Eating her curds and whey. Speaking of curds and whey I’ve had a hankering for some cheese curds for the last few weeks and I finally did something about it this week. I made some. Well, I think I made some. A few days will tell if I was really successful.
I started by looking on the internet to find what it took and where I could find the ingredients. Cheese curd is just cheese that doesn’t get pressed so all you need to make basic cheese is milk, a starter culture, and rennet. Milk is not a problem and the starter culture can be made from buttermilk but rennet is not easy to find in Los Angeles. I spent several hours checking all the stores around here and striking out. I finally put “cheesemaking los angeles” into Google and it came back with with a link to a little store down on Ventura Blvd called Beer, Wine, and Cheesemaking supplies. I called and asked if they carried Rennet and was told “of course” so I drove over and picked some up.
Yesterday I had taken some buttermilk and let it sit out for 6 hours then froze it in ice cube trays for the mesophilic starter. Mesophilic starter is used to get the milk to become acidic. It works at low temperatures. There is also thermophylic starter which, you guessed it, works at higher temperatures.
At about 4pm today I started making my first batch. First I added the milk and starter into the mixing bowl from my Kitchen Aid and put that into a larger put to make a double boiler. I then heated it to around 86 degrees. Ok, it actually hit the high 90s before cooling a bit to 86. After sitting for 60 minutes I added the rennet. It only takes 1/4 tablet dissolved in a 1/4 cup of water for 1 gallon of milk.
After 15 minutes I checked to see if it was coagulating and it didn’t seem like it so I added another 1/4 tablet in some water. That was a mistake as I found it was really starting to coagulate but it fooled me. I broke the cured in the middle of the bowl trying to stir the rennet in so I think that might cause a problem with the curd not holding together well but we will see. Here’s what it looked like then.
I let it sit for another hour then “cut the curds” with a butter knife. It looked really good on the outside where I hadn’t stirred it but was kind of like cottage cheese in the middle. Here’s what the cut curd looked like. You can really see the “curds and whey”.
Then it was time to heat it to 102 degrees. I started that on the stove but moved it to the sink shortly after getting it above 94 degrees. I had some water in the sink at about 104 degrees so that brought it up the rest of the way to 102. Then it sat for another hour. If you’re counting this is 3 hours already.
At the end of that hour I poured it into a cheesecloth and drained it for about 40 minutes. Then I put it back into the pot, added salt, and mixed it in. After that I put it in this bowl lined with paper towels. 
It should be edible in 1 or 2 days. It needs to dry out a bit. I’ll report on the taste then.
It sounds like a lot of work. No wonder the price of cheese is so high. If it’s good, I’d like to make some, or find a willing participant to do the work for me. I used to get rennet “Junket” and added it to the milk with a few drops of food coloring and a little sugar. I called it pudding, and you kids ate it and liked it! Kind of a sneaky way to get milk into you, but it worked.
Comment by Mom — Saturday September 29, 2007 @ 9:08 pm
Wow.. I’m glad we carry all that cheesy stuff up here. I can go to almost any food store and buy cheese curds. And a bunch of fast food places have ’em fried too. You can just order some from Mars Cheese Castle…
Comment by Jocelyn — Sunday September 30, 2007 @ 5:45 am
I know Joce. Wisconsin is the place to get cheese curd but it’s really expensive to ship a small amount here. I found a place that sold it for around $7/lb but it cost like $20 to ship it. I could check the Mars Cheese Castle but it’s kind of fun making my own.
On another note I’m thinking my starter didn’t work because my cheese has very little flavor. If I remember cheese curds have a little bite to them. I’m going to try again today with some buttermilk I left out all night.
Comment by Don — Sunday September 30, 2007 @ 7:43 am
Mars Cheese wants even more than that.
