Basic Curds for Fresh Cheeses The first bit of magic in making cheese is turning milk into curds and whey. Once you have these precious curds, you can make dozens of different kinds of fresh cheeses. Though there are many steps and some things that must be done exactly, there is still plenty or room for experimentation and creativity. Don’t be afraid to play around some after you make a few batches and get the hang of it. And don’t get stuck on just cow milk. You can use this recipe for goat or sheep milks too or blend different milks together. Prep Time: Equipment: 30-45 minutes of work Double boiler 2-10 hours of waiting Skimmer Ingredients: Thermometer 2 gallons milk (raw or pasteurized) Scale ½ pint buttermilk Long thin knife ½ tsp single strength liquid rennet or ¼ tsp of double strength Butter muslin 2 tbs – ½ cup mother culture or Spatula or large spoon 1 packet of direct set culture Colander 16-24 grams non-iodized salt Cheese mold (optional) Spices/flavorings (optional) Ripening: It is important that you lower the PH of your milk before coagulating with rennet. Raw milk will ripen and become more acidic quite nicely on its own. Pasteurized milk needs some help. It is possible to use lemon juice, citric acid powder or even yogurt, but I recommend using cultured buttermilk. 1. Add milk to double-boiler and heat until 85˚ F. 2. If using direct-set culture, follow instructions on packet for amounts and sprinkle on surface of milk. Allow to rehydrate for 2 minutes and then stir with skimmer using an up and down motion until fully incorporated. If using re-culturable culture (mother), add 2 tbs to ½ cup and stir. 3. Add buttermilk and stir. 4. For best results, turn off heat, cover and allow to sit for 4 hours. If you are in a hurry, it is ok to continue to the next step immediately. © 2014 by Cure Cooking, LLC (402) 999-1075 • [email protected] • www.curecooking.com 3661 Davenport St. Omaha, NE 68131 Coagulation: A fun word to say and a fairly easy step to do with a bit of patience. See “Troubleshooting” at the end of recipe if you have any problems. 1. In double-boiler, slowly re-heat milk until 85˚ F and turn off heat. 2. Measure ½ tsp of single strength liquid rennet or ¼ tsp of double strength and dilute in small container with 20 times its volume of non-chlorinated water. 3. Stir milk for 10-15 seconds with skimmer using an up and down motion. Hold skimmer above pot and pour the diluted rennet through it. Return skimmer to pot and use up and down motion to stir until fully incorporated. Try not to stir for more than 30 seconds. 4. Cover and allow to sit undisturbed until coagulated. Depending on conditions this may take 30-45 minutes. If you are getting worried, look for the following to tell if the rennet is working: a thin clear layer of whey on the surface or a very small gap between the curd and the edge of the pot. When you think it may be ready, test for a clean break by inserting a long thin knife and gently pulling to the side (think of testing a pumpkin pie). Cooking: If everything has gone to plan, you should now be looking at one giant curd. This is great for yogurt, but bad for most cheeses. To solve this problem and end up with lots of smaller, denser and drier curds, it is necessary to cut the curd into pieces and gently heat until they shrink and start to expel the whey. 1. Cut the curd with a long thin knife. Holding the knife vertically, draw across pot and cut in one direction and then in the perpendicular direction. Imagine making a chessboard with 1-inch squares. Then while holding the knife at an angle, gently cut the curds below the surface until the final result is 1-inch “cube-like” objects. 2. On medium heat, gently and slowly heat the curds until about 115˚ F. (There is room to experiment here, so don’t be afraid to try 100˚ F or 130˚ F.) Hold at this temperature for 10-15 minutes. If the curds shrink and begin to sink just below the surface, you are on the right track. 3. Remove from heat. Draining/Milling/Salting You are getting awfully close to cheese. It is best to still remove more whey from the curds though. Draining and milling and salting will help dry and preserve the curds and add flavor. There are other ways to add the crucial salt to cheese. Brining and salt rubs also work, but it is best to stick with this direct salting method for now. Any basic cheese making book will guide you in other methods. 1. Dampen a piece of butter muslin. Wring it out and line a colander that is resting in a large bowl. 2. Using the skimmer, gently ladle the curds into the colander. 3. Allow to drain until desired dryness. Think ahead to what kind cheese you want end up with. Ricotta-style cheese will still be rather moist but if want to just use your hands to shape the curds into patties a drier curd is best. © 2014 by Cure Cooking, LLC (402) 999-1075 • [email protected] • www.curecooking.com 3661 Davenport St. Omaha, NE 68131 4. Pour the drained curds into a large bowl. Using a spoon or spatula or your hands, gently break the curds into a dry cottage cheese consistency. 5. Measure and add non-iodized salt. Fresh cheeses generally have about 2% salt by weight. You may weigh the curds and do the math if you wish or use the following general guideline: add 8-12 grams of salt to the amount of curds made from 1 gallon of milk. Start with the 8 grams per gallon and taste to see if you would like more salt. 6. Sprinkle the salt and any other herbs and spices on top of the curds. Using spoon or spatula or your hands, gently mix, aka mill, the curds (think of folding a batter and not beating eggs). Molding/Aging Now the options are almost endless. The curds can simply be enjoyed with crackers right away or drained in a cheese mold for a few days or can even be blended into a creamy ricotta-style cheese and stuffed into manicotti. Be creative. Be delicious. 1. If you just want a ricotta-style cheese, you may blend the curds or simply leave them as they are and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 2-3 weeks. 2. If you want to make many small shaped cheeses, you may use your hands and the curds into patties. Consider coating the patties with herbs and spices. Allow them to drain and flip every day. These can be aged in the refrigerator or at room temperature with careful attention. These small cheeses will last for 2-3 weeks if kept moist or many months if aged and dried carefully. 3. If you want to drain the curds in a cheese mold, do just that. While the curds are still a bit warm, fill your cheese mold with the curds. (If your curds are too cool, don’t be afraid to microwave in 15 seconds bursts until they feel warm to the touch.) Depending on the style of the mold, you may want to line the mold with a small piece of butter muslin first. Don’t worry about buying professional molds. They are great, but you may also drill some holes in a section of pvc piping or use some drainage caps or permanent coffee filters. Look around the house and be creative. © 2014 by Cure Cooking, LLC (402) 999-1075 • [email protected] • www.curecooking.com 3661 Davenport St. Omaha, NE 68131 Troubleshooting Milk never set into a firm curd: There can be a few culprits. The milk may not have ripened, so the PH was too high for the rennet to work well. Let it sit longer next time and make sure the buttermilk was cultured (aka “live”) buttermilk. The temperature of the milk may also have been too high or too low. Did you remember to dilute the rennet? Did you stir long enough to fully mix in the rennet? Don’t throw out the unset curds though. You can still make paneer out of it. Just heat it up to simmering and add some vinegar or lemon juice (see the paneer recipe). Curds are floating instead of sinking: If the curds are very soft, they may not sink very much. If they are actually floating instead of sinking, it means you most likely have some unwanted yeast. As a beginning cheese maker, it is best to call this a learning experience and scrap this batch and start over. Try not to bake the same day you make cheese, so yeast is not floating in the air. Curds are not sticking together in mold: Cold curds don’t do well in molds without pressure. Since you are not pressing your curds, you really need to make sure they are still warm when you first fill the mold. Cheese is getting moldy: Mold can be a good thing or a bad thing. As a new cheese maker it is really best to avoid mold until you get the hang of things and know what to look for. If your fresh cheeses are getting mold on them as you age them, the most likely problem is too much moisture.