Ingredients
- Ingredients:
- 2-3 gallons goat milk (or cow milk) - (I use a little over 3 gallons of raw, unpasteurized goat milk)
- 1/4 tsp. mesophilic DVI Culture "MM" or "MA"* -OR- 4 oz. mesophilic culture (from a mother culture) - (I use "MM" DVI)
- 1/4 - 1/2 tsp. Kid or Kid/Lamb Lipase powder (this is not vegetarian- you can omit if you wish, but the cheese will not have as much flavor) - (I use Kid/Lamb Lipase because I like a strong flavor)
- 1 tsp. Liquid rennet dissolved in 1/2 C. water - (NOTE: I use 1/2 tsp. double strength vegetable rennet)
- Kosher salt
- Brine: 1/2 C. salt (Kosher, of course) per 1/2 gallon of water (boiled and cooled to below room temp.)
Directions
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Of course you should sterilize all your equipment before you begin.
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In a “double boiler” pot set up, warm the milk to 86° (88° for cow milk) (In the summer when my kitchen is hot, I can bypass using the double boiler to keep the milk at the correct temperature). Add the culture and lipase. You should be able to substitute live cultured buttermilk if you wish, though I have never tried this recipe using buttermilk. You definitely want to use the lipase in this cheese. Lipase is the enzyme that gives Feta that great Feta flavor.
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Stir well and let ripen, covered, for one hour.
- Keeping the milk at 86° (88° for cow milk). Add the rennet and stir briskly for 15 seconds. I then kind of “stop” the milk from moving with my ladle. Cover and let set about 30-40 minutes, or until you get a “clean break”.
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You can check for a clean break by sticking your knife, or thermometer, into the curd at an angle. Pull straight up out of the curd; if the curd breaks cleanly around the knife and whey runs into the crack that is made; you have a “clean break.” Once you see this for the first time, you will know just what I mean.
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Cut the curd into 1/2" pieces.
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Cutting the curds can be the most confusing part, but just don’t worry so much. Use a long knife held vertically and cut 1/2" slices in the curds. Then turn the pot 90° and cut across in 1/2" slices the other direction, making a kind of checkerboard pattern. Now hold the knife at a sideways 45° angle and retrace your cuts. Turn the pot 1/4 turn and retrace the cuts. Turn it again and cut and then one final turn and cut. By the last turn you probably won’t be able to see the original cuts, but just do the best you can. If you don’t think you cut the curd perfectly, don’t worry.
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Do not stir yet.
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Let the curds rest for 10 minutes (5 minutes for cow milk).
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After this rest period, stir the curd gently and cut any pieces that you missed when you first cut the curd (don’t worry about being too perfect). Hold the curd at 86° for 45 minutes (88° for cow milk), carefully stirring occasionally to prevent the curd from sticking together (I stir every 10 minutes). This process of “cooking” the curd helps the curd “toughen up” as well as release it’s whey.
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Close up of freshly cut curd.
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The first cut curd is very soft and delicate.
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Stirring the curd during the “cooking” process so it does not stick together.
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Close up of curd after 45 minutes.
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It has toughened up a bit and released quite a bit of it’s whey.
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It is now ready to pour into cheesecloth.
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lace a big colander over a big pot and line the colander with a large piece of dampened cheesecloth. I use fine cheesecloth. if you dampen it, it will stick slightly to the colander, holding it in place.
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Carefully pour the curd into the colander.
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Tie the corners of the cheesecloth together and hang the bag to drain. Be sure to save the whey to make some Ricotta later. After 3-4 hours, take the cheese down and turn the cheese over in the cheesecloth (top turned to bottom). At this point I actually switch to a different piece of slightly “courser” (medium weave; a little more open weave) cheesecloth. You don’t have to feel you have to change to a new cloth if you don’t want to.
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This turning will “even up” the cheese into a nice form. If you don’t turn it, you will have a rough, “stalagmitish” side to the cheese; it is edible, just not so attractive.
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Let your cheese hang and continue draining for about 24 hours, at this point it will start to develop a distinctive odor. Make sure to warn your family that you are making cheese or they may start looking around for what the heck that smell is. I had some cheese hanging once and Larry said to me, “Did Purknz (our cat) vomit or something?” “No,” I replied, “it’s just the cheese.” “Oh,” he said, “then that’s OK, as long as I know what it is. If it’s a cheese, it smells good. If it’s not cheese, we have a problem.”
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The Feta cheese, after hanging for 24 hours, is ready to cut.