One Gallon of Milk, Two Cheeses

Reader Contribution by Ed Hudson
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I have never viewed the making of cheese as a method of food preservation, but many cultures, especially in Europe, use the overabundance of milk produced during calving season in the spring and summer to produce cheese as an important part of their diet. Some of the cheeses are aged and eaten as a source of protein, fat and calcium during the long nights and lean days of those cold European winters, while others are eaten fresh as soon as they are made.

Over the next year, I will dive deep in to the making of cheese and hope that you will join me for the journey. I will start with some soft fresh cheeses (including mozzarella and ricotta in this post), and then move on to the pressed cheeses. To do so, I will need a cheese press — so in another post, I will build one from the parts and components I have in my garage. I hope to post something in the next 2-3 weeks.

Last year, I found a couple of organic dairies in the area that sell raw milk, full of cream that is not homogenized or pasteurized. If you do not have access to raw milk, you can absolutely use milk from your local grocery, but do not use ULTRA-pasteurized milk. During the ultra-pasteurization process, the protein structure is modified and the cheese will not turn out right.

I have made mozzarella with store-bought milk and, while it came out okay, it lacked the smoothness and texture I was looking for. Using the raw milk greatly improved the final product, making it better than anything we could get from the grocery store.

Basic Cheese Making Process

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