How to make Fresh Homemade Yogurt and Farmers Cheese

Farmers Cheese or Country Cheese as we call it,  is a fresh cheese. It is fast to make for a cheese, and if you do not eat it all immediately it will sit in your fridge for about a week. I have used it on pizzas, in grilled cheese, sandwiches and salads.  And as a snack. 

You will need some good fresh live yogurt. Buy a plain greek yoghurt or make your own. Here is what I do.

Homemade Yogurt

In the morning,  bring 1 gallon of fresh raw milk just to the boil. You can use pasteurised too. Just avoid ULTRA pasteurised. Let those first few bubbles break then take it off the flame. You may cool it quickly in a water bath or cool it slowly depending on how tangy you want it.  Once it is cooled to hand hot (about 95F) add 1/4  cup of yogurt, either from your last batch or  I buy a pot of Danon plain greek yogurt every now and then to start afresh.  I let this sit for the day, until it is thick and smells good. If you like it thick like I do. Then drain it through a cheesecloth lined colander, lift the yogurt filled cloth, twist. tie and hang on a hook for the night to finish draining. I read this method on the blog Chef in Disguise. It is simple and always works. If it is a hot day I put it on the cold concrete  floor of the cellar cave and let it drain down there. Or pop it in the fridge.

When I take it out of the muslin, I usually whisk it into lovely thick creaminess and store in the fridge. Remember to keep a cup aside for your next batch.

Now for the Country Farmers Cheese.

Heat two gallons of milk or in my case cool two gallons of milk to 95F, add 1 cup of yogurt and sit for 15 minutes. Make sure to add some milk to the yoghurt first and whip it into a slurry then mix this into the warm milk. I forgot to do this yesterday and the first batch curdled and became pig food.  The pigs eat like kings when I am making cheese. Especially when I fail.  They ate the Monterey Jack yesterday!  It grew more mold than I have ever seen in the three years I have been making cheeses. Maybe I will stick to cheddar and parmesan and this lovely farmers cheese.

Anyway. I was discouraged so I went out into the garden to moan a bit and pulled a couple of onions to make a quick jar of fresh picked onions. 

But pickled onions are sad without cheese.

So I took another two gallons of milk  out of the fridge and started again.  (Lucky I have a COW!) I heated it to the 95F, I mixed in the yogurt smoothly,  then added 1/2 a tablet of rennet (or 1/2 a teaspoon of liquid rennet), dissolved in 1/4 cup of cold water. Stirred thoroughly but gently and set it aside for 30 minutes.  No curdling -phew.

My favourite  indication of a clean break, meaning everything is going according to plan, is when the curd pulls away from the edge of the pot.  And the whole thing can spin like hot porridge in a pool of cold milk. Then you push at it with your finger and if it slices cleanly you are good to go. 

You will be able to get a big knife and slice the curd into  little 1 inch pieces. Like lots and lots of sugar cubes.  Sometimes I cut the curds with a big whisk. Using the whisk as a knife. Be gentle. Let this sit for 5 minutes.  The curds will drop out of sight.

Now, ever so slowly, cook the curds, stirring and lifting gently as you go so they do not mat.  Over 30 minutes raise the temperature of the curds and whey to 120 F.  The slow cooking and stirring will allow the curd to release all that pesky whey as it is cooking.

Once cooked, tip your hot curds into a colander lined in cheesecloth (or my trusty pillowcase). Rub in a teaspoon of salt (or not), lift , tie the cloth together, hang and drain until it stops dripping (about an hour).

Line a container with a fresh cloth and push your curds in. Then set a one pound weight on top. (I use an old glass power line insulator)  Pop this in the fridge to set.  Eat as soon as you like.  It will keep for a week in the fridge, less if unsalted. 

Feed the cooled whey to your pigs and chickens.  Or make ricotta cheese. 

Good morning.  I will make a couple of these a week for after work snacks.  One more thing I do not have to buy at the supermarket.

Soon I should only need to shop once a month. Won’t that be a joy.

Have a lovely day.

celi