Making Your Own Cottage or Curd Cheese at Home

by: Val Harrison

A lot of people are put off the idea of making cheese at home by having to buy special equipment and supplies but cottage or curd cheese is really easy to make and requires no special tools that you won't find in the ordinary kitchen, nor does it require rennet or any special ingredients

Cheese has always been a way of storing a surplus of milk for use when the cow or sheep were dry and making your own cheese at home is a great way to store any surplus milk you may find yourself with.

In terms of cost, home made cheese will not save you money but if you find you have a couple of pints about to turn in the fridge or the supermarket has over stocked and reduced some milk, you can store this by making cottage cheese. Although cottage, or curd cheese as some people call it, doesn't store for a long time in the fridge it will freeze easily.

We've never found out how long our cottage cheese will keep for because it tends to be eaten quickly. This method produces a different cheese than commercial cottage cheese. It's firmer and more granular, which we like and you can add different flavourings but we just like salt and black pepper,

All cheeses are made from the coagulated lumps from milk - the curds – with the liquid part called the whey, hence curds and whey. Although a lactic starter can be used when making cottage cheese, it is not necessary, the same chemical reaction of turning the milk, or curdling, can be obtained from the use of vinegar or lemon juice which most people have in their kitchen.

So why not spend half an hour making your own cottage cheese? It tastes better than shop bought and the process is absolutely fascinating.

Recipe for Cottage Cheese

Ingredients:

• 2 pints (1200 ml) semi-skimmed or skimmed milk
• 2 tablespoons (30 ml) lemon juice or white vinegar
• Pinch of salt

Equipment:

• Saucepan – stainless steel or enamelled
• Wooden Spoon
• Fine Sieve

Method:

• Pour the milk into the saucepan.
• Heat on hob until it is very hot, but do no boil, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon.
• Allow to cool for a couple of minutes.
• Add 2 tablespoons (30 ml) of lemon juice or vinegar.
• Stir and watch the hot milk separate into the curds and whey.
• Allow to cool further.
• Pour the curds and whey through a sieve to catch the curds.
• Discard the whey or use it instead of water in bread making, or for any recipe calling for sour milk or buttermilk.
• Transfer the curds into a small bowl and add a pinch of salt.

You’ve got cottage cheese!

Optional Extras to your Cottage Cheese:

• Add a tablespoon of double-cream to the curds for a richer consistency.
• Add chopped chives, chopped spring onions, herbs.
• Sprinkle with a little black pepper.
• Whatever takes your fancy!

Problems with Cottage Cheese:

If the milk is not curdling it may be the milk. Only use regular pasteurised semi-skimmed or skimmed milk not UHT or Homogenised.

Add a little more acid in the form of lemon juice or vinegar to correct.

Making Cheese - Cheddar Cheese

This hard cheese is one of the great cheeses of the world. It is usually made with cow’s milk, but I frequently made it from goat’s milk. Goat and ewe’s milk both produce a slightly softer curd than cow’s milk, and they require slightly reduced temperatures. The curds from these milks also need slightly less pressing.

Sterilise all the equipment in hot water and ensure that the room is not subject to cold draughts. Give yourself plenty of time, without the possibility of interruptions.

Ingredients

This makes approximately 0.5kg (1lb) of Cheddar. The final weight will vary depending on the type of milk. For a larger quantity, adjust the ingredients accordingly. It should be pointed out that it is far more economical to make a larger quantity than the one stated here because it takes just as long to make a small cheese as a larger one.

• 5 litres (1gallon) full cream milk
• 1 litre (1.7pints) additional cream (optional)
• 5ml (1 teaspoon) liquid starter or 5ml DVI dry starter (or half a cup of live yoghurt/live buttermilk although this is not as reliable as a commercial starter)
• 3ml (half teaspoon) rennet
• 10g salt

Method

Pasteurisation: Pasteurise the milk to destroy unwanted bacteria. To avoid damaging the subsequent curd, this is normally 66 OC held for 30 minutes. Cool to 21 OC.

Starter:Stir in the starter and leave the milk, covered in a warm place for about an hour so that it can acidify. Don’t leave it for much longer than this otherwise the cheese may be too dry and crumbly.

