Make your own Cheese A workshop on cheese making

1. Make your own CheeseA workshop on cheese making David Fankhauser, PhD Cheese Making Class, 1 April 2017 9:00 to ~12:00 AM 3571 Nine Mile Road, Cincinnati OH 45255 David.Fankhauser@UC.EDU https://fankhauserblog.wordpress.com/cheese-making-for-new-folks/

2. What is cheese? Cheese may have been accidently discovered by nomadic tribes of Central Asia who carried milk in a “container” made from an animal’s stomach. As it soured, stomach bacteria and Enzymes (rennin) caused it to coagulate. Curds (and whey) were born. Cheese/milk hanging from nomad’s wagon. Cheese is the preserved protein from milk (especially casein) separated out by acid fermentation and enzyme precipitation. When salted and further fermented by additional bacterial action (cured), this a product with a long storage life. Varying the treatment and the microbes (bacteria and/or fungi) produces a wide variety of cheeses. Making cheese in middle ages:

3. How to make yogurtA skill to master before making cheese Heat milk to 85 C, cool to 55 C • 1. Scald a gallon of milk over moderate heat to 85-90 C(185 F) in heavy pot with a thick bottom (or double boiler). Keep covered. Monitor the temp. Stir occasionally to keep from sticking. • 2. Remove from fire, place covered pot in pan of clean cool water until stirred milk is 55 C (125 F). • 3. Stir up 1 cup fresh yogurt starter (Dannon Plain) with a clean fork. Add to a small amount of 55 C milk, stir thoroughly. Then stir this mixture into the larger pot of scalded 55 C milk. The temp should drop to 50 C or just below. • 4. Immediately pour the still-warm mixture to fill 4 sterile quart bottles, and an 16 oz jar, cover. • 5. Place filled bottles in cooler, with the 8 oz jar on a platform and add enough 50 C (120 F) water so that bottles are surrounded, but the lid rims are not touching water. Cover cooler. Do not disturb the yogurt and it will be finished in 3 hrs, provided the temperature does not drop below 37 C (98F). Refrigerate until needed. It will keep a month Suspend 1 c yogurt in 1 c 55 C milk, stir into pot of 55 C milk Pour immediately into qt jars, cover, place in cooler with 50 C water https://fankhauserblog.wordpress.com/2010/04/03/yogurt-making-illustrated/

4. Make labneh at home • Labneh is the simplest yogurt “cheese”. • Blend 1 tsp salt into 1 quart yogurt. • Line a colander with a sterile handkerchief, pour in the thick liquid. • Suspend over a bowl or sink for 12 - 24 hours. • Serve like the Arabs: drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with dried mint, eat with pita.

5. Stages of Cheese Making • 1) FRESH, CLEAN MILK (raw coagulates better) • 2) ACIDIFY the milk by inoculating with bacteria starter and incubating. Produces lactic acid, lowering the pH. • 3) COAGULATE with the enzyme rennin (a protease) until a “clean break” is achieved. • 4) “CUT THE CURD” when you get a “clean break”. Cut into small cubes to produce “curds and whey.” • 5) CONTRACT THE CURDS by warming. • 6) SEPARATE AND SALT the curds, press into a wheel. • 7) DRY, WAX AND CURE to develop flavor.

6. What Milk for Cheese? • Cheese can be made from milk of any mammal, each with a distinctive flavor. • The milk must be free of pathogens. • Raw milk coagulates better and makes more flavorful cheese, but must be properly handled. • If you use Pasteurized milk, casein structure is altered and calcium is sequestered. Supplementary calcium must be added for a firm “clean break.”

7. Why add bacteria to milk for cheese? • Lactic acid bacteria ferment milk sugar to produce lactic acid, lowering the pH from about 6.6 to about 5.75. (It makes yogurt or buttermilk tart.) • Rennet (the enzyme used to coagulate milk) requires acidic conditions to work optimally. • Lower pH also reduces solubility of casein, causing clabbering. • Low pH also inhibits pathogenic bacterial growth. Streptococcus lactis in buttermilk (1000x) pH of milk: ~ 6.6; pH of whey ~ 5.7.

