I saw a recipe a couple of weeks ago for simple homemade cheese using milk and vinegar. I purchased a 1/2 gallon of whole milk from Whole Foods and decided today was the day to try.
I’m such a beginner. I don’t remember the last time that I heated milk so that was a bit of a setback for me. It took almost 2 hours to heat the milk and I know that can’t be right! I was using a burner diffuser under the 2 qt pan and I think I should have perhaps used a double boiler instead. I will do that next time.
Anyway I never did get the temperature up to 190° but I did read elsewhere that it was okay to shoot for 165° and that’s what I did. I was getting sick of stirring over the stove for so long! Oh and I did remove the diffuser toward the end.
Anyway once I got the milk heated, it was easy and so cool. I feel like a true homesteader cook!
I will definitely make this again and perhaps learn more about other more advanced cheeses using rennet. The thing that scares me a little is the need for sterilization and cleanliness. I’m nervous I’ll do something wrong and the wrong type of bacteria will grow or something. I did find a couple of books at the library. We shall see.
Oh and nothing goes to waste! I used the “whey” as the liquid for my bread this afternoon! Yes!