Rennet: Increase the temperature to 28 OC for goat or ewe’s milk, or to 30 OC for cow’s milk. Mix the rennet with two teaspoonfuls of previously boiled and cooled water and then stir it in. Give it another stir 5 minutes later to stop the cream collecting at the top. Cover the container and then leave the milk to set in a warm place.

Setting: (Coagulating): The curd is normally ready when it is firm to the touch, gives slightly and does not leave a milk stain on the back of the finger. Note that with vegetarian rennet, setting takes longer than with animal rennet. It also takes longer in a cooler environment.

Cutting the curd: This is where the curd is cut in order to release the liquid whey. Cut down into the curd, from top to bottom one way then cut it at right angles to form square columns. The curd is then loosened from around the walls of the pan. Unless a curd knife is available to make horizontal cuts, a palette knife can used to make diagonal cuts to break up the curd into pieces that are approximately pea-sized. Stir gently with the hand for a couple of minutes.

Scalding: Sometimes referred to as cooking, this is where the temperature of the curds and whey is raised slowly while occasional stirring of the curds takes place by hand. Gradually increase the temperature to 38 OC over the next 30-40 minutes.

Pitching: This is the process of giving the whey a final, circular stir so that it whirls round. The curds then gradually sink to the bottom and collect at a central point. Turn off the heat and leave the pan until all movement has ceased in the liquid.

Running the whey: Ladle out as much of the liquid whey as possible, then place a previously sterilised cloth over a stainless steel bucket or large basin and tip in the curds. Make the cloth into a bundle by winding one corner around the other three. This is called a Stilton knot. Place the bundle on a tray which is tilted at an angle to let the whey drain away. Leave for about 15 minutes.

Stacking or cheddaring (Texturing):Untie the bundle and the curds will be seen to have formed into a mass. Cut this into four slices and place one on top of the other then cover with the cloth. After about fifteen minutes place the outer slices of the curd on the inside of the stack, and vice versa. Repeat this process several times until the curd resembles the texture of cooked breast of chicken when it is broken open.

Milling: This is the process of cutting the curd into pea-sized pieces. Traditionally a curd mill was used for this, but it is easy to do it by hand.

Salting: Sprinkle 10g salt onto the milled curds. rolling them gently without breaking them further.

Moulding: This is the process of lining the cheese mould from the press with previously boiled cheesecloth and adding the curd until the mould is full. The corner of the cloth is then folded over the top of the cheese and it is ready for pressing.

Pressing: Once in the mould the curds have a wooden ‘follower’ placed on top so that when the mould is put into the press there is a surface on which to exert an even pressure.

Pressing cheese is essentially a process of compacting the curds while extracting the liquid whey. For the first hour, apply a light pressure so that the fats are not lost with the whey then increase it to the maximum and leave until the following day.

Next day, remove the cheese from the press, replace the cloth with a clean one and put the cheese back in the mould, upside down, and press for another 24 hours.

Drying: Remove the cheese from the press and cloth and dip it in hot water (66 OC) for one minute in order to consolidate and smooth the surface. Place it in a protected area at a temperature of 18-21 OC and leave it to dry for a day or two until a rind begins to form.

Sealing: Once the rind has formed the cheese can be sealed to prevent it becoming unduly desiccated while it is maturing. Large cheeses are sometimes bandaged but it is much easier to use cheese wax that is available from specialist suppliers.

Using a water bath, heat the wax in a pan and stir it to ensure that it is melting evenly.

Do not leave the pan unattended in case of fire! Dip the cheese into the liquid wax and coat thoroughly. It sets quickly, so rotate the cheese so that the area where your fingers are touching can also be coated. If preferred, you can paint on the wax with a paintbrush but this will probably need two coats.

Maturing: The last stage is often the all-important one. A cheese, which is tasteless and bland when freshly made, is full of flavour and body after its proper ripening period.

Leave to mature in a cool, dry place at 8 – 11 OC where it should be turned daily for the first three weeks, then on alternate days after that. For a large mild cheese, ripening should take place for at least three months. A longer period of ripening produces a more mature cheese. Smaller cheeses are usually ready after a month.

