Kgwedi's Quick, Easy Cheese

Often I just want to know HOW something is done, more than I want to know how to make it perfect.

I have a short attention span, so short fast projects appeal to me.

Cheese making is very simple.

What You Need to Make Simple Cheese.

I bought these products at the local store, and already had a pan, strainer, and big spoon. This brand of milk said it was pasteurized, but did not say it was homogenized.

Pasteurized means they heated it to kill bacteria. If it says Ultra-pasteurized, then they heated it much more, and changed the fat so it won't work to make cheese. Homogenized means they squirt it through a small orifice to mix different milks together. This breaks up the fat, so it doesn't make cheese as well.

Heating the Milk.

I poured 1 liter of full cream milk into the pot and heated it on medium. I stirred often to make sure the milk didn't stick to the bottom of the pan. I watched for small bubbles near the edge. I started getting small bubbles at about 68C (154F) . The milk should be heated to 80C (176F).

This Is Curds and Whey

I turned off the heat, and put in 2 tablespoons of lemon juice. This made a few small chunks called curds. I wanted more chunks, so I added a tablespoon of white vinegar. Now many curds formed.

I added some salt, pepper, and herb spices, and let it sit for 10 minutes.

Straining the Whey From the Curds.

I then poured the curds and whey (whey is the watery part) into an old, (clean) sock.

Next was to squeeze the sock, and spinning it to force all the liquid out of the cheese.

Put Cheese Is Small Bowls

I put all the curds into a small plastic bowl.

I put all the whey into some jars to drink later.

Press the Cheese

l then put another bowl inside the bowl with the curds, and put a big weight on it to squeeze all the curds together.

Finished Cheese

After an hour I dumped the cheese out of the bowl.

The cheese looked and felt almost like Feta cheese. After a few hours in the fridge, I tasted it. Bland.

Next time I'll add Jalapenos. I will not use lemon juice, but will only use 2 tablespoons (34ml) of White Vinegar next time for one liter of milk.

The internet says the whey is healthy, so I drank some. Not very good tasting.

From start to finish was about 2 hours.