CHEESE
Whichever type of milk you use (cow's or goat's), use the following
quantities and times:
Note: If you use a bag of “special cottage cheese” ferment in
freeze-dried form (available from pharmacies), the times will be
indicated by the manufacturer. NB: these bags contain rennet, so
it is not necessary to add it.
MAKING 'DRY' CHEESE FROM FROMAGE BLANC
*
For ‘moister’ cheese, leave the whey in the pot so that it stays in
contact with the fromage blanc to prevent it from ‘drying out’
too much.
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Of course, if you prefer dryer cheese, simply keep removing the
whey as it accumulates. To speed up the drainage process, slice the
faisselle carefully in a few places. To enjoy the resulting faisselle,
you may simply turn it out and serve, or you may whip with a
whisk or hand blender to make cheese while it is still in the strainer
as this would make it drip out through the holes.
*
Add just a small amount of salt if you like your cheese salty.
Note that adding salt causes the cheese to produce more whey.
*
You may also want to leave your faisselle longer to drain to produce
‘dry’ cheese. It is possible to press your cheese in a lter cloth to
eliminate as much whey as possible and then to give it the desired
shape. Fromage blanc is the starting point for most cheeses and
requires only a few extra steps to create dryer cheese.
*
Here are some suggestions, keeping in mind that the avour and
texture of your cheese may vary widely depending on the time
of year, type of milk, amount of salt, temperature and placement
of the cheese maker.
Procedure:
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Turn out the cheese and sprinkle a pinch of salt over the top.
Season additionally as desired (e.g., pepper, herbs, cumin).
*
The next day, turn the cheese over and salt again lightly on the
other side.
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Repeat each day for 3 to 4 days for a 1 to 1.5 L cheese or 2 to
3 days for a 0.25 L cheese.
Milk Ferment Rennet Time
First use (fromage blanc from the store) - To make fromage blanc,
we suggest initially heating the milk to 35°
Fresh
milk
1 L 1 tbsp 3 drops
12 hours
1.5 L 2 tbsp 5 drops
Whole
UHT milk
1 L 1 tbsp 6 drops
12 hours
1.5 L 2 tbsp 8 drops
½ skim
UHT milk
1 L
1 tbsp + 5 teaspoons of
powdered milk
6 drops
14 hours
1.5 L
2 tbsp + 5 teaspoons of
powdered milk
8 drops
Fresh
milk
1 L 1 tbsp 6 drops
12 hours
1.5 L 2 tbsp 8 drops
Regeneration (fromage blanc or whey from previous batch) 5 times maximum -
To make fromage blanc, we suggest initially heating the milk to 35°
Fresh
milk
1 L 2 tbsp 3 drops
8 hours
1.5 L 3 tbsp 5 drops
Whole
UHT milk
1 L 2 tbsp 6 drops
1.5 L 3 tbsp 8 drops
½ skim
UHT milk
1 L 2 tbsp 6 drops
1.5 L 3 tbsp 8 drops
Fresh
milk
1 L 2 tbsp 6 drops
10 hours
1.5 L 3 tbsp 8 drops
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