Making Your Own Cheese at Home, Ingredients

Milk

Milk is obviously the main ingredient and may be from cows, goats or dairy sheep. There are also some who use buffalo milk. In fact, from the regulatory point of view, milk is recognised as being a product that emanates from these four animals.

Dried or frozen milk will produce perfectly good cheese, as well as milk from the milkman or supermarket, although the latter will be more expensive than having your own dairy animal or bulk source of milk.

Starter culture

This is a culture of the appropriate bacteria to ensure that milk is at the optimum level of acidity or ripeness before it is turned into curds and whey. There are several different strains available, depending on the cheese to be produced.The most common ones are Streptococcus lactis and Streptococcus cremoris. Some cultures have a range of different bacteria, making them suitable for all types of soft or pressed cheeses, while others are manufactured for specific cheeses.

Starters tend to be of two types: Thermophilic can stand higher temperatures than normal. They are used in some Italian and Swiss cheeses that require higher than usual temperatures in their production. Mesophilic starters are used at lower temperatures and are suitable for most cheeses.

Starters are available in freeze-dried form, in foil packets, from specialists who supply by mail order. They need to be stored in the freezer until used. They are generally available in one of two forms: DVI (direct vat inoculation) cultures or the traditional 'incubated before use'; ones.

The former is the most convenient to use because it is merely a matter of opening the foil sachet and sprinkling the starter into the milk in the vat. One sachet of Ezal MA4001 or 4002, for example, will be enough for 50 litres of milk, so while suitable for the commercial dairy, may be too much for home use.

However, it is possible, although not recommended, to use some of the powder, then re-seal the sachet with tape and freeze it until next time. The general guidelines as to its usage are as follows:

• Soft cheese: Leave to ripen for 30 minutes
• Hard cheese: Leave for 60 minutes before adding rennet

Traditional or 'incubated before use' starters are those that need to be prepared before use. Some of the most common are Ezal MM100 and 101, but there are many others. The procedure for preparing them is as follows:

• Heat one litre of fresh milk to 90 O C for ten minutes. Put the saucepan lid on immediately and allow the milk to cool to 20-22° C.
• Sprinkle the culture from the sachet into the cooled, sterilised milk and stir well until completely mixed.
• Pour the milk into a previously sterilised container such as a food-grade plastic box (an ice cream container is suitable). Place in a warm place at 20-22° C for 24 hours so that the culture is incubated.
• It is then ready for use. It should smell clean and sharp and resemble yoghurt. As to how much of this starter to use, amounts obviously vary depending on the scale and type of cheese to be made.

After taking the amount needed for making the cheese, the rest of the culture can be frozen. Home users may find it useful to store the rest of the culture in a self-sealing, ice-cube freezer bag until needed. One of these cubes is approximately equivalent to one tablespoon.

Rennet

In cheesemaking, it is not always convenient to have coagulation at a very acid level; some cheeses require coagulation earlier. This is where rennet comes in.

Rennet is a curdling agent, which acts on the milk protein casein, causing separation of the milk into solid curds and liquid whey. Traditionally it was derived from a calf's stomach, but now vegetarian rennet is also available, although more of the latter is required.

General rate of usage is 4 drops per 5 litres of milk for soft cheeses and 4 drops per 1 litre for hard cheeses, but this varies depending on the cheese. Some soft cheeses, for example, need a very small amount, with a long setting period, otherwise they go rubbery. Also, the more acidic the milk, and the more starter has been used, the shorter the setting time. Coagulation also takes place more quickly at a warm temperature, such as 30° C.

Salt

Salt enhances the flavour of a cheese, and acts as a preservative. It also helps to drain and firm the cheese. It is sprinkled on to the curds before they are put into the mould. The amounts vary, depending on the cheese, but a general guideline is as follows:

• Dry salting : 2% per kilo of curds, ie, 20g salt per kilogram of curd.
• 20% brine solution : 200ml (13 level tablespoons) salt per litre of water.

Herbs

Some cheeses may have chopped herbs such as parsley or sage added for extra taste, and depending on the recipe. Fresh or dried herbs can be used, and are normally added to the curd at salting. Finished soft cheeses are sometimes rolled in herbs or crushed black peppercorns. Some pressed cheeses may be marinated in beer or cider.

