Cheesemaking and DIY
Cheesemaking and DIY projects you can do at home, from paneer and ricotta to aging your own wheels.
20 articles
Cheesemaking Equipment for Beginners: What You Need and What Can Wait
Cheesemaking equipment for beginners: the pot, thermometer, cheesecloth, molds and press you need first, what can wait, and how to keep it all clean.
Cheesemaking Starter Cultures: Which Culture for Which Cheese
Cheesemaking starter cultures explained: mesophilic vs thermophilic, blue and white molds, B. linens, direct-set vs mother cultures, storage and which to use.
How Cheese Is Made: From Milk and Curd to Cheese Forming and Aging
How cheese is made, step by step: cultures, rennet, cutting, cooking, cheese forming and pressing, salting and aging, and what each step does to the cheese.
How to Make a Simple Farmer's Cheese
Farmer's cheese is a simple fresh cheese of milk and acid. How to make it at home, press it dry for pierogi, and tell it from ricotta, paneer and cottage.
A Recipe for Homemade Cottage Cheese, Quick or Cultured
A recipe for homemade cottage cheese two ways: quick vinegar curds in an hour or cultured curds overnight, with temperatures, washing, dressing and yield.
How to Make Cream Cheese from Scratch
How to make cream cheese at home: warm milk and cream, culture with buttermilk and a drop of rennet, then drain overnight until thick, tangy and spreadable.
How to Make Feta at Home
Make feta at home with pasteurized milk, culture and rennet: a gallon of milk gives about 1 1/2 pounds. See the steps, the brine, timing and fixes.
How to Make Goat Cheese at Home
Make goat cheese at home from pasteurized goat's milk, a little culture and rennet: set it overnight, drain 12 hours, salt it. Steps, yield and fixes.
How to Make Halloumi at Home
Make halloumi at home with whole milk, rennet and mint: set, cut, press, then cook the curd in hot whey for 30 minutes so it grills without melting.
How to Make Labneh at Home
How to make labneh at home: stir salt into whole-milk yogurt, strain it in cloth in the fridge for 12 to 24 hours, then serve with olive oil or roll into balls.
How to Make Mozzarella at Home in 30 Minutes
How to make mozzarella at home with milk, citric acid and rennet: exact amounts, temperatures, the stretching step, and fixes for curd that won't set.
Making Paneer at Home: The Step-by-Step Method
Making paneer at home: which milk to buy, how much lemon juice or vinegar, the right curdling temperature, pressing time, yield and fixes.
How to Make Quick Mascarpone at Home
How to make quick mascarpone at home with heavy cream and lemon juice: the temperature, the spoon test, overnight draining, and fixes for runny cheese.
How to Make Ricotta at Home in 30 Minutes
How to make ricotta at home with whole milk, cream, vinegar or lemon juice and salt: temperatures, draining times, yield, storage and fixes.
How to Make Your First Aged Cheese at Home
Make your first aged cheese with a farmhouse cheddar: press it in stages, air dry, wax or oil the rind, then age it at 50 to 55°F for at least a month.
Pasteurization at Home for Cheesemaking: How to Do It
Pasteurization at home for cheesemaking: heat raw milk to 145°F for 30 minutes or 161°F for 15 seconds, then cool it fast. Steps from Oregon State Extension.
Salt in Cheesemaking: Why Cheese Is Salted
Salt in cheesemaking controls microbes, draws out whey, shapes texture and rind, and adds flavor. See dry salting vs brining, with real amounts from studies.
Cheesemaking Problems and How to Fix Them
Cheesemaking problems explained: why curd will not set, mozzarella will not stretch, cheese turns crumbly, rubbery or bitter, or grows mold, and what to change.
Rennet: Animal, Microbial, Fermentation-Produced and Plant
Rennet explained: how the enzyme chymosin sets milk into curd, the four kinds (animal, microbial, fermentation-produced, plant) and which are vegetarian.
Yogurt vs Cheese: What Is the Difference?
Yogurt vs cheese compared: how each is made, which cultures they use, USDA nutrition per 100 g and how much lactose each keeps. Includes strained yogurt.