The Art of Artisan Cheesmaking

I have been making cheese for quite a while now. Since we have dairy goats, I have had the privilege of such a great opportunity for making cheeses.
There are two different types of cheese, soft cheeses, (ricotta, cream cheese, cottage cheese, & mozzarella) and there are hard cheeses (Cheddar, Gouda, Brie, Bleu, Stilton, etc.).

I started with the soft cheeses, because they are quicker & easier.
Ricotta cheese has got to be the simplest cheese ever to make. You just have to heat your milk to 185F, and add tablespoons of vinegar or lemon juice until the curds separate. Drain your curds in a cheese cloth, and put it in the fridge. This type of cheese is very versatile, as is cream cheese.

Mozzarella only takes about an hour to make; some say it is the hardest cheese to make, but I have found it to be quite easy.
It follows the basic cheese making process in the beginning, and ends with stretching the curds under hot water to create the stringiness characteristic to Mozzarella.

Hard cheeses are generally a longer process, and can take most of the day to complete.
Cheddar & Gouda take many, many hours for the curds to finish ripening.

Below are the basic steps for cheese making, accompanied by some photos I have taken.


Step one: heat your milk (usually to about 90-100F)

 After you add your culture & rennet, let the curd form, then cut the curd.
The below photo is right after the cutting of the curd.

 Stir the curds so they can separate, and raise the temperature slightly.

 Keep stirring the curds, don't let them mat.

As you can notice, the curds get smaller as they cook. The more time cooking, the harder the cheese.

 Drain off the whey.

 Two gallons of milk yields about 2 lb. cheese, and 1 gallon of whey.

You can make ricotta cheese from whey from a cheese which uses mesophillic culture. 

You can also feed whey to your chickens, pigs, dogs, & cats, as well as your plants. 

Boiling pasta in whey results in tastier noodles than if you use water. 

If you have any questions regarding cheese making, I will be happy to answer them. 

Thanks for reading! 

~Grace