you have to multiply all proportions. For your first cheeses, we recommend that you limit yourself to 1 liter of milk.