Hard cheeses are aged cheeses that are dry and crumbly.
Hard cheese is used by a lot of countries as the main garnish for some of their best dishes. While it is very easy to go to the market and buy hard cheese, it can also be fun to learn make them right in your kitchen. You do not need a lot of ingredients to get started.
Instructions
1. Pour the skim milk into your cheese pot along with the heavy cream. Use a double boiler to pasteurize the mixture and let it cool to 88 degrees.
2. Add the Mesophilic A starter into the mixture and stir it with a spoon. Leave the milk to ripen for at least 45 minutes.
3. Combine distilled water and calcium chloride in a glass dish and add this into the milk mixture in the boiler. Stir it with a spoon for at least 25 seconds. Mix liquid rennet with 4 oz. distilled water and stir the mixture with the milk. Set it aside until the temperature reaches 90 degrees and turns into a curd.
4. Use a knife to cut the curds into ¼-inch cubes and set it aside for at least 10 minutes before raising the temperature of the boiler to 100 degrees. Cover the pot to allow the curd to settle into the mixture for at least five minutes.
5. Place cheesecloth on the colander and pour the mixture directly into the cheesecloth. Knot a corner of the cheesecloth around its three other corners and let the curds drain for at least an hour.
6. Place the drained curds into a bowl and break them up using your hands until they turn into walnut-sized pieces. Add cheese salt and mix it thoroughly into the curd with a spoon.
7. Line the plastic cheese mold with cheesecloth and place the curds in it. Lay any excess length of the cheesecloth right over the curds and set a one-pound plate over it to press the cheese for at least 15 minutes.
8. Take out the cheese from the cloth and place it back into the mold upside down. Grab the excess sides of the cheesecloth, fold them over the cheese, and press it with a four-pound plate for at least 12 hours.
9. Allow the cheese to dry for at least one to three days. Wax it before storing it for three months to allow it to age. Check on the cheese daily for the first month and turn it over several times each week.
Tags: least minutes, with spoon, cheese least, curds into, distilled water, into curd, into mixture
