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Today more people are taking advantage of the health benefits in fermented foods and CHEESE is one of those great foods. Even on a diet of low carbs CHEESE is a wonderful healthy snack. Almost anyone can make cheese at home and DID YOU KNOW you already have many of the supplies needed right in your kitchen? With a little knowledge and the right supplies you can do this.
YOU REALLY CAN!
Get started with one of our do-it-yourself Cheese Making Kits,
everything you need to get going. You just add the milk!
Cream Cheese
(a great first step on your cheese making journey)
STEP 1 - Heat the Milk
Heat 4 litres of milk to 20 - 25°C No higher
(take about 15 minutes to do this, Do not rush the process)
The 3 ingredients below in orange can be bought separately in our store.
STEP 2 - Culture the Milk
Take the milk off the heat
Sprinkle 1/8 tsp of Starter culture TW 31 LYO on top
(leave for 5 minutes)
Stir the cultures in lightly
STEP 3 - Adding ingredients and letting it rest
Mix ¼ tsp of Calcium Chloride to 3 Tablespoons of bottled water and stir into the milk
Mix ¼ tsp of Calf, Kid or Microbial Rennet to 3 Tablespoons of bottled water and stir into the milk for 30 seconds
Cover the pot and leave the milk to sit inside the oven with the heat off but the oven light on for 18 to 24 hours
After 18 to 20 hours, the cheese should look like a solid milk curd. Like giggly white jello.
STEP 4 - Draining Whey with Cheesecloth
Place a piece of wet cheesecloth (doubled) in a colander in a bowl.
Gently spoon the cheese from the pot into the cheesecloth.
Gather up the corners of the cheesecloth and tie the four corners.
Hang the cheesecloth filled with cheese over a bowl so the whey can drain.
Note: I use the kitchen cupboards to hang my cream cheese. Allow the cream cheese to drain for 6 hours. Take it down and untie the cheese cloth and add salt to taste. Retie the cloth and hang for another 6 hrs.
Use within two weeks and keep it in the fridge.
Make Cream cheese, Feta cheese and Poutine with this kit
TW3 LYO Mesophilic culture
$10.00
Kid Rennet
$5.00
Calcium Chloride
$4.00
Cheese cloth
$4.50
Parmesan Cheese
When you want to move into hard cheese Parmesan is a great choice
Make Parmesan, Gouda and Cheddar Cheese with this kit
Use 6 litres of milk. You can use (raw, pasteurized or store bought milk) Do not use UHT milk (this is milk that has been brought to an ultra-high heat and will not work for making cheese). e.g. Box or canned milk is UHT milk. Make sure you check the label. You can use cow milk, goat milk, sheep milk or buffalo milk.
This recipe is for the home cheese maker and can be reduced to 4 liters of milk using the same amount of ingredients.
This recipe can be doubled in milk volume to 12 liters. Double all ingredients
Please read the recipe first to make sure you are familiar with the steps in making cheese.
You need a cheese mould to press this cheese.
6 Litres of 2% milk
1/4 Tsp of Thermophilic culture Y92 LYO
Pinch of Lipase Powder
¼ Tsp of Calcium Chloride
¼ Tsp Liquid or Tablet of Rennet
1 cup Non Iodized salt ( Kosher, pickling , sea salt )
PLEASE SANITIZE YOUR WORK SPACE AND EQUIPMENT BEFORE YOU BEGIN
1. Warm 6 Litres of milk to 33⁰c in a double boiler set up. (Dissolve 1/16 tsp of Lipase powder in 3 Tbsps. of
(non- chlorinated water) and leave sit on the counter while you go through steps 2 to 3.
2. Sprinkle 1/8 tsp of the thermophilic Y92 LY0 culture over the top of the milk and wait 5 minutes for
culture to rehydrate. Stir in gently with an up and down motion. (cheese makers stir)
3. Place the lid on top of the pot and wait 15 mins.
4. Now add the lipase powder you dissolved 15 mins ago. Stir in.(cheese makers stir)
5. Dissolve ¼ tsp of Calcium Chloride in 3 Tbsps. of non-chlorinated water.
6. Add the Calcium chloride mixture to the milk and stir gently. (cheese makers stir)
7. Place the lid back on top of the pot and wait for 45 minutes.
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8. Check the temperature of the milk and raise it back to 33⁰c if needed.
9. Add ¼ tablet of rennet or ¼ tsp. of Kid, Calf or Microbial liquid rennet to 3 tbsp. of non-chlorinated
water and add to the milk. Stir the milk for 30 seconds.
