Turn milk into magic this National Cheese Lovers Day (20th January) with our recipes to make tasty cheese from the comfort of your own home.
The art of cheesemaking might seem like a daunting prospect, but whether you’re a seasoned home cook or just curious about the craft, making your own cheese at home offers a unique blend of science and art where you can experiment with textures and flavours to suit your palate.
Elevate your cheese game and indulge in homemade decadence by creating your own cheesy creations that will impress your loved ones, taste amazing, and be completely free of additives and preservatives!
Farmhouse
This recipe for farmhouse cheese is a great place to start for novice cheesemakers as you don’t need any specialist ingredients or equipment, just simple techniques and everyday cupboard staples! Great for sandwich fillings, on crackers, or as a side to main dishes.
Ingredients
- 4.5 litres of full fat whole milk
- Half a cup of lemon juice (four to six lemons) • Salt and herbs to taste
Method
- Pour the milk into a large pot and heat it up to just below boiling point.
- Add the lemon juice and stir well.
- Cover the pot and let it sit for 15 to 20 minutes, allowing the curds to separate from the whey.
- Pour the curds into a colander and drain from the whey.
- Place the curds into a bowl and add salt and herbs of your choice to taste.
- Transfer the curds into a muslin cheesecloth, tie it, and hang it to drain for two hours.
- Remove the cheese from the bag and enjoy for up to two weeks!
Fresh curd
This cheese is a step up from the farmhouse cheese that only requires a couple of specialist ingredients. The taste, texture, and flavour are similar to that of ricotta, so use this fresh curd creation in its place.
Ingredients
- 2 litres of whole organic milk
- A pinch of salt
- 2 teaspoons of rennet
Method
- Pour the milk into a clean, non-reactive saucepan, add the salt, heat gently, and immediately remove it from the heat when it reaches 38°C.
- Stir in the rennet until well combined and leave for 15 minutes.
- Line a colander with a double-layered piece of muslin.
- Use a small sieve to gently scoop up the curds in as large pieces as possible and put them into the muslin.
- Tie the muslin and hang to drip above a bowl or sink for three hours.
- The cheese will stay fresh and sweet for around three days, before turning tangier and cheesier and still good to use for up to a week.
Mozzarella
Want to try your hand at a cheese that’s a bit more challenging? Mozzarella is the perfect option – remember, practice makes perfect! This will be a great addition to pizza, pasta dishes, or even battered and fried to make homemade mozzarella bites.
Ingredients
- 1 tea spoon of citric acid
- 2 litres of whole organic milk
- 1⁄4 teaspoon of rennet
- 2 tablespoons of salt
Method
- Dissolve the citric acid in 60ml of warm water.
- Pourthemilkintoalargesaucepanand heat it gently – until it reaches around 13°C – add the citric acid, and heat it to 30°C.
- Dilute the rennet in a table spoon of boiled water that’s been cooled and add it immediately to the milk.
- Warm gently to 39°C and stir it from time to time – it will begin to separate.
- Remove from the heat and leave it for 15 minutes.
- Carefully scoop the curds out of the pan with a slotted spoon and place them in a sieve.
- Press the curds gently to remove some of the whey (but be careful – they need to be dripping a little as if you remove too much, the mozzarella will be tough.)
- Add the salt to the whey in the pan and heat it to 80°C.
- Put the curds on a chopping board and cut them into four 2cm-thick slices and have a bowl of ice water ready.
- One at a time, dip the curds into the hot whey for a minute until they begin to soften and stretch.
- Remove a piece of curd from the whey with a slotted spoon, dip your hands in the iced water, and gently stretch out the cheese. Fold it back on itself and work it until it’s stretchy, shiny, and smooth.
- Mould and pinch the cheese into a ball, then drop it into a bowl of chilled water.
- Repeat with the remaining curds, refrigerate, and use within two days.