It’s really not worth $68 for 3 lbs of curd. ;(
Comment by Don — Sunday September 30, 2007 @ 7:53 am
Mars is expensive. But, if you’d like in the winter I can ship you some for much cheaper. Maybe that can be your Christmas present. And I haven’t found cheese curds with a bite… Eric gets the flavored ones.. so, those kinda do. Usually they are a bit stretchy and mild. Since cheese gets it’s bite from aging.
Comment by Jocelyn — Sunday September 30, 2007 @ 8:04 am
Ok, bite was probably the wrong description but this has very little flavor. As it gets drier it’s tasting more like Panela which is a Mexican cheese that I have always loved. Panela has always reminded me of cheese curds as it isn’t hard pressed or aged for very long. It sells for close to $5/lb here.
Comment by Don — Sunday September 30, 2007 @ 10:21 am
Is cutting the curd anything like cutting the cheese?
Comment by Donna — Sunday September 30, 2007 @ 1:44 pm
It’s very much like it except it’s softer.
Comment by Don — Sunday September 30, 2007 @ 2:41 pm
It looks like cottage cheese… I’ve never been fond of non cheddar cheese curds. You should try seasoning it. Eric loves his with garlic n dill. It adds a bunch of yum. Looks like you’ve got enough to test flavorings.
O.k. I’m really bored today. I think I’m ganna go blog..
Comment by Jocelyn — Sunday September 30, 2007 @ 3:10 pm
Do you know what “cutting the cheese” is? 🙂
Comment by Donna — Sunday September 30, 2007 @ 3:54 pm
I know a few meanings…
Comment by Jocelyn — Sunday September 30, 2007 @ 3:55 pm
No, what does “cutting the cheese” mean?
Duh, I didn’t just roll off the turnip truck but this is an adult blog and I didn’t want to climb into the scatological references with you. 😛
Silly sister….
Comment by Don — Sunday September 30, 2007 @ 4:02 pm
Oops, sorry if I stunk up your blog… 😉
Comment by Donna — Sunday September 30, 2007 @ 5:09 pm
That’s ok, at least there’s no Limburger.
Comment by Don — Sunday September 30, 2007 @ 5:12 pm
There is a shop here in Chandler that sells cheese curd, but it’s not very good. It tastes like it probably was good a few days earlier, but by the time it gets here from the midwest it is starting to become cheese.
That’s the problem with shipping it. Cheese curd is only curd for a few short days. Maybe if you overnight it on FedEx or something…
Don, if you figure it out I want the recipe.
Comment by Daryl — Monday October 1, 2007 @ 5:34 pm
The stuff I made on Saturday is pretty good mild cheese but it’s not like the cheese curd from New York or Wisconsin. I’m going to get some real mesophylic starter and try again this weekend. I’m going to keep at it until I’m successful.
Comment by Don — Monday October 1, 2007 @ 5:47 pm
O.k. I think I’m completely lost by the allure of cheese curds…
Comment by Jocelyn — Monday October 1, 2007 @ 6:57 pm
If you can buy them any day they aren’t special but if you can’t you might understand. Is there anything you love but can’t get?
Comment by Don — Monday October 1, 2007 @ 7:07 pm
Yeah Jocelyn, like, say, Rattlesnake meat?
Comment by Daryl — Monday October 1, 2007 @ 9:12 pm
Or freshly roasted green chile?
Comment by Richard — Tuesday October 2, 2007 @ 4:54 pm
cheese was really yummy but the dishes were crazy… when cheese dries is becomes a cement material.. lol..
Comment by jen — Friday October 5, 2007 @ 1:39 am
when will the cheddar be done?
Comment by jen — Tuesday October 9, 2007 @ 6:14 pm
good cheddar ages for 4-10 years…. At least that’s what I’m told by the mars cheese guys.
Comment by Jocelyn — Wednesday October 10, 2007 @ 12:49 pm
Depending on how sharp you want the cheese it should age for anywhere from 4 months for very mild to many years for very sharp.
Comment by Don — Wednesday October 10, 2007 @ 4:41 pm