How to Make Your Own Cheese at Home
Making cheese at home is something most people would never think of yet it is remarkably easy in principle. Home cheesemaking can be a fun hobby, a method of storing milk that would otherwise sour or even a business opportunity.
To make serious quantities of cheese you really need a source of low cost milk. This need not just be cows milk, goats milk makes fine cheese as does sheep’s milk .
If you know a local farmer or smallholder then you may well be able to get enough milk at an affordable price to make cheese in larger quantities.
We met a couple on a market selling their own cheese who had teamed up with a small farmer to turn his ewe’s milk and goat’s milk into cheese
Personally, we just make small amounts of cottage or curd cheese at home, sometimes the supermarket has over stocked and we pick up some reduced organic milk cheaply and convert it to cheese which can be frozen. If we find cream reduced then we grab that too and convert it into butter (see making your own butter).
The process of cheesemaking is an ancient craft that dates back thousands of years, ever since man domesticated animals and found himself with milk going sour.
Why Make Cheese at Home?
Now we can buy a huge range of cheese from around the world in our local supermarket you might wonder why make cheese at home?
Well the answer could just be that is a fascinating hobby and the sheer pleasure of eating something unique that you have created yourself.
And you know exactly what has gone into the food on your table.
Artisan cheeses are something special and you might have a few mistakes and disasters along the way but that’s all part of the learning process.