8. Sm. intestine What is rennet? • There are two major proteins in milk: casein and albumin. • Casein is water soluble until it is digested into two pieces which become insoluble. This is called coagulation. • This coagulation is performed by rennet, an enzyme found in the abomasum stomach of suckling animals. It performs best under acidic conditions. • The insoluble products of casein digestion by rennet precipitate out, forming a gelled matrix (seen as a “clean break.”) • The albumin stays in the whey. Dissected four chambers of a ruminant (goat) stomach Rennet tablets are available in quality grocery stores. https://fankhauserblog.wordpress.com/tag/rennet/

9. Coagulated milk is cut into curds and whey. • The matrix of coagulated milk is indicated by a “clean break”. • When cut into smaller pieces, the liquid is expressed yielding whey. • The curds are the casein component of milk, the whey is the remaining water soluble part. Coagulated milk breaks over a lifting finger, termed a “clean break.” Little Miss Muffet? Cut the coagulated milk into ½ inch cubes.

10. The curds are warmed so they contract and consolidate. • The precipitated protein (curds) contract when slightly warmed (“cooked”), expressing more watery whey, and the proteinaceous curds firm up. (Think what happens when you “over cook” scrambled eggs and liquid comes out.) • The firmed curds are more easily separated from the whey. • Save the whey for ricotta if you like.

11. Decant the whey from the curds • The consolidated curds will sink, allowing the whey to be poured off (decanted). • FOR RICOTTA: • The whey is allowed to further acidify by continued bacterial fermentation at room temperature overnight. • It is then brought to near boiling the next day. Additional protein will precipitate to produce fine suspended curds, which when separated become “ricotta.” (Ricotta = Italian for “recooked”.) Whey is poured off from congealed curds. Let whey sit 24 hrs, heat to near boiling, produces ricotta.

12. Salt the curds • Salt the drained curds, mix in thoroughly. • This draws out additional water and acts as a preservative by inhibiting unwanted bacterial growth. A Tbl salt is added to curds from a gallon of milk and mixed in. Since this image was taken, I have switched to Kosher salt because it is 100% salt, no anti-caking agent, no potassium iodide.

13. Press the curds • Load the warm, salted curds into a cloth-lined cylinder. • I use sterilized handkerchiefs or single fold diapers. (“Cheesecloth” does not work because of the loose weave.) • Add a wooden disc (“follower”, not seen), and apply pressure to expel excess moisture. • The cooled curds bind together to form a wheel. Load curds into cloth-lined form. Place a “follower” on which to press. Homemade cheese press. Will show you how.

14. “Bandage” and dry • Remove the wheel from the press • Rub the surface of the wheel with salt, bandage with sterile cloth (sterilized white handkerchiefs). Change bandage if it becomes wet. • Place in cool dry location, such as a refrigerator set on 50-55 F. • The slightly dry rind (yellowed) which forms seals the wheel, inhibits mold growth and allows waxing for curing. The salted wheel is “bandaged” with a sterile cloth. The bandaged wheel is placed on a rack to allow air circulation and surface drying.

15. Wax to seal the surface • After a rind is formed, roll the wheel in a bath of melted wax. (CAREFUL) • Waxing prevents excess loss of moisture, and, by excluding oxygen, prevents the growth of fungi and aerobic bacteria. • After waxing, cheese is aged at 55 F for months to develop richer flavor and smoother texture, and kills pathogens.

16. Activity Schedule Web Pages are all at:https://fankhauserblog.wordpress.com…/yogurt-making-illustrated/…/rennet/…/basic-cheese-making-one-gallon-milk/…/beginningcheesemaking/…//labneh-recipe-and-illustrations/…//american-mozzarella-microwave-a-la-joyce