Homemade cheese is possible: getting Comté will obviously require a lot of skill and patience, but simple cheese, like dung, is within everyone's reach. Here is the recipe for making a good cheese with classic materials and ingredients.
In theory, it is possible to make any type of cheese from a simple base of milk and rennet. In fact, refining Comté or Camembert cheese for several months requires experience and strict storage conditions that are rarely accessible to everyone. On the other hand, obtaining a base of cheese fresh, faisselle, chaource, dung or ricotta is very easy.
The basic ingredients for making cheese
- Raw milk from cow or sheep. Please note: no UHT or pasteurized milk. The more your milk is high in fat, the creamier the cheese.
- Of ferments lactic: get it whey a faisselle or a petit-commerce Swiss. Allow 0.5 to 1% whey compared to the mass raw milk, about 5 to 10 g for a liter of milk, or a petit-suisse for a liter of milk.
- Rennet (a natural coagulant extracted from the abomasum), which can be obtained in pharmacies or from a cheese maker. There are different kinds depending on the type of cheese you want to get. Otherwise, you can use another coagulant such as vinegar or lemon juice.
- Fine salt.
- A large saucepan.
- A thermometer with probe, on sale in the kitchen utensils shops.
- An empty strainer or mold with small holes at the bottom.
Homemade cheese recipe
- 1time step: sowing the milk. It should ideally be done at room temperature (between 20 ° C and 22 ° C). Mix fresh milk with whey or petit-suisse. For the latter, it must first be diluted in a little milk to make it liquid and incorporate it more easily. Let sit 24 to 48 hours to curdle the milk. To skip this step, you can buy already fermented milk.
- 2e step: renneting. Heat the curd to 35 ° C (checking the temperature with the thermometer) and add the rennet or lemon juice. Cover and let stand 24 hours at room temperature.
- 3e step: draining. Pour the preparation into a fine mesh colander over a salad bowl or baking dish with small holes. Leave to drain for 24 hours.
- 4e step: salting. Place the cheese on a cloth and salt it (count about 2 to 3 grams of salt per liter), then repeat the operation after turning the cheese over.
- 5e stage: maturing. This stage is the most delicate and the longest. The cheese should be stored in a cool, well-ventilated place (for example, a cellar with a fan) and turned daily with a little salt each time. You can also add herbs or pepper.
Refining will be more or less long depending on the type of cheese you want and the storage conditions (temperature and humidity). The more salt you add, the more the cheese will dry and shrink. In 7 days, you get a fresh crottin cheese. After 14 days, a crust fine begins to form. After a month of ripening, the outer crust is hard and the inside becomes dry.
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