Cheese is a dairy product that originated thousands of years ago and has since become an integral part of human civilization. It is exceptionally versatile, flavorful, and nutritious -the perfect food for any time. Making cheese at home is easy: you only need seven ingredients and a few hours! But before you try DIY cheese making in Italy, some crucial guidelines ensure your delicious cream will come out perfect.
Cleanliness is next to cheese making.
Before you even think about making your homemade cheese, be sure to follow all safety procedures and rules. First, sterilize all your equipment with a strong bleach solution (a capful of bleach in a gallon of warm water). Next, ensure that everything you’re going to mix or use has been cleaned with soap and water and that there are no food particles or microbes on any surface. Ensure your kitchen is also clean — clear away clutter such as dishes or utensils that might get in the way. Wash up thoroughly before you begin!
Prepare your ingredients well before making cheese.
When making cheeses in Italy during the summertime or when it is warm outside, some types of molds will grow faster than others. For example, many people prefer to make soft cheeses such as mozzarella and yogurt at home because the air is warm and humid most of the day. In the summertime, molds are more likely to grow on these cheeses.
In the winter, however, molds don’t grow as fast, so it is best to make fermented cheese or hard cheeses. If you do decide to make soft cheese in cold weather, make sure you use a mold that will grow when there isn’t enough humidity in the air: you can use a yogurt starter or add a bit of kefir or milk for bacteria culture (adding 3-4 tablespoons of milk works). When making cheese at home in the wintertime, you won’t have a problem with excess moisture.
Don’t add too much water.
The exact quantity of the water you use to make cheese depends on its type and the kind of rennet or starter culture you will use. It is best to balance adding too little water and too much, as over dilution can lead to a lumpy texture in your cheese.
Remember that more water means less curd formation, making your cheese a runny texture. If you’re making mozzarella or farmer’s cheese, keep the water content at around 1%, while hard cheeses require up to 50% more liquid (about 2-2.5% of the total).
Keep your cheese in a warm place.
For optimal quality and shelf life, your cheese should be kept at around 50-70 degrees Fahrenheit. If you plan on storing your cheese longer than two months, keep it in a cool, dry place — as long as it isn’t freezing! If you want to store cheeses for extensive aging (up to 6 months or more), keep them in a temperature-controlled area at around 40F or lower.
Cheese is something that people take for granted. With all the varieties of cheeses available today, it is easy to forget that the cheese itself was not created on grocery store shelves until less than a century ago. Before the industrialization of cheese making in Italy, milking cows and producing milk in abundance was only possible by waiting for nature to dry their milk naturally. The process wasn’t always consistent or predictable, but with some tweaks, it could be turned into something delicious and nutritious.