Simple cheeses that can be made in a day?

July 24, 2008 9:30 AM

Cheesefilter! Any home cheesemakers out there? What simple cheeses can be made in half a day? I've made mozzarella and ricotta and now I'd like to make another quick cheese. Any suggestions?

I'm doing this with a group so it's been fun to just gather the ingredients and spend a day doing the cheese. However, I'm stymied as to the next cheese. Everything I've looked up seems to require many hours of setting and/or many hours of draining. I'd like something I can make and eat immediately.

I can get fresh goat milk as well as simple-pasteurized whole milk!

posted by amanda to food & drink (7 comments total)

Queso blanco or paneer.
posted by Faint of Butt at 9:36 AM on July 24, 2008

Paneer! I recommend adding cumin seeds and some salt, which some recipes omit.

My AskMe on what to do with the leftover whey, with further paneer advice courtesy of 31d1's mom.
posted by desuetude at 10:19 AM on July 24, 2008

Cheese Making, illustrated. Dave Fankhauser has a number of recipes on his website for simple, home-make-able cheese varieties.
posted by Chrischris at 10:28 AM on July 24, 2008 [1 favorite]

If you can get fresh goat milk, make soft goat cheese. It's really good with some garlic and basil. To make it, you warm the milk, stir in the rennet and culture, and wait a few hours for it to set (it's ready when the curd pulls away from the side of the pot). Then drain the whey and pour the curds into a muslin cloth spread in a colander. Gather it up and hang overnight. Very easy.

I don't remember the amounts, and I'm at work so can't look it up, but it's a very small amount of liquid rennet, something like 1/8 teaspoon per gallon of milk. For culture, don't use buttermilk from the store, but buttermilk culture from a cheesemaking supply house. (Most commercial dairies seem to have changed their culture a few years ago, and if you use their buttermilk your cheese will have a slimy texture. At least that's true in my area.)
posted by bricoleur at 10:49 AM on July 24, 2008

Not to hijack, but does anyone have a good angle on where one could find the ingrediants for a simple Mozzarella? I've looked far and near at both well stocked supermarkets and smaller speciality stores and the employees act as if I am speaking Klingon. This is espacially true of trying to find the rennet.
posted by mmascolino at 11:05 AM on July 24, 2008 [1 favorite]

Paneer is great. Then, make sag paneer. Yum!
posted by dowcrag at 11:41 AM on July 24, 2008

I've had good luck ordering stuff from Ricki Carroll's Cheesemaking Supply Company. It was very speedy! I think you might want to call around to cheese shops in your area for local sources.
posted by amanda at 11:42 AM on July 24, 2008