SEVEN KEFIR CHEESES WITH BACKYARD RENNET

 

Tips for Success

• • Don’t stir. Curd is extremely fragile until it is fully formed. It does not like to be touched or moved at all. Stirring can destroy your cheese.
• • You can use either pasteurized whole milk from the grocery store or raw milk, if you are lucky enough to have access to raw milk (thanks to recent state legislation, after years of no raw milk, we now have two stores in our county that sell raw milk!). Raw milk makes more curd and a more flavorful cheese. Raw milk is pasteurized in the process of this recipe, so you don’t have to worry about bad bacteria. Store-bought whole milk also makes great cheese in this recipe.
• • Don’t use skim milk or 2 percent milk. Milk fat is a necessary ingredient in cheesemaking, so you will get much less cheese for your time and effort if you use skim or 2 percent.
• • If you do use raw milk, you will find that curd also forms on the bottom of the pan, so you will want to gently scrape the bottom on the pan with a spatula or spoon to capture that curd. (Pasteurized milk does not form significant curd on the bottom of the pan.)
• • Don’t waste the whey! When you finish this recipe, you will have about a half gallon of whey left over. You can use this whey to replace a half gallon of the primary liquid ingredient in Caleb Warnock’s Guaranteed Edible Weedkiller Recipe (available at SeedRenaissance.com). You can also feed the whey to your dog or cat, put it in your compost pile, or use it to boil pasta (delicious!), among many other uses.
• • Mallow grows all over the United States as a weed. You should be able to find mallow root growing wild wherever you live. If you cannot find it immediately, contact your local university extension service or a local herbalist for help. You can also find mallow seed at SeedRenaissance.com using the free offer in this book.

 

Kefir Cheese Recipe

This is an ascending recipe, meaning that the further you follow the recipe, the more kinds of cheese you will be able to make. You begin the recipe and stop after Step 4 to make cottage cheese, continue to Step 6 to make feta cheese, Step 8 to make cream cheese, Step 9 to make mild cheddar cheese, Step 10 to make medium or sharp cheddar cheese, Step 11 for Romano, or Step 12 for Parmesan. This recipe yields approximately one pound of cheese.

• • 1/2 gallon plus 2 cups whole or raw milk
• • 1 quart kefir (grains removed)
• • 1 washed fresh mallow root
• • Salt, as desired (optional)
• • Reusable cheese straining cloth
  (available at SeedRenaissance.com)

1. 1 Step 1: Add 1/2 gallon of milk to a large stainless steel four-quart pan (or larger) with a thick bottom. (The pan must have a thick bottom or the cheese will scald.) On medium-low heat, slowly heat the milk until it is warm enough that you can feel the warmth but not so hot that it is uncomfortable if you taste it or put your finger into it.
2. 2 Step 2: When the milk is warm, pour the kefir into the milk. Do not stir.
3. 3 Step 3: Put 2 cups of milk into a blender. Chop the mallow root into 1-inch sections and blend them into the milk for 20 seconds. Pour the milk through a sieve into the pan of milk on the stove. In the sieve, you will find mallow root strings; you can throw these away. You may stir ONCE across the pan at this point to mix the mallow blend into the kefir milk.
4. 4 Step 4: Wait and observe as the cheese begins to form curd in the pan. When the curd is obviously lumpy, it can be removed with a slotted spoon to be used as cottage cheese. If you want cottage cheese, you are now done with this recipe. If you want other cheeses, continue on.
5. 5 Step 5: It will take about 20 minutes for the cheese to “break,” meaning that all the milk fat has turned to curd and only pale yellow whey remains. There will be no more milk in the pan. There are two ways to check if the cheese has broken without stirring. First, you will see the pan of milk begin to form spouts of boiling bubbles. Second, you can take a spatula or knife and carefully pull the curd back from the edge of the pan just enough to see that whey has formed. Whey is a semi-clear liquid that is pale yellow. It does not resemble milk at all. If you still see milk, your curd is not done forming and you should wait 2–3 more minutes before checking for whey again.
6. 6 Step 6: Using a slotted spoon, strain the curd into a colander or sieve with a bowl beneath it to catch the whey. When the whey has stopped dripping, the remaining curd can be used as feta cheese. If you want other cheeses instead of feta, continue on.
7. 7 Step 7: To encourage the whey to drain, press the whey in the colander with the back of a spoon or spatula. You should now salt the cheese to taste if you wish. (You don’t have to salt the cheese if you don’t want to, but everyone who has taken cheesemaking classes from me has preferred the salted cheese. I usually make unsalted cheese so that I can add salt to my cheese dishes later—for example, when I am making homemade macaroni and cheese.)
8. 8 Step 8: To make cream cheese, when the whey has stopped dripping, put the curd into cheesecloth or voile fabric and tie it onto the center of a wooden spoon handle. Standing over the sink, twist the spoon repeatedly to remove as much whey as possible. Let this cure in the fridge for about 12 hours. You may now use this as cream cheese. To make other cheeses, skip this step and move on to Step 9.

