Homemade Farm Cheese

Here is a quick and simple way to make some homemade farm cheese. I am starting to go a little stir crazy waiting for spring so I figured I would start experimenting with some different food production and preservation methods. Plus cheese rules!

So I grabbed a gallon of milk, some vinegar, kosher salt, sesame seeds and a drain bag

I dumped the milk into a pot and got it on some heat to bring it to a slow boil

I dumped the sesame seeds into s pan and put that on a high heat to toast them,

you want to make sure you stir constantly so the seeds don’t burn, it will start to give off a almost popcorn smell, once they were browned, I pulled them off the heat

all the while stirring the milk, once it started to roll, I killed the heat and measured out a 1/2 cup of vinegar

you want to slowly pour the vinegar into the hot milk as you stir, which causes the curds and the whey to separate

after stirring for several minutes, I set the drain bag into the strainer

and dumped the curds into the strainer

I twisted the bag to get some of the excess whey out, at this point you could almost use it like a fresh ricotta

instead I took about a tablespoon of kosher salt

and worked it into the curds to make a firmer cheese and worked on twisting some more whey out

I dumped about half of the sesame seeds into the curds

and worked it into the curds and twisted it and set it back in the strainer and set it on a paper plate

I set a bowl on top of the ball of cheese

and rigged up my redneck cheese press with a 35 pound weight

couple of notes, you can all add sorts of different herbs and spices to change the flavor. If you wanted to make a more traditional Indian Paneer, you could use lemon juice instead of vinegar. Be careful with the milk so you don’t scorch it, a double boiler system might be better for you. I did have a little scorching but after tasting a piece of the curd it gave it a little smoky flavor which ties in well with the toasted sesame seeds. Biggest issue is it is gonna be a pain to clean the pan.

I saved the whey and stuck it in the fridge, I might use that to make some bagels to spread the cheese on.

After letting it press for a couple hours, I pulled it out and sprinkled some sesame seeds on top, enjoy!