I mentioned cheesemaking was on the agenda the other day, after we acquired a bucket of fresh cow’s milk that property-owner friends of ours just couldn’t use.

They gave me some simple instructions on how we could make our own cheese and yoghurt, so, with bucket in hand, off home we went to give it a try.  Heating milk to 70 degrees celsius, before adding a cup of apple cider vinegar for curds to separate from the whey…..I must admit, I felt a little like Little Miss Muffet….

Once the curds had separated, they were cut into smaller pieces before pouring through cheesecloth and squeezing tightly to remove all the whey.  Then to give it flavour, we sprinkled with salt to taste…….we were advised to over-salt rather than under-salt as once we added a heavy weight to it, the  excess whey would drag all the salt out of the cheese, which is what we did, and yes…..it worked!

We had to place the cheese  wrapped in the cheesecloth in a colander under a heavy weight to remove any excess whey so it would become a harder rather than softer cheese.  After a couple of hours it was ready and quite tasty….just like the mild cheese you buy at the supermarket in the blocks, only paler.

So very simple…..but the milk HAD to be fresh….not homogenised (in other words, the cream sits beautifully on the top, like in the old days!) as the large cream molecules work best to create the curd.   And believe it or not, we used about 8 litres of milk (because we wanted to try making fresh yoghurt), and this made roughly about half a kilo of cheese.  Next time we might try adding some fresh herbs from the garden.

The leftover milk we added to our yoghurt maker with a few tablespoons of plain yoghurt as a starter, put the lid on and shook to mix.  We added some boiling water to the outer container, then popped the milk container in and added a weight before popping the lid on and leaving overnight.

The next morning, this was my breakfast…….creamy and delicious!

and all this cost next to nothing…..talk about living frugally!  There’s something to say about using what you have…..not only is it really rewarding, it’s comforting knowing exactly where your food is coming from and how it’s been produced.  We’re very blessed to live in this part of the country…that’s for sure!

Have you tried making your own cheese or yoghurt before?  I’d love to hear what you did!

xox Sugary hugs :o)