Cheese Making

The path

1. 1
   Level 1Free

   Fresh Cheeses

   Mozzarella, burrata, feta and a cheese board

   15 Steps, about 40 minutes each. Curious cooks who've never made cheese. If you can heat milk and read a thermometer, you can do this.

   1. Chapter 1: Acid cheeses. Ricotta, paneer and labneh made, cooked with, and cultured butter churned.
   2. Chapter 2: Stretch. Mozzarella stretched, troubleshot and made again, burrata filled, and pizza night with your own cheese.
   3. Chapter 3: Brined and cultured. Cream cheese and feta made with cultures, and a cheese board night with everything you've made.

   1. 1
      Fresh ricotta

      A batch of fresh, creamy ricotta made from milk, cream and lemon juice.

      Fresh ricotta is the easiest cheese there is, and it teaches the idea behind every cheese: milk proteins clump into curds when you add acid or enzymes, and the watery whey runs off.

      Here, heat does most of the work. Milk heated to about 190°F (88°C) has its proteins loosened and ready. Lemon juice adds acid, and the protein casein clumps into soft white curds floating in yellowish, slightly cloudy whey.

      The detail beginners miss is stirring after the acid goes in. Stir once or twice, gently, then leave it alone. Stirring hard breaks the curds into tiny grains that slip through the cloth, and you end up with less, grainier ricotta.

      Here's an example batch. 3 cups whole milk, 1 cup cream, half a teaspoon of salt, heated to 190°F while stirring so the bottom doesn't scorch. Off the heat, 3 tablespoons lemon juice stirred in gently. Five minutes of rest. Poured into a cloth-lined sieve and drained 10 to 20 minutes, depending on how thick you like it.

      Right looks like soft, moist curds that hold together on a spoon. Hot milk can boil over and scald, so use a big pot, stay by the stove, and use oven mitts when you pour.

      Smitten Kitchen
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   2. 2
      Pressed paneer

      A firm block of paneer, pressed and ready to cut into cubes.

      Cook With Manali
   3. 3
      Strain labneh

      Salted yogurt hung in cheesecloth to strain overnight into thick labneh.

      The Mediterranean Dish

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   1. 4
      Cook with your cheeses

      A meal made with your paneer, and your labneh finished as a dip or rolled into balls.

      Swasthi's Recipes
   2. 5
      Cultured butter

      Cream cultured overnight, churned into butter, washed and salted, with buttermilk on the side.

      New England Cheesemaking Supply
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   3. 6
      Milk and gear check

      Mozzarella milk bought, labels checked, and gear laid out for your first stretched cheese.

      Cultures for Health
   4. 7
      30-minute mozzarella

      Your first ball of mozzarella set with rennet, stretched until glossy, and shaped.

      The Happy HomesteadNew England Cheesemaking Supply
   5. 8
      Troubleshoot and remake

      A second batch of mozzarella, fixing whatever went wrong the first time.

      New England Cheesemaking Supply
   6. 9
      Burrata

      Mozzarella shaped into a pouch and filled with stracciatella: shredded curd and cream.

      New England Cheesemaking Supply
   7. 10
      Pizza night

      Pizza made with your own mozzarella, shared with someone.

      Cultures for Health
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   8. 11
      Start cream cheese

      Milk and cream cultured and set with a drop of rennet, left overnight.

      New England Cheesemaking Supply
   9. 12
      Strain and flavor

      Your cream cheese drained to a spreadable texture and flavored two ways.
   10. 13
       Make feta

       A batch of feta curds set, cut, drained into a mold and salted.

       New England Cheesemaking Supply
   11. 14
       Brine the feta

       Your feta cut into blocks, salted and sunk into brine in the fridge.

       New England Cheesemaking Supply Help Center
   12. 15
       Cheese board night

       A cheese board with your feta, cream cheese and at least one other cheese, shared with friends.

       The Mediterranean Dish
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2. Level 2Unlocks after Level 1

   Pressed Cheeses

   Your first pressed and aged cheddar

3. Level 3Unlocks after Level 2

   The Cheese Cave

   Bloomy rinds and a home aging setup

Where it ends: a board of cheeses you made

Free lessons in Fresh Cheeses come from Smitten Kitchen, Cook With Manali, The Mediterranean Dish, Swasthi's Recipes, New England Cheesemaking Supply, Cultures for Health, The Happy Homestead, New England Cheesemaking Supply Help Center. We link to their work and never copy it.