Do you remember that a few days ago I told you, through my social networks, that I had gotten into another mess? Well, you know what it is, I started in the cheeses world. If I do not know how to be still, I know. Now we have the perfect combo at home, bread, cheese … well, maybe I need some homemade beer. But who knows! Everything can come.
To begin I chose the easiest and simplest variety, the fresh cheese. It may be the least attractive, but I have to start at the beginning to evolve properly. The process does not have greater difficulty, we just have to control the temperature cooking, add the necessary ingredients and press. In just over 24 hours we will be enjoying our own homemade fresh cheese.
Many of you are sure to already make your own fresh cheese at home, or even mascarpone which is another simple variety to carry out. But for those who do not, maybe this is the final push you need to get to work.
Use a good quality fresh milk
As in all the artisan elaborations is very important raw material and in this case is milk. We need to use good quality fresh milk because from there we will make our cheese. Its taste, texture and even quantity, will depend on the quality of the milk.
I’m sure many of you have good quality fresh milk at your disposal, but those of us who live in the city do not have it simple … You should not use brick milk, it has been subjected to ultra pasteurization (UHT) and can give us problems later. You must use the one we found in the refrigerated area, which has a very short shelf life.
If you are thinking of using semi-skimmed or skim milk, you should know …
You can use it but the cheese will not get the same flavor, texture and firmness since they are milks to which have been removed much fat.
In addition to fresh milk we will need calcium chloride and rennet, either liquid or powder. Not forgetting a good cheese cloth.
This element will facilitate to remove the cheese whey from curdled milk to make our fresh cheese. It is very practical and easy to use, in addition to obtaining a perfect drainage in a very handmade way. After use it is very easy to clean; Rinse well, give it a slight boil to remove possible bacteria and allow to dry for a new use.
Would I need to use molds for homemade fresh cheese?
They are useful but not essential, in fact if you remove the cheese whey, you can let the cheese rest in any airtight container. Or even you can maintain the own shape of the cheese, slightly rounded, that we get after pressing the curdled milk.
If you want to know more about what is calcium chloride, what is the rennet and, of course, how to make your own homemade fresh cheese do not hesitate to visit Claudia & Julia blog (only available in Spanish).
For my part I will continue working on other varieties of cheese that I will gradually share with you. You will have to have a little patience because the curing process takes a few weeks … for the simplest ones. So I hope to tell you a lot more about them in a while.
Happy start of the week!
Big hugs,
Eva
