Anyone making their own cheese?

[Laurienna]

I've been trying to google how to make simple cheese all day but DD2 is not having a very happy day and the only thing I've read was how to make paneer ( a gallon of milk + 1/4 cup lemon juice) which sounds really good. But I'd like to make a spreadable soft cheese. Does anyone have a good recipe? I'd love to have a good book recommendation too...might be faster than clicking endlessly. I'm going to the health food store tomorrow morning so I could get what I need there I think.
I've never made cheese only yogurt but I have a cheesecloth.

[ollyoxenfree]

I've made ricotta before and it turned out well. Depending on how well you drain it, it's fairly spreadable. I haven't made anything that needs rennet, but I will someday. I just haven't gone looking for the rennet to try. The ricotta is probably very similar to the paneer recipe you have, but in case it's helpful, here you go:


6 cups full cream milk
3 Tbsp. lemon juice
1/4 tsp. sea salt

Heat milk to simmering in a medium, heavy bottomed pan. Stir in the lemon juice and salt and simmer for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently until curds form.

Line a colander with cheesecloth and place over a deep bowl. Spoon the curds into the colander. If you pour, the curds will lose their shape and become dry and grainy. Drain for 5 minutes. Gather the edges of the cloth and turn the cheese into a bowl.

Keeps for about 3 days in refrigerator.

Here's another recipe from Epicurious: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/fo...Ricotta-234282

Good luck.

[ollyoxenfree]

Oh, I just found a recipe for a soft curd cheese. I haven't tried it, but it's Donna Hay, and her recipes are usually pretty sound.

1/4 cup water
1 tsp. liquid rennet
8 cups full cream milk
table salt for sprinkling

1. Heat the water in a small pan over high heat and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and cool completely. Add the rennet. Stir to combine. Set aside.

2. Place milk and candy thermometre in a pan over mediume heat. Bring to 90 F. Remove from heat. Add rennet. Stir gently for 5 to 8 minutes or until curds form.

3. Pour into a a colander lined with cheesecloth and place over a deep bowl. Drain. Twist cheesecloth to remove excess whey and shape into an oval.

4. Remove from cloth. Sprinkle with salt. Place in an airtight container in refrigerator for 2 hours. Keeps for about 2 days.

You should be able to slice this cheese.

[Pariah]

Is there a way to make cheese without rennet?

Laurienna, could you share the instructions you found for making paneer?

[Laurienna]

ollyoxenfree, thank you, that was exactly what I was looking for. I can't wait to try them.
Pariah, the paneer and ricotta are done without rennet. I think you can find vegetable rennet if you'd rather do that. Here is the youtube video on how to make paneer, it looks very simple but I watched with DD2 so I might have missed a step or two... or three. So here is the link to make it easier than my fuzzy explanations:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZ1Vfi2Bypg

Good luck!