10. Replace lid on top of the pot and wait 45 minutes.
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Test for a clean break by cutting a line in the curd. Insert the knife into the line and lift up.
You should see the line split in two with clean edges. If you do not see a clean break, leave your curd for another 15 minutes to set. Once a clean break is achieved you can cut the curd.
Cutting the Curds
11. Cut the curds ½ cm in width across the pot. Cut curds in the opposite direction so it looks like a checker board. Cut the pillars of curd into cubes by sliding your knife in on an angle and cut ½ cm top to bottom as best you can.
12. Raise the temperature of the cheese to 38⁰c over 25 minutes and stir gently. Take 10 seconds across the pot on the first 4 stirs.
13. Lift curds from the bottom of the pot gently to the top and look for any larger size curds and cut. If the curd is breaking up (getting soupy) stop and wait for another 10 minutes for the curd to firm up.
14. Take the pot out of the double boiler set up and place the pot directly on the element and raise the temperature to 52⁰c over the next 15 minutes. Continue to stir constantly expelling as much whey from the curds as possible. (This is when the whey has released from the curd and it is easy to stir)
The curds will be quite small and rubbery. You can cut up any curds that are larger than the rest by bringing them up on the slotted spoon and cutting them there.
15. Take the pot off the element and let the cheese rest for 5 minutes. The curds will sink to the bottom of the pot.
Step 1
You can choose to line the cheese mould with a wet cheesecloth and fill with curds to the top. Or you may choose NOT to use a cheese cloth to line the mould. It is a personal preference. You do not have to use a cheese cloth for Parmesan Cheese but is recommended for beginners. Scoop the curds out of the pot and into the mould. Fold over the cheese cloth on the top and place the follower on top and press the cheese with 3 kg of weight for 15 minutes.
Step 2
Remove cheese from the mould gently and unwrap the cheesecloth if you have used one and flip the cheese, rewrap with the same wet cheesecloth and place the cheese back into the mould and press again with 6kg for 30 minutes. If you have chosen not to use cheese cloth you simply take the cheese out of the mould, flip it and place back in the mould.
TIP: If the cheese gets stuck in the mould with no cheese cloth , run the mould with cheese in it under warm water and gently tap the mould upside down.
Step 3. Repeat Step 2 but this time press at 10 kg for 8 hrs. After the 8 hours remove from press and put in the brine.
THE BRINE
To make a brine add 250g or 1 cup of non-iodized salt ( sea salt, kosher salt, pickling salt, Himalayan Salt) to 5 cups or 1.18 litres of water or whey and put into a baggie or bowl.
16. Prepare the brine and soak cheese for 8 hrs. in the fridge or at room temp.
17. Remove the cheese from brine and pat dry with a paper towel. Leave the cheese to dry at room temp on a bamboo mat (or one of our plastic mats from our store) for 3 to 5 days depending on how big the cheese wheel is.
A larger wheel will take more time to dry than a smaller wheel. Flip the cheese each day to promote even drying.
To age the Parmesan Cheese
Once the cheese has developed a skin from aging on the counter top at room temp for 3 to 5 days and is dry to the touch you can choose how you will age your cheese.
We suggest rubbing the cheese with olive or coconut oil each day or every second day for the first two weeks.
Store the cheese at 8⁰c to 11⁰c. Your fridge crisper will do nicely. You can also use a wine fridge to age all your cheeses. Age the cheese for 3 months for a small wheels and 9 months to 2 years for larger wheels.
Flip the cheese daily for the first two weeks. Then flip every second day for the remainder of your aging time. Love your cheese and it will love you back!
To keep the humidity up in your crisper you can soak a paper towel with water and put it in a container in the corner of your crisper. Keep the paper towel moist and this will keep your humidity up.
There are many recipes on the internet and in books. They will all differ slightly in one way or another. Some recipes will have more time between adding ingredients, some will have less.
Some Parmesan recipes will call for the lipase and water to sit for an amount of time before adding to the milk. Some recipes will call for the milk to sit with only the culture in it for the first 45 minutes. These are only a few of the areas in which recipes will vary.
This Parmesan Recipe is tried and true and the one we use at home all the time. It makes fantastic Parmesan that everyone will enjoy.
This Parmesan was made using 8 Litres or 2 Gallons of milk and aged on the counter for 6 days before oiling.
HAPPY CHEESE MAKING
Below are the products needed to make this cheese. Click one and it will take you to our store.