 

A note about voile fabric: Traditional cotton cheesecloth is difficult to clean and reuse. Reusable cheesecloth, made from surged voile fabric, is easy to clean and can be reused for making cheese or herbal remedies over and over again. Reusable cheesecloth made from surged voile straining fabric is available at SeedRenaissance.com.

 

1. 9 Step 9: To make mild cheddar cheese, remove the cheese from the colander (see Step 7), put it into cheesecloth or voile fabric, and tie it into a loose bundle. Place the bundle into a cheese press, or use a homemade cheese press (“How to Make a Homemade Cheese Press”), and press your cheesecloth bundle in the fridge.

 

NOTE: If you do not remove enough whey, the cheese will never become cheddar; it will remain as cream cheese and will not be grateable.

 

When you are done pressing the cheese, it will need to be refrigerated overnight to set up. DO NOT COVER THE CHEESE IN THE FRIDGE. Do not put it into plastic or any kind of lidded container. Just put the whole bundle into the fridge in an open bowl or on a plate. The next day, if you want mild cheddar, you can carefully remove the wrapping and grate the cheese. If you want medium cheddar, continue to the next step. (Soak the used voile fabric in hot water and rub it together to clean it for reuse.)

 

 

1. 10 Step 10: To make medium cheddar, after the first day of refrigeration, put the cheese in a container with a lid and let it age in the fridge until you like the taste (about three days). If you want sharp cheddar, let it age longer in the fridge (about six days).
2. 11 Step 11: To make a Romano-type dry cheese, after pressing your cheese, let it sit in the fridge for a week in its cheesecloth or voile fabric.

 

NOTE: The cheese MUST NOT be in a covered container. Set the cheese on a plate, tied inside the cloth, and do not cover it. This allows the cheese to begin to dry out. After about a week, you will have a Romano-type cheese.

 

1. 12 Step 12: To make a Parmesan-type cheese, leave the uncovered cheese, still in the fabric, in the fridge for two weeks or longer to age. The cheese will begin to smell like Parmesan—delicious on pasta!

 

Thistle Rennet Cheeses

• • 1 thistle head of Canada thistle (Cirsium arvense), fresh or dried, just before it opens
• • 3/4 gallon plus 2 cups milk
• • Reusable cheese straining cloth
  (available at SeedRenaissance.com)
• • Salt, as desired

1. 1 Step 1: 24 hours before you want to make cheese, put the thistle head in a blender for 20 seconds with 2 cups of milk. Strain the thistle out of the milk twice using voile cloth or cheesecloth. Add this strained milk to the remainder of the 3/4 gallon of milk and set on the kitchen counter overnight. It will form curds. When finished, this may be refrigerated if you are not ready to make cheese immediately.
2. 2 Step 2: To make cheese, pour the curdled milk into a heavy-bottom pan on low heat. Do not stir. New curds will form in 10–20 minutes. When the curd “volcanoes” actively on the surface of the pan, this means the curd and whey have separated and the whey is boiling (195 degrees). Your cheese is done.
3. 3 Step 3: Strain the curd from the whey in voile cloth or cheesecloth. Salt as desired (most people seem to like 1/2 teaspoon, but I prefer 1/3 teaspoon). Press curds to remove whey. Eat immediately or refrigerate.

 

Nettle Rennet Cheeses

• • 1 full-sized stem of stinging nettle (Urtica dioica), root removed
• • 3/4 gallon plus 2 cups milk
• • Reusable cheese straining cloth
  (available at SeedRenaissance.com)

 

CAREFUL! Don’t touch the leaves or stem of the stinging nettle!

 

1. 1 Step 1: 18–24 hours before you want to make cheese, put the nettle stem in a blender for 20 seconds with 2 cups of milk. Strain the nettle out of the milk twice using voile cloth or cheesecloth. Add this strained milk to the remainder of the 3/4 gallon of milk and set on the kitchen counter overnight. It will form curds. This may be refrigerated if you are not ready to make cheese immediately.
2. 2 Step 2: To make cheese, follow ascending directions for nettle rennet cheeses (below).

 

Further Directions for Nettle Rennet Cheeses:

• • Cottage cheese: Stop when lumpy curd forms in the pan. Drain whey carefully so as not to damage curd.
• • Cream cheese: At the end of the recipe, allow whey to drip from cheese until it stops dripping. Refrigerate.
• • Queso fresco (also called fresh farm cheese): At the end of the recipe, press whey from cheese until whey is coming in single drops. Use immediately.
• • Feta cheese: At the end of the recipe, press whey from cheese until whey is coming in single drops. Refrigerate.
• • Mild cheddar cheese: At the end of the recipe, press whey from cheese until no more whey can be removed. Close all the cheese in a plastic bag. Refrigerate overnight. Grate and use.
• • Sharp cheddar cheese: Follow mild cheddar directions and leave the cheese in the fridge for 1–2 weeks before opening.
• • Romano-type cheese: At the end of the recipe, press whey from cheese until no more whey can be removed. After pressing, do not remove the cheese from the cloth. Instead, place the cheese in the cloth in the fridge for 1–2 weeks. The cheese MUST be able to “breathe.”
• • Parmesan-type cheese: Follow Romano directions, but leave cheese in fridge for 3–4 weeks.