Colouring

Annatto, a substance from the seeds of the South American plant Bixa orellana, is sometimes used to colour cheeses, but home cheesemakers generally do not need it. It is available from specialist suppliers.

The amount used depends on the degree of colour required, and usually ranges between 5-15ml per 50 litres of milk. The colour becomes more apparent as the curds form. It is added after the starter but before the rennet.

Wax

Pressed cheeses can be bandaged or coated with wax, and cheese wax is available in different colours from specialist suppliers.

Acidity

At different stages of cheesemaking, it is necessary to know the level of acidity of the milk or curds. For example, when making a Cheshire cheese the acidity or level of lactic acid in the milk should be about 0.20% at renneting. Perfectly good cheeses can be made without as detailed a technique as this, but the ability to test the acidity is important to the commercial producer if a reasonably standard product is to be achieved. A traditional way of testing acidity is to use a Lloyd’s acidmeter. Dairying pH sticks for testing acidity are also available, as well as electronic pH gauges.

With the preparations and equipment to hand, the next stage is to start making the cheese. That's where the fun begins! Here's just one example next:

Making Your Own Cheese at Home, Cheese Making Equipment

The amount of equipment needed obviously depends on the scale of operations. For the home producer, many existing kitchen items can be used, but there are specialist suppliers who cater for both commercial producers and hobbyists.

Cheese vat:

For commercial producers, floor-standing vats are available, with built-in heating and draining facilities. On a kitchen scale, a double boiler on the hob can be used. This is where a container of milk is placed in a water-bath so that water around the inner pan ensures that any temperature changes are gradual. The outer pan for the water could be aluminium but the inner container with the milk should be stainless steel.

Dairy Thermometer:

This really is essential. You need to be able to notice even slight variations in temperature. There are floating thermometers, as well as those that attach via a bracket to the wall of the vat.

Knives for Cutting Curd:

Curd knives are available from suppliers but a long palette knife will do just as well if the scale of operations is small.

Cheesecloth:

This is a close-textured, muslin-type cloth for draining curds. It has a close weave ensuring that the fat particles are not lost. It is also used for lining moulds before curd is put in for pressing.

Cheese Moulds:

An alternative name for a cheese mould is a form, and some people use this word to distinguish between the containers and the moulds that grow on some cheeses. Moulds are available in different shapes and sizes for soft and pressed cheeses, in stainless steel or high density food-grade plastic.

Cheese Mats and Trays:

Purpose-made plastic cheese mats are available. Trays are also necessary when whey is draining away from the cheeses.

Cheese Press:

This is a must for making hard cheeses. There are several small presses on the market, as well as larger ones for commercial use. Many farmhouse cheeses are still being produced on presses that were used before the last war.

Miscellaneous:

Also necessary will be miscellaneous items such as measuring jugs, ladles, spoons, colanders, etc.

Making Your Own Cheese at Home, Introduction

Making cheese is not difficult as long as attention is paid to the quality and handling of the milk, hygienic procedures are followed and the appropriate equipment is used. It is appropriate to look at what processes are involved and what equipment is needed.

If milk is left it will ripen and eventually turn sour. This is because bacteria act on the milk sugar lactose, producing lactic acid. This, in turn, brings about a separation of the milk into solid curds and liquid whey. It is the curds that eventually form cheese. The problem with producing cheese in this way is twofold:

• An extended period of natural souring encourages the growth of unsuitable, possibly harmful bacteria.
• The milk may have become too acidic for the particular cheese recipe.

The safest way of producing cheese is to first pasteurise the milk by heating it to 66 OC for half an hour, so that any unwelcome bacteria are removed. Then, the milk is cooled and a culture of appropriate bacteria (a lacto-bacilli starter) is added so that the milk is ripened without needing an extended period to do so. Finally, rennet is added. This acts on the casein of the milk, making it coagulate and form curds and whey.

Traditionally, the evening’s milking was set aside to ripen and then mixed with the morning’s milking, so that it provided a natural starter. Many people still use this method and there is nothing wrong with it as long as the quality of milk in its production and handling are second to none. If there is any doubt about the quality of the milk, it should be pasteurised before use.