Ingredients
- 1–4 quarts fresh milk
- 1 packet Fromage Starter Culture
- Cheese salt, if freezing your cheese
Fromage Starter Culture Instructions
Make fresh, creamy fromage in seven easy steps. Make a soft, spreadable fresh cheese with your Fromage Starter Culture.
Before you start
Gather your ingredients and tools
Prepare your milk, starter packet, and a place to hang the cheese over a bowl.
Equipment
- Stainless steel pot with lid (avoid aluminum)
- Non-aluminum mixing utensil
- Thermometer
- Tight-weave towel or butter muslin
- Colander and bowl
Choose your milk: use fresh raw or pasteurized milk as directed on the supplied sheet; avoid ultra-pasteurized or UHT milk.
Making fromage
Your seven steps to fresh cheese
Start each reminder when its timed step begins. Check the cheese itself as well as the clock.
Warm the milk gently
Over low heat, slowly warm 1–4 quarts of fresh milk to 86°F (30°C). Remove the pot from the heat. Heat no faster than 1°F per minute; a gallon can take 30–40 minutes.
Add one starter packet
Add 1 packet of Fromage Starter Culture. Mix thoroughly with an up-and-down motion rather than stirring. Do not mix for longer than 15 seconds.
Cover and culture
Cover the pot with its lid. Leave it in a warm spot at 72–77°F (22–25°C) for 12 hours. Start the reminder when you cover the pot.
Check that the cheese is set
After 12 hours, the culture should be set. Some whey separation is normal. The curd should be soft and yogurt-like.
Spoon the curds into the cloth
Place a colander in a bowl and line it with a tight-weave dish towel or a double layer of butter muslin. Gently spoon in the curds. Gather the corners and tie the ends together to make a bag.
Hang and drain
Hang the cloth filled with cheese over a bowl. Drain for 6–12 hours at 72–77°F (22–25°C). The longer it hangs and drains, the firmer your cheese will be. Choose a reminder from the time you begin draining.
Refrigerate and enjoy
Store the cheese in a closed container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. To freeze it, remove as much whey as possible and salt the cheese well with cheese salt before freezing. Store extra, unused starter packets in the freezer.
Make it yours
Choose your texture, then chill
6 hoursDrain for a softer, spreadable cheese
12 hoursDrain longer for a firmer cheese
Up to 1 weekRefrigerate in a closed container
Keep extra packets in the freezer
Keep unused starter packets frozen. For a new batch, follow the packet method again.
Tips & troubleshooting
Helpful checks
Is a little whey separation normal?
Yes. The supplied instructions note that some whey separation is normal after the 12-hour culture rest.
How can I make the cheese firmer?
Drain longer within the 6–12 hour range. Longer draining removes more whey and produces a firmer cheese.
My cheese has not set after 12 hours
Check your milk type and culture temperature against the instructions. Contact the CFH team with your milk type, time, and temperature before changing the method.
Need cheesemaking help?
Share your milk type, temperature readings, culture time, and draining notes with our team.
Your experience matters
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Rate your experience so we can send you to the right next step.
Fresh cheese ready?
Make something delicious
Explore these Cultures for Health recipes with your homemade fromage.
Chèvre
View recipe →
Lemon-Rosemary Goat Cheese
View recipe →
Fromage Blanc Basil Dip
View recipe →
Honey-Lavender Goat Cheese
View recipe →Fromage Blanc Basil Dip uses fromage blanc directly. The Chèvre, Lemon-Rosemary Goat Cheese, and Honey-Lavender Goat Cheese recipes are soft-cheese inspiration: use your finished fromage as a substitution and expect a different flavor from goat cheese.
Keep this guide handy
Your printable instructions
Save a copy for your next cheesemaking day.
Download the PDF instructions