Cheese Making

Most people take going to the store and buying cheese for granted. But what do you do when you can no longer go to the store and purchase it? Cheese making is an easy and fun activity that the whole family can learn. You can master this skill far before you would ever really need to use it, but you will also have fresh homemade cheese anytime you want it.

Cheese making is much simpler than you may think, especially when you are talking about a simple cheese that does not require many ingredients. A really simple recipe involves heating milk and adding some vinegar; similar to making a quick buttermilk. You will harvest the curd and discard the remaining whey. This cheese is very similar in consistency to cottage cheese and is pretty soft. There is a way to make firmer cheese if that is what you would prefer.

Rennet is what you would normally use to make firmer cheese. Rennet is made from the stomach of a calf and can be purchased from cheese making websites. This is not practical in a survival situation and you will need an alternative that will give you the same results. You can make your own vegetarian rennet from a pound of nettle leaves, a couple of ounces of hops and some yarrow flowers.

You should put the plants into a pot and add water until the plants are just covered. Bring the water to a simmer and let the pot sit for a while so that it can steep. Drain the water and add about a cup of salt.

The cheese you make will be much better if you condition the milk first. You do this by adding cultures. You can get these by adding buttermilk and yogurt; this will not be necessary when you are using fresh, unpasteurized milk. In a pot mix a half gallon of milk, a quart of buttermilk, one container of yogurt and a half pint of heavy cream. Let the mixture sit for two hours and then add one cup of your homemade rennet. Foster the bacteria growth in the forming cheese by heating it slightly on the stove being careful to never actually bring it to a simmer.

The curds will look like scrambled egg whites. Line a colander with cheesecloth and filter the curds away from the whey. Place the curds into a bowl and add some salt. Return the curds to the colander after you replace the cheesecloth. You now have fresh homemade cheese.

You can use a mold to shape and press the cheese if you like. You can look around your kitchen for anything that will produce the shape you want. Once the cheese is shaped place it in the refrigerator to set. You can experiment with the ingredients until you get a mixture that you and your family enjoy. It is also possible to buy unpasteurized milk or cream to use in cheese and butter making. This way you will get a feel for how it is done without all of the modern conveniences. 

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