The thought of making cheese was always one that suggested a long, complicated process that was often times messy. That is.. until I tried it myself and actually realized it’s super easy and actually very fun to do at home.
Making your own cheese doesn’t require a ton of fancy ingredients, and everything you need is actually what you might have on hand – especially if you live on a farm. We’ve made queso fresco, mozzarella cheese, and in cases like today, farmers cheese – which we then flavored with our own herbs, salt and pepper.
We make our farm cheese with raw milk we get from our local grass-fed dairy farm each week – sometimes I’ll have an extra gallon leftover and using it for cheese is just an added plus. You will need to flavor this cheese because without salt, pepper and herbs, it can be pretty bland – but all in all, it’s delicious when you make it yourself and is definitely something you can switch up with your own seasonings.
Not all states permit the sale of raw milk – here in Arizona, we are fortunate to have the opportunity to find it in quite a few places, and our local grass-fed dairy has a small herd of brown swiss cows that graze on pasture all year long. The kids love to go out to the dairy & watch them milk, and every week, we gather up raw milk orders for our community – usually 25-30 gallons for a myriad of families.
It’s a beautiful thing.
Farm cheese requires only 3 ingredients — if you choose to flavor it even more you can do that too. Our favorite way to enjoy it is by chopping up fresh oregano, basil, parsley, and marjoram and stirring it in with a little salt and pepper.
Transform a gallon of raw milk into a pound of farmers cheese, flavored with herbs and spices!
Ingredients
- 1 gallon raw milk
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2/3 C. vinegar or 2/3 C. lemon juice
Instructions
- Pour your milk in a large saucepan or pot; turn the heat on very low and allow the milk to come to a temperature of 160 degrees F. It will take 20-25 minutes.
- Add your vinegar or lemon juice. Give it a stir, and then push off the burner and allow the pot to sit, undisturbed, for 15-20 minutes.
- Line a strainer with cheesecloth or, cheesecloth alternative. Slowly pour that curdled milk through the strainer.
- The curds will stay in the strainer; the whey will drain out - keep the whey, it's very useful for other things at home. (see here)
- Gather the ends of the cheesecloth into a sack and squeeze to get as much of that whey out as possible.
- Once it stops dripping, place the cheese in a bowl - it should be thick, sprinkle the flavorings into the cheese, and use your hands to squeeze and turn out the spices/seasonings until everything is thoroughly blended.
- Shape the cheese into a ball, wrap in plastic, and store in an airtight bowl in the refrigerator. The cheese will keep for just over a week, but is best eaten within a few days.
Once you have your cheese, you can flavor how you wish – we love using fresh herbs from our garden, but you can also use dried herbs, too! Add in:
- 2 tsp oregano
- 2 tsp basil
- 2 tsp parsley
- salt and pepper to taste
Feel free to use rosemary, garlic powder, fresh chopped chives, green onions and even dill weed.
