Ok, the title was a bit of a joke. This is a simple and fun project that anyone can do. If you can find raw or at least low temp pasteurized milk it will work out perfectly. Ultra pasteurized milk will work, but not quite as well. Parmelat, or the stuff that doesn't need refrigeration, will not, or so I'm told. I've even made cheese with powdered milk, which worked well but provided a very hard, dense cheese due to the lack of fat. Junket rennet, available in most grocery stores, doesn't work very well in my experience. You have to use 2 full tablets to get a workable curd, and the additional ingredients in the tablets inhibit the reaction leading to more of a ricotta type cheese which is difficult to pull.
To one gallon of milk I added 1/2tsp calcium chloride, 2tsp citric acid and 1/4tsp rennet, at intervals. (explained below)
All were diluted in roughly 1/4 cup filtered water each.
I'd had a devil of a time finding food grade calcium chloride, then I happened to look at the label of Ball Pickle crisp granules. Well whaddaya know?!
Added the citric acid and Calcium Chloride at 80˚, this is after I added it.
You can sort of see here how the first 2 ingredients start to curdle the milk.
At 89˚ I added the rennet.
5 minutes later it had formed a solid mass, which I sliced with a long stainless steel knife.
Then I let the mixture get to 105˚, removed from the heat and covered.
After about 20 minutes, the curds had really separated from the whey.
Lined a fine mesh colander with cheesecloth.
And dumped the curds in. Due to the store bought ultra pasteurized milk, they immediately disintegrated, but it worked out fine.
After squeezing out most of the whey.
I let it sit overnight in the strainer and about another cup of whey drained out.
The rest of the process is heating and stretching. Since we still don't have a microwave, I did the traditional 170˚ water bath method. Cheese turned out great! No pics of the final process because the wife was out and I has kinda busy scalding my hands and stretching cheese.
To one gallon of milk I added 1/2tsp calcium chloride, 2tsp citric acid and 1/4tsp rennet, at intervals. (explained below)
All were diluted in roughly 1/4 cup filtered water each.
I'd had a devil of a time finding food grade calcium chloride, then I happened to look at the label of Ball Pickle crisp granules. Well whaddaya know?!
Added the citric acid and Calcium Chloride at 80˚, this is after I added it.
You can sort of see here how the first 2 ingredients start to curdle the milk.
At 89˚ I added the rennet.
5 minutes later it had formed a solid mass, which I sliced with a long stainless steel knife.
Then I let the mixture get to 105˚, removed from the heat and covered.
After about 20 minutes, the curds had really separated from the whey.
Lined a fine mesh colander with cheesecloth.
And dumped the curds in. Due to the store bought ultra pasteurized milk, they immediately disintegrated, but it worked out fine.
After squeezing out most of the whey.
I let it sit overnight in the strainer and about another cup of whey drained out.
The rest of the process is heating and stretching. Since we still don't have a microwave, I did the traditional 170˚ water bath method. Cheese turned out great! No pics of the final process because the wife was out and I has kinda busy scalding my hands and stretching cheese.