Make your own delicious cream cheese with a few simple steps.
INGREDIENTS:
- 1 quart heavy cream
- 1 packet direct-set mesophilic starter
- 1 drop liquid rennet diluted in 2 Tbsp. of cool, unchlorinated water
- Cheese salt
INSTRUCTIONS:
- In a medium-size non-reactive stockpot or double boiler, warm the cream up to 65°F over low heat. Once this temperature has been reached, add the starter and mix in slowly using steady up-and-down motions. Add the diluted rennet by pouring it through a cheese spoon and incorporate using the same up-and-down strokes for 1 minute.
- Cover the cream and allow to set at a constant 65°F for 24 hours.
- Line a colander with clean butter muslin and suspend it over a bowl. Pour in half of the cream cheese curd, then sprinkle the poured-out half with 1 tsp. of the cheese salt. Pour in the remaining curd and sprinkle with 1 more tsp. of salt.
- Fashion a draining sack with the butter muslin and hang the cheese to drain for 12 hours.
- Take the cheese out of the butter muslin sack and place into a cheese press lined with damp cheesecloth and press at 10 pounds of pressure for 5 hours.
- Remove the cheese from the mold and store in a covered bowl in the fridge until you are ready to eat/use it.
This cheese can be rolled in herbs, sugar, or peppercorns for added flavor.
