making homemade cheese

phizzimum

thanks for those links jlw

the first one seemed so complicated...ok, I didn't read it properly but as soon as I saw that I needed rennet I gave up.

but the second one seemed much better...milk, vinegar, salt, colander...I can cope with that!

maybe a project for half term?

jlwhite

I've just been looking through a few recipes on cheese making sites and it sounds like you can make ricotta from the whey leftover from making cottage cheese. Only if you use a recipe that doesn't use vinegar or lemon juice. Maybe I'll try with the whey from making yogurt cheese. You have to heat the whey up then drain it through fine butter muslin apparently. I might try this at the weekend.

HappyIdiotTalk

phizzimum wrote: »

of course her logical next question was "can we make some then?"

well we can't discourage the next generation can we, so I'd better have a go (gulp!)

Haha, thats the spirit!

As a standby you could get her to make some butter. All you need is some double cream thats getting past its best. Just pour it into an airtight container and shake the living daylights out of it.

It'll take a bit of effort for a few minutes, but will eventually it'll turn into a lump of butter. Give it a squeeze to get the remaining liquid out and voila, HM butter!

Not as interesting as cheese, but might be a bit of fun for your DD if your pushed for time.

thriftmonster

I make cheese from the lactofree milk that ds1 and I use - approximately according to the instructions in "more with Less" combined withthe River Cottage website. To press it I use a plastic jug that I burnt some holes in the bottom with a hot skewer. Sainsburys sell rennet.

The ricotta recipe from the River Cottage Year is good. Also I am about to try the paneer from Madhur Jaffreys World Vegetarian.

phizzimum

making butter! the girls would love that! at least it would be good for using up some excess energy on a rainy day if nothing else.

even though it's often not time/cost effective to make some things yourself, I really like knowing that I could make them if I had to...and glad my girls are getting the bug too.

now I just have to learn how to make chocolate from scratch and I could be self sufficient!

angelavdavis

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBPYopcoeqs

I thought it might be of interest.

Penelope_Penguin

Thanks for that :beer: I'll add it to the making homemade cheese thread later.

Penny. x

metherer

My homemade paneer turned out ok, this batch was made using gone off milk and less lemon juice than normal. Normally I use milk that is in date. It retained a slightly sour taste, which the fresh version doesn't usually, so I ate it in curry sauce for lunch. Y.U.M

If I could work out how to add pictures, I'd show you it. (The add image link just gives me a box saying add text??)

r.a.i.n.b.o.w

Sarahsaver wrote: »

I have made paneer very successfully, you only need milk and lemon juice. Boil the milk then leave it to cool to 'hand hot', add the lemon juice (i think a couple of tablespoons) and it will curdle. Strain it into a muslin cloth then hang it up overnight - on a kitchen tap is ideal!
Then you have a very basic, but nice tasting cheese. Have you tried the river cottage website? I got the paneer recipe from an old Madhur Jaffrey book.

Hope no one minds me bumping an old thread

I just wondered what size muslin would I need for the above quantity?

Thanks :T

Caterina

I can't imagine it being too hard and "industrial" as I remember, as a child, seeing the farmer's wife at my granny's farm in Sardinia making cheese from ewes' milk. She boiled the milk in a great cauldron on the fire and added the inside of a milk-lamb's stomach (the rennet, now you can find a vegetarian version of it if you are squeamish - they probably enjoyed the roast lamb and did not waste anything of the remains!). She stirred and stirred and then these great big lumps appeared at the bottom, and she got them out and shaped them, still hot, with her hands! That's all I remember I'm afraid, I was only 8 years old!

But what I remember for sure is that in my granny's farm there was NO industrial equipment (although it was lovely and comfy all the same!).

Caterina