Farmer's Cheese

Farmers cheese is super simple (I say very. . . too much, super seems appropriate here). You can make it with both cow and goat, skim or whole, but not with pasteurized milk. But I do have a trick for those of you that can't get raw milk.

If using store bought milk, heat it to 75F and add 1 cup cultured buttermilk (from the store) and it will help if you add 1/2 tablet of rennet to every 1 gallon of milk.

If using goats milk, you might want to think about doing half goat half cow, as it takes up to 5 days for goats milk to sour enough.

What we are actually going to do is make cottage cheese, then do something a little different to make it farmers cheese. Here we go.

1 quart of milk will make 1 cup of cheese. You can use as much as you want since we are not adding any other ingredients to this besides some optional salting at the end, and that is to taste. Pour your milk into a iron kettle or pot, or even a stainless steel bowl. Do not use aluminum. This container will be used through out the process. Place you milk and container in an area that you use to allow your yeast breads to rise. Not too cold and not too hot. Leave it to clabber for a few hours to a few days, depending on the temperature and your good bacteria count. (and if you are using goats milk).

When the milk is set, it will be jelly like. The solids will have formed one large curd and will be floating on the whey. Using a long knife, cut the curd, creating squares that are 1/2 inch to 1 inch squared. Gently stir, you do not want to break up the curds more, merely keep them from clumping back together. Now you have to slowly heat up you curd on a stove.

The temperature at which you stop heating determines the type of cheese you will get. A low heat will get you a soft cottage cheese, 110F or less. For Farmers cheese we need to slowly get the temperature up to 120F. You need to take 30 minute to slowly get you curds up to the temperature. Increase your heat a little every 5 minutes. Hold it until it reaches you desired firmness. To test, pinch the curd, if it remains in a ball your done.

Drain your whey, reserve for your chickens. If the curd is very sour, go ahead and rinse it carefully in cold water. Press the cheese into a dish. it will keep for up to 10 days, if covered and refrigerated. Crumble on top of your pizza or into your salads.