To prepare homemade fresh cheese we can use fresh pasteurized milk or UHT carton milk, with which you can also make a good cheese and we always have it in our pantries. In this case, we just have to let the milk reach a higher temperature than if it were fresh for it to curdle.
For the milk to curdle, we can use vinegar or lemon. In our case, we have chosen lemon. Once the milk curdles after having been subjected to high temperatures, it will be divided into a part of whey and another part of rennet. It is with this rennet that we will make the cheese. To eliminate the whey, first we put the rennet in a cloth or gauze and then we transfer it to a special mold with holes that allows the whey that the cheese releases during cooling to pass through. If you don’t have one of these molds, you can use another element that does this same function, like a strainer, for example.
This cheese can also be made with semi-skimmed or skimmed milk if we want it lighter, with or without salt. We can also choose to use goat or even buffalo milk, if you can get it.
Fresh cheese can be served both to accompany savory and sweet dishes. We suggest eating it for breakfast on toast with jam, as a garnish for salads or for dessert with a drizzle of honey.
recipe information
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- Preparation time: 10 minutes
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- cooking time: 10 minutes
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- total time: 20 minutes (plus 4 or 5 hours of rest in the fridge)
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- rations:6
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- Category: dessert
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- type of cuisine: international
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- Calories per serving (kcal):142
Homemade fresh cheese ingredients
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- 2 liters of whole milk
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- 10g of salt
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- 75ml lemon juice
How to make homemade fresh cheese
To make this cheese, we are going to put 2 liters of whole brik milk in a pot and we are going to add 10 g of salt. Stir well and bring the pot to the fire.
While the milk is heating, we squeeze about 2 lemons, until we get 75 ml of juice.
We wait for the milk to be hot and before it comes to a boil, we pour in the lemon juice, just when it starts to smoke. Stir well and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat and wait 10 minutes before continuing to make the cheese.
After 10 minutes, we will see that the rennet has separated from the whey.
We use a paddle or strainer to separate the rennet from the whey.
Prepare a large bowl and place a strainer and cheesecloth on top to strain the rennet. Next, we will gradually put the rennet on the gauze until there is no more rennet left in the pot where we had boiled the milk.
We squeeze the gauze to extract as much whey as possible and thus only be left with the rennet to make the cheese.
The cheese could already be eaten like this, although in the following steps we are going to give it its typical shape.
We put the rennet in the mold squeezing with a spoon so that it continues to release the whey that it may have.
We put the mold on top of absorbent paper and cover the cheese with more absorbent paper before taking it to the fridge for 4 to 5 hours.
Once the rest time has elapsed in the fridge, unmold the cheese to serve it. Fresh cheese can be used for both sweet and savory dishes. We recommend storing it in the fridge, in a closed glass container so that it does not dry out, for a maximum of 5 days.
Easy preparation summary
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- We put the milk with the salt in a pot on the fire
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- We squeeze the lemon juice
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- Pour the juice into the milk milk when it is about to boil
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- We will observe how the rennet is separated from the whey
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- We separate the rennet from the whey
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- Strain the whey over a mesh and strainer into a large bowl
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- We squeeze the gauze to extract the serum
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- The cheese could already be eaten
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- We put the rennet in the mold
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- We put absorbent paper under and on top of the cheese, and we take it to the fridge
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- Unmold the cheese and serve it at convenience
