Farmer’s Cheese

This post is part of series on different ways to use, transform and preserve fresh milk. Main article here.

Your classic, easy to make fresh cheese with a kick of buttermilk. Use plain, herbed as a dip or as a filling for dumplings.

Recipe

Makes about 12.7 oz/360g of cheese.

Ingredients

2 quarts/64 oz of milk
2 cups/16 oz of buttermilk or kefir
1/4 cup/2 oz of white vinegar or lemon juice
3/4 tsp sea salt

Method

Gently heat milk in a heavy bottomed pot until 180F or just barely simmering, stirring frequently.

Turn off the heat. Add buttermilk and vinegar.

Stir until curds form.

Let sit, uncovered, for 10 min.

Place a colander inside of a bowl with some clearance on the bottom. Line with a cheesecloth and slowly pour the whey and curd mixture over the colander.

Wrap the curds into a ball and tie onto a kitchen sink faucet, a cabinet handle or yogurt strainer with a bowl underneath.

Let drain for 30 min.

Place the curds into a bowl or glass storage container. Add the sea salt and gently break apart the curds as you mix with salt. Taste, adding more salt if necessary. Save the whey for another use.

Stays good for at least a week in the fridge, longer in the freezer.