Homemade is often affectionately referred to as both an art and a science. Great cheese can often be made using ingredients found at a local grocery store and many tools needed are common kitchen items. Cooking schools offer introductory and advanced courses in cheese making but, there are simple recipes for some easy to make cheeses that can me made at home.
Equipment
An essential tool for homemade cheese making is a heavy stainless steel pot with a lid. Stainless steel is important as acidifying milk can dissolve aluminum. The pot should have a heavy bottom in order to prevent scorching and evenly disperse heat. Measuring cups ranging from ¼ cup to a quart are needed as well as an accurate thermometer as precise temperatures need to be reached during cheese making in order to create an environment conducive for optimum bacteria action. A whisk will be required to mix starter and rennet. White non-terry cotton dish towels or plain white cotton handkerchiefs can be used as a cheese cloth. For making hard cheeses a cheese press is required.
Ingredients
Ingredients may obviously vary dependent upon the type of cheese that is being made but most beginner cheeses can be made using pretty simple ingredients. Essential to any cheese is milk. Cheese can be made using any pasteurized milk such as cow's milk, sheep's milk and goat's milk. Calcium chloride may need to be added to the milk in order to aid in coagulation. A starter will be needed in order to acidify the milk and often buttermilk or yogurt will suffice. Rennet is essential in forming the cheese and can be found in the pudding section of the grocery store. These simple ingredients can be the beautiful beginning of a simple cheese.
Varieties
The easiest cheeses for beginners to attempt are Neufchatel, Blue Cheese and American Mozzarella. Once some of the easier cheeses have been mastered one can move on to Ricotta, Swiss, Italian Mozzarella, Feta or Gjetost. Once one becomes comfortable with the cheese-making process the possibilities are really endless.
Benefits of Making Cheese at Home
There are many benefits to making homemade cheese. It is possible to make the cheeses using only local farm or organic products potentially eliminating any harmful hormones or additives often found in store-bought dairy products. Cheese making also allows freedom and flexibility in trying new cheeses and this is especially true when making imported cheeses that are expensive at stores. The calorie and fat content can also be adjusted to suit ones preference and a fresh, healthy cheese is guaranteed once the proper cheese-making method has been learned.
Purchasing Supplies
The supplies listed in this article are quite sufficient in making some of the basic cheese mentioned. However, if the desire is to step out into more complex and challenging some of the following resources are highly regarded amongst the cheese-making community: New England Cheesemaking, Glenngarry Cheesemaking & Dairy Supply, The Grape and Granary and Danlac Cheese Making Supplies.
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