How to make fresh cheese

Making fresh cheese is another of those small pleasures within everyone's reach. It's just a matter of following a few steps and the satisfaction, as with all homemade things, is doubled: you enjoy the most authentic flavors and the pleasure of having made it yourself. Don't miss the homemade fresh cheese recipe brought to us today by Eva, author of Bake-Street!

I'm sure that on more than one occasion you have considered making homemade fresh cheese, but for some reason you haven't quite dared yet. Well, today will be that great day.

There is an important factor we must consider to make our own fresh cheese and that is the milk. We need to use fresh milk and of good quality, because our cheese will come from it. Its flavor, texture and even quantity will depend on the quality of the milk.

Surely many of you have good-quality fresh milk available, but for those who don't, you should know which is best. Do not use milk in a carton, because it has been subjected to ultra pasteurization (UHT); use the kind found in the refrigerated section.

Trilloliva extra virgin olive oil, T&G cutting board and Pallarès carbon steel knife.

I'm sure many of you are wondering, Can I use semi-skimmed or skimmed milk to make it?

Yes, you can use them, but the cheese will not get the same flavor, texture and body because much of the fat has been removed from those milks.

In addition to fresh milk we will need calcium chloride and rennet, either liquid or powder.

What is calcium chloride?

It is a calcium salt that helps the milk coagulate so you can make cheese. A lack of calcium prevents proper coagulation of the milk, so we would not get a good result.

If we use UHT or poor-quality milk, the calcium chloride will not be effective.

What is rennet?

Rennet is one of those ingredients discovered by chance, like many other discoveries. In the past milk was often stored in the stomachs of ruminants that were used as containers.

They observed that after a while, that milk had coagulated giving rise to cheese. From this they learned that the liquid found in ruminant stomachs was what coagulated the milk. This is what we today call animal rennet.

It contains a substance called chymosin that causes the casein to separate from the whey.

Today you can also find vegetable rennet suitable for vegans.

We can find it in two formats: powder or liquid. In my case I will show you how to use powdered rennet.

Cheesecloth

This element will make it easier to drain the curdled milk to make our fresh cheese. It is very practical and easy to use, and achieves a perfect draining in a very artisanal way.

Afterwards you only need to rinse it well, give it a light boil to remove possible bacteria and let it dry for reuse.

Don't worry if you don't have fresh cheese molds with a grid, you can use any other container or keep the rounded shape left by the cheesecloth after pressing the curdled milk.

It is advisable to store the fresh cheese in a container with a bit of its own whey; this will keep it hydrated and prevent the exterior from drying out.

Ingredients (for 350-400gr of fresh cheese)

• 1.5 liters of fresh whole pasteurized milk
• 1 teaspoon of calcium chloride
• ½ teaspoon of powdered rennet
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 2 tablespoons of lukewarm water

Preparation

We coagulate the fresh milk:

1. Pour the milk into a wide pot, set to low heat (on a glass-ceramic hob from 1-9, set the heat to 4) and leave until it reaches a temperature of 38ºC (the temperature can range between 37-40ºC, but no higher). For this we will use a digital thermometer.
2. Dissolve the rennet in a glass with the salt and lukewarm water. Set aside.
3. Remove the milk from the heat and add the calcium chloride, mix well to ensure it is integrated.
4. Pour in the dissolved rennet and mix again to fully homogenize the ingredients.
5. Cover the pot with its lid and let it rest so the milk coagulates. It will take around 40-60 minutes.
6. After this time, insert a small spoon very carefully to make sure the milk has set. You will see that the curdled milk is surrounded by a yellowish whey.
7. With the help of a sharp knife make cuts to create a grid. Do it carefully because you don't want to completely crumble the curdled milk.

Kitchen Craft acacia round wooden board

We proceed to drain the curdled milk:

1. Place the cheesecloth over a large bowl.
2. With the help of a slotted spoon transfer the curdled milk to the cheesecloth. Reserve the whey from the pot.
3. Gather the corners of the cheesecloth, lift and begin to apply some pressure to drain the curdled milk.
4. Press until almost all the whey has been removed.
5. Tie a knot in the cloth and let it rest over a colander or tied to the sink for 30 minutes.
6. Transfer the curdled milk to molds to make fresh cheese. If you don't have them, you can use containers you have at home.
7. Press lightly to amalgamate the mixture. Place inside an airtight container, cover and place in the refrigerator overnight, although if you can wait 24 hours, much better.

Gefu juicing mesh

The next day:

1. Unmold the cheeses and enjoy.

Notes

• Storage: Homemade fresh cheeses will keep perfectly for 5-6 days.
• Do not throw away the whey left from making the cheese; you can use it to make cakes, sauces, soups… You can keep it in the refrigerator for 5-6 days or freeze it to preserve it longer.
• Fresh cheese can be flavored with herbs or aromatic salts.

Trilloliva extra virgin olive oil, Seigaiha porcelain bowl by Tokyo Design Studio, T&G cutting board and Pallarès carbon steel knife.

You can't imagine the pleasure of enjoying a bit of cheese accompanied by cherry tomatoes, basil, white truffle salt and a good drizzle of olive oil… Better get inspired and try it.

Enjoy!