Cheesemaking at Home
What's not to love about cheese?
If you find yourself wondering how your favourite type of cheese is made, the best way to find out is to try making it yourself. Before you know it, you'll have delicious homemade cheese to feast on and brag about!
All you need is 3 basic ingredients.
First, good milk - duh. Always non ultra-pasteurized.
Always.
For soft types of cheese, you'll need
whole milk.
For harder types of cheese, skim milk might be preferred.
Milk
from cows, sheep, and goats tastes different - and so does cheese.
Second, a coagulant substance. Either enzyme coagulant
(rennet) or acid.
It's this substance that causes the solids in the milk to curdle
together.
Try pouring lemon juice in hot milk to see curdling in
action.
That's right, cheesemaking can be as easy as that.
Third, heat. Each cheese requires heating the milk to
specific temperatures.
When the right temperature
is reached, the milk proteins are denatured.
Then, the coagulant
kicks in to work its magic... and voila!