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Home-made Curd Cheese
Home-made Curd Cheese is a traditional British recipe for a classic creamy fresh cheese flavoured with curd cheese starter and citric acid made with rennet. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic British version of: Home-made Curd Cheese.
prep time
10 minutes
cook time
20 minutes
Total Time:
30 minutes
Additional Time:
(+maturing and draining)
Makes:
250g
Rating: 
Tags : Vegetarian RecipesMilk RecipesCheese RecipesBritish Recipes
Curd cheese is actually fromage frais and its made with a blend of curd cheese starter or Mesophilic starter culture and rennet. Note that in cheese making, all ingredients are measured by weight, even the liquid ones. Just as in brewing, you only want to induce the microorganisms from your starter culture. So, ensure that all pieces of equipment are sterilized, either by boiling or using Milton tablets.
Ingredients:
1.2kg whole milk (cheese-making is done by weight, not volume, so weigh everything precisely)
800g double cream
1g citric acid
0.3g curd cheese starter (or mesophilic starter)
40 drops liquid rennet (either vegetarian or animal) diluted in 10g cooled boiled water
Fine salt
Method:
Put the milk and cream into a saucepan over a very low heat and gently warm up to 32C, stirring constantly. As it reaches 28/29C, remove from the heat and keep stirring – the residual heat of the pan will bring the milk up a further couple of degrees.
Once the mixture hits 32C, add the citric acid and the starter culture, stir well, then set aside for an hour.
After an hour, slowly reheat the mixture to 32C, add the diluted rennet and stir again. Transfer to a sterile container, cover and leave at cool room temperature (18C) for 12 hours.
Place a muslin cloth or tea towel in a bowl. Pour the cheese mixture into it, then gather up the edges and tie securely with string. The cheese is now ready to be suspended over the bowl, so the whey can drip through — ideally, you want to do this in the fridge, but if your garage or larder are cold enough (below 8C), this may be more practical.
Leave to hang for 24 hours, then discard the whey in the bowl (or stick some ice and a glug of grenadine in it and drink it; or give it to the dog), unwrap the cloth and weigh the curd cheese inside. Add 2% by weight of fine salt, then refrigerate for up to three days. If you don't manage to eat it within a few days, the curd can be frozen, after which it is fit only for cooking because it tends to go grainy.
