Basic Hard Cheese

Recipe By: Dr. David Fankhauser, for Redco Foods
Serves: 1 pound
Start to Finish: 3 hours + sitting overnight for 2 separate nights + 3 weeks from rind to form

Ingredients:

1 gallon fresh milk (the fresher the milk, the more predictable the cheese)
¼ cup active cultured buttermilk (1/2 cup plain yogurt will also work yogurt must contain live and active culture)
1/2 tablet rennet
¼ cup cool water
2 tsp salt + additional

Directions:

1. The evening before you plan to make cheese, warm 1 gallon of fresh milk to 68F in the sterilized pot.
2. Thoroughly blend in buttermilk
3. Cover milk with the sterilized lid.
4. Let sit out at room temperature overnight.
5. The next morning, gently warm the milk up to 86F.
6. Meanwhile, dissolve 1/2 tablet of Rennet in ¼ cup cool water.
7. Stir the dissolved rennet into the 86F milk to mix thoroughly.
8. Cover, let sit undisturbed for an hour or more in a warm place in the room. (Be patient. Do not disturb the milk until it has coagulated.)
9. Test for a "clean break" by probing a clean finger into the milk and lift. If it has gelled enough to break cleanly as the finger is lifted, go to next step. If the milk is liquid or semi-gelatinous and softly flows across your finger, let sit until a clean break is obtained. It may take as long as 1-2 hours more. Be patient, do NOT disturb the milk.
10. Once a clean break is achieved, cut the curd with a long knife into ½ inch cubes.
11. Place the pot over a low fire, stir curd with cleaned bare hand by reaching down to bottom, gently lifting and stirring. Cut larger curds as they appear. Do not mash or squeeze.
12. Continue stirring for 15 min to prevent the curds from clumping together or overheating at the bottom.
13. Warm the curds to 92F for softer curd cheese, or as high as 102F for very firm cheese.
14. Stir and maintain 92F until curd has contracted to consistency of firm scrambled eggs.
15. Remove from stove and let sit for 10 minutes. (The curds should sink in whey.)
16. Pour off the whey through a strainer and save for ricotta if you wish.
17. Place the curds in a large bowl.
18. Sprinkle 2 tsp salt over curds, working with hands to mix in.
19. Pour off any additional whey.
20. Line cheese press frame with cheesecloth
21. Place the still-warm curds into the cloth, press into the frame.
22. Fold the corners of the cloth over top of the curds and place a heavy weight on top to press down the curds.
23. Let sit at room temperature for 12 hours or so.
24. The next morning, remove and unwrap the cheese from the press.
25. Rub the outside with salt, re-wrap with a fresh cheesecloth and place on a rack in the refrigerator.
26. Replace cloth when it becomes wet (daily at first).
27. When a dry yellowish rind forms (about one to two weeks in the refrigerator), dip in melted wax, store in refrigerator for about a month (if you can wait that long). The longer you wait, the sharper the cheese.