Homemade Cream Cheese – For Beginners

 

Draining homemade cream cheese

 

 

The recipe is a full-fat version for making cream cheese that uses only goat milk cream. If you prefer a lighter version, you can substitute part of the cream with goat milk. Anyway, I do not recommend using less than half cream, though, in order to get the best flavor and texture for homemade cream cheese. The small amount of rennet used to make cream cheese is what gives it the additional firmness over other soft cheeses such as quark or cottage cheese. *Remember, always add liquid rennet to a few tablespoons of water first and never directly to the milk.

 

 

Ingredients

 

  • 1 quart goat milk cream
  • 2 Tbsp. cultured buttermilk
  • 1 drop double strength liquid rennet dissolved in 2 Tbsp. Water

 

 

Direction:

 

  • In a stainless steel pan, warm the cream to about 70° F, stirring to ensure even heating. Add the buttermilk, and mix thoroughly. Stir in the rennet and water mixture, and again mix thoroughly.
  • Cover the pot and allow to sit for 24 hours at room temperature. Sprinkle about 1/2 tsp. salt over the mixture, and then whisk lightly to mix.
  • Pour the cream into a cheese cloth lined colander placed over a bowl to save the whey for future  use. Let drain for about 12 hours.
  • At that time, you can collect the cream cheese from the cheesecloth and place into a bowl for storage in the fridge.

 

 

*Optional – If you’d like a drier, molded cheese, you can place the cream cheese into a cheese mold or a small plastic container with holes in the bottom to further drain and increase the body of the cheese.

 

 

More Cheeses recipes for Beginners. Check them out!

 

 

Ricotta Cheese in a Bowl

Ricotta 

 

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Goat Milk Cheese Recipes

 

Creamy and distinct in flavor, goat cheese is a dairy product enjoyed around the world.

 

Goat milk cheese is a food consisting of proteins and fat from goat milk. It is produced by coagulation of the milk protein casein. Typically, the goat milk is acidified and the addition of rennet causes coagulation. The solids are then separated and pressed into final form. Some cheeses also contain mould either on the outer rind or throughout. It has a different color and structure and taste than that of regular cheese. It is usually white and breaks apart quickly.

Goat milk is highly suitable for the production of different varieties of soft cheeses that are popular in Europe, France, USA, Spain, Yugoslavia, Italy, China, Australia, New Zealand, etc. The goat milk can be admixed with buffalo milk at 50:50 level for the manufacture of Mozzarella cheese. The cheese made from goat milk had higher retention of moisture and lower sodium content, higher fat and dry matter content and the organoleptic quality is definitely superior when compared with cow milk cheese.

In Italy, cheese made from goat milk are either consumed fresh or ripened for 2 months. For ripening the cheese, white or blue moulds are used in order to produce a strong flavor and proper rind formation. The cheese made from goat milk is known for the desirable sharp flavor due to the presence of higher concentration of medium chain fatty acids. In many states of European Union, the USA, Australia, New Zealand, the goat milk cheese is marketed as premium quality.

Trials have been carried out by mixing 10-25% of goat milk in buffalo milk to produce cheddar cheese, which developed sharp and balanced flavor within 6 months of ripening. At 15% replacement in buffalo milk, the Gouda cheese developed pronounced flavor. Domiati cheese made from fresh goat milk and ripened for 90 days exhibited that the rennet type had little effect on the yield, acidity, moisture content, fat, salt, ratio between soluble nitrogen to total nitrogen, total volatile fatty acids and non protein nitrogen of cheese.

Summer is also the natural season for fresh goat milk cheese such as chevre. A word about storing cheeses in warm weather. All of them should be kept in the refrigerator. Creamy or sticky fresh goat cheese should first be wrapped tightly in plastic wrap. Be sure to use a fresh sheet of wrapping paper each time you rewrap the cheese.

 

 

Nutritional facts:

A one-ounce (28 gm) serving of soft goat cheese contains 102 Calories; – Protein 6 gm, Fat 8 gm, Vitamin A 8% of the RDI, Riboflavin (vitamin B2) 11% of the RDI, Calcium 8% of the RDI, Phosphorus 10% of the RDI, Copper 8% of the RDI, Iron 3% of the RDI

 

 

 

 

Fried Cheese Sticks Recipe

 

The recipe is one of the quick and easier cheeses to make at home, using only 3 common ingredients.

 

Ingredients:

 

  • 2 gallons fresh goat milk
  • 1/2 cup or more vinegar
  • Batters

 

Directions:

 

  • Heat milk to 185°F in a stainless steel pot.
  • Add vinegar until the milk begins to curdle, approximately 1/2 cup for 2 gallons of milk. Once the milk begins to curdle, stir well, and cover and let sit with no heat under it for an hour or more.
  • Then ladle cheese curds into a lined colander (cheese cloth) and let drain over another pan to catch the whey. Drain longer for a drier cheese.
  • Mold the cheese after draining fairly dry into carrot-stick shapes or into a rectangular box lined with parchment paper.
  • Cut into strips and freeze individually on cookie sheets.
  • Take from freezer and batter with your choice of batters, then fry quickly in hot oil.

