This winter, as a compliment to our plans for a Pizza Garden, we started to learn to make cheese. It is a tricky process because most cheese is supposed to age for a minimum of  60 days, a time frame that makes  it hard to learn from your mistakes. We have gotten pretty good at making Havarti, but some say it tastes more like a Cheddar.

Collect 4 gallons of milk and warm it in a large pot to 90 degrees. Add the culture and let  it ripen for 30 minutes.  (picture 1, cultured milk)

Stir in the rennet and let the milk sit for another 30 minutes. Test for a clean break, then you know the curd has formed and it is ready to cut into cubes. (Picture 2, clean break)

Drain off a gallon of the weigh, and let sit for 5 minutes.  Then slowly add ½ gallon of hot water, (160 degrees). Stirring constantly while adding the water. When the temperature stabilizes at 100 degrees  stir in ¼ cup of salt. (Picture 3 curd cubes) Keep the curds at 100 degrees for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally to keep the curds from matting. (Simply add a little more hot water if the temperature drops).

Drain the curds in a colander. (Picture 5)

Put the curds into a cheese press. (If you don’t have a press, wrap the curd in cheese cloth, place them in a colunder, then set a weight on top).  (Pictures 6, 8 & 9 cheese press)

Press the cheese for 15 minutes. Then remove it from the mold. (Picture 9.1)

Wrap the cheese, ( specialty cheese wrap works wonders) and press for several hours, until the whey stops draining out. Soak in brine water for 4 hours. Let it dry for a day, wax it and let it age. Enjoy. (Picture 12)