This is my favorite picture! It's my
favorite doe nursing one of the twins she had last May. His name is
PROVERBS 31 POETIC JUSTICE, or "Poe" for short. I sold him to a very
close friend, so I get to see pictures of him as he grows and changes
from cute little buckling to big, hairy, smelly buck!
I got this recipe off of the internet. It worked. I use liquid rennet
that I get at my local natural health food store. I should also mention
that I get my citric acid there. When I make alot of cheeses in the
summer (when I have the most milk) I buy those things in bulk from a
cheesemaker's supply company. There are two links you could follow to
those on my sidebar.
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***Materials needed:***
* 1 nonaluminum pot that will hold a gallon of milk
* 1 measuring cup or bowl to dissolve the rennet (see note below)
* 1 spoon
* 1 candy thermometer
* 1 large slotted spoon, or small sieve
* 1/2 rennet tablet
* 1/4 cup cool, chlorine-free water (most bottled waters are chlorine-free)
* 1 gallon milk (2%, 1%, or skim){of course I use fresh, raw, goat's milk}
* 2 teaspoons citric acid (see additional note below)
Directions:
Crush the rennet into the water and stir to
dissolve. Pour milk into a nonreactive pot (no aluminum or cast iron).
Place over medium heat. Sprinkle the citric acid over the milk and stir
a few times. Heat milk to 88 degrees. Milk will begin to curdle. At 88
degrees, add the rennet solution and continue stirring slowly every few
minutes until the milk reaches 105 degrees. Turn off the heat. Large
curds will appear and begin to separate from the whey (the clear,
greenish liquid).
With a slotted spoon or mesh strainer, scoop
the curd into a large glass bowl. (If it's still too liquid, let it set
for a few more minutes). Press the curds gently with your hand and pour
off as much whey as possible. Microwave curds on high for 1 minute,
then drain off all the excess whey.
With a spoon, press
curds into a ball until cool. Microwave two more times for 35 seconds
each, and continue to drain the whey and work cheese into a ball. In
the meantime, place the whey over medium heat and let it heat to about
175 degrees.
When cheese is cool enough to touch, knead it
like bread dough until smooth. When you can stretch it like taffy, it
is done. You can sprinkle 1 to 2 teaspoons salt into the cheese while
kneading and stretching it. The cheese will become stretchy, smooth and
shiny. If it is difficult to stretch and breaks easily, dip it into the
hot whey for a few seconds to make it warm and pliable. Then pick it up
again and stretch it into a long rope. Fold over and stretch again. Dip
in hot whey as needed to make the cheese pliable. When the cheese is
smooth and shiny (this takes just a few minutes), it is ready to eat.
Shape it into a log or golf-size balls, then store in a solution of 2
teaspoons salt to 1 cup water.
2006-Jan-5 - Untitled Comment