 

There are a million variations on homemade cheese, though most require rennet, and often culture. If you want to have more fun, perhaps, you can dedicate time on making other cheeses like Mozzarella as well.

 

 

 

Nutritional facts:

The fried cheese sticks contains 197 Calories; – Carbohydrates 9g, Protein 10g, Fat 9g, Saturated Fat 5g, Cholesterol 38mg, Sodium 445mg, Potassium 59mg, Sugar 1g, Iron 0.6g.

 

 

More Goat Cheese Recipes , for you.  Click the link to view the lists NOW!

 

 

Vinegar Cheese

 

 

 

 

Homemade Cottage Cheese Recipe

 

Cottage Cheese in a Bowl

 

Do you know that every time you choose to eat some cottage cheese as your bedtime snack, you are providing your body with a wide array of vitamins and minerals it needs such as Vitamin B. So, with  those benefits, wouldn’t you like to learn how to make your own cottage cheese?

 

This is a dry cottage cheese, if you like it wet, you may add some cream to it.

 

Ingredients :

 

  • 2-3 gallons raw goat milk
  • 1 cup. Buttermilk
  • 1/2 tablespoon  liquid rennet,  dissolved in 1/4  cup water
  • 1-2 teaspoons  kosher salt

 

Directions:

 

  • Bring the milk to 86° and add the buttermilk. Stir well and let set, to ripen, for 1 hour. Add the rennet and stir briskly for 15 seconds. Cover the pot and let the milk set for 45 minutes, or until you get a clean break. Hold the milk at a temperature of 86° for the entire time.
  • Cut the curds into 1/2? pieces with a stainless steel knife. This always seem to be the trickiest part of cheese making, but take your time, and don’t worry if all the curds are cut not exactly 1/2?. After you have cut the curds, do not stir them yet. Let them rest, undisturbed for 10 minutes.
  • Now you can stir the curds gently and cut any that you had missed. What you are doing here is making the size cottage cheese curd you like. Raise the temperature of the curds to 95° over the next 20 minutes, stirring occasionally so the curds do not stick together. Let the curds settle for 5 minutes, undisturbed.
  • Drain the the whey until it in level with the curds (about 1/2-3/4 of the whey). Add enough cold water to lower the temp to 85°. Stir as you add the water. Now, leave the curds in this cheese 85° water/whey for 10 minutes, stirring with your hand occasionally so that the curds don’t stick together.
  • Pour the curds into a colander and let drain. Carefully stir occasionally so it dose not stick together. After about 1/2 hour, you can carefully separate or break up the curds into a bowl and salt to taste. Cover and let sit in the fridge at least 2 days. The curds may be squeaky at first, but with the aging, they loose their squeak.

 

 

 

 

How to Enjoy Goat Milk Cheeses

 

Delicious in many ways:

 

There are a varieties of goat milk cheeses available, like the Sweet combination, Wine combination and Chevre chaud. However, the varieties of goat milk cheese are not merely due to the various tastes but also partly due to the flexibility the cheese offer with its combination. Goat milk cheese can be savor both cold and warm and the way it is served will normally indicates the time of the year. Throughout the year, only during winter production of goat milk is temporarily suspended, at least for a few weeks therefore, it  is not available at year end.

 

Sweet combination

Chocolate mousse is not the only option for dessert, goat milk cream cheese combined with fruit is surprisingly tasty. The combination of mild soft goat milk cheese and strawberry or raspberry mousse  is a very harmonic combination. Exotic fruits are also a very compatible match to French goat milk cheese. You can also try pineapple with a Chabichou or mango with goat milk cream cheese.

 

Wine combination

The enjoyment can be completed with a matching wine. Particularly compatible wines are chosen from the same region as that of the goat milk cheese. A light Cotes du Rhone to Picodon , Tourraine Sauvignon to Sainte-Maure, Cotes du Ventoux to Pelardon , just to name a few. Champagne and fresh goat cheese also complement one another.

Additionally, it is also the taste and the maturity of the cheese that determines a suitable wine. Generally, goat milk cheese taste better with white wines than red wine especially salty goat cheese.

 

Chevre chaud

Chevre chaud is a French dish consisting of Chevre cheese served hot, the warm goat milk cheese which is coated in breadcrumbs or wrapped in bacon and is warmed in the oven. Several other variations are also available and are usually served on  baguette, so let’s ENJOY!