Vortex81
Songster
Here is how to do it. Temps must be summertime warm like about 80 degrees or warmer, because when cooler, the bacteria will not grow/multiply sufficiently fast enough. Reason I only do it in summer. Tried during winter inside home with 70 degree temps and NO GO.
There is another option, and it is to use a Crock Pot, set up to produce about a 90 degree temp. I do something similar with mini crock pots during winter to keep chickens water from freezing. I use a Dimmer Switch to regulate the temperature. I have not tried the large Crock Pot option, but know how I can do it. It would take a trial and error run with water as my trial medium. I would keep increasing voltage to pot until I achieved the 90 degree temp steadily. At that stage, I would replace with milk and proceed.
Two ways to do this. I do it the first way.
Fill a large cup with milk. Add to it about a tablespoon of cultured sour cream, and stir. Let sit uncovered until milk sours. Time may vary on temperature of course. The warmer, the faster it happens. At least half day. You will know it is done when it is kind of stiff. It will not be as stiff as sour cream, since it is milk and not cream. You should be able to spoon it out and it should not run like liquid milk. It should be almost like yogurt. Yogurt and sour milk are like cousins.
This is your larger quantity of culture that is good enough in quantity to make a gallon of milk sour. Add to your milk and stir. Again let it sit uncovered until your whole gallon of milk turns to sour milk. (yogurt like)
I do like to drink this sour milk, since it tastes similar to butter milk. Goes well with potato based summer time meals. I usually make it for this type consumption in individual cups and refrigerate.
Second way would be to use a whole sour cream container quantity per gallon of milk. Again, wait until milk turns into sour milk.
To make cheese, the next step is to heat the sour milk.
This step gets a little tricky, since it has to be done very slowly. Place on stovetop and provide the smallest fire/heat you can. Too fast or hot, and if it would come to boil, means it would be wasted. After about 2 hours or so, you will notice the the milk will start to congeal and separate into milk solids and whey liquid. (if nothing happened in 2 hours, increase temp slightly) The whey is yellowish in color. Your cheese in progress resembles like river ice bergs with whey in between the ice bergs looking like the water. Give it about another hour and turn off heat. This is my time estimate. It may vary for you. Let cool. DO NOT STIR.
If all the milk curdled properly, then you just gently ladle contents into cheese cloth in a strainer. After it drains for a good while, remove cheesecloth and cheese, and tie closed, and press out to desired firmness.
If you choose to use to make cheese cake, you can skip pressing and use just strained.
Please understand that when I'm making this, I use my judgment of observations that I have done over the years. I don't have time recorded, or temperature thermometer checked, or time to cool down ether.
Try a small batch and experiment. If it does not work out soo perfectly the first time, you will learn what to do better second time.
Some things that may not turn out at first attempt.
1. Milk did not sour sufficiently. Need to let it process longer. It is not likely that it will oversour.
2. Milk did not curdle sufficiently, and when laydeled into strainer, milk poured thru. The stovetop heating should have been longer. The cheese cloth should catch all the milk solids. The yellow whey is all that should pass thru the cheese cloth.
3. When you press the cheese out place between plates, or bread boards and place a weight. 4 or 5 pounds is a good start. Let press in refrigerator for a day or so.
The longer it presses, the firmer your cheese will be.
When I make some cheese this coming summer when it is warm/hot, I will note the temps and times so I will have better figures to post.
The above gives a good guide to making it yourself with some details that can be tweaked to each individual's differences. Experimenting with a gallon of milk is not a budget breaker even if it fails the first time.
Thank you Thank You me and my wife are actually getting ready to start making our own cheese's and milk based products at home cause our will be calving soon and we are going to have FRESH milk instead of store bought crap cause well like this forum saz homemade VS store bought i will take homemade ANY DAY i grew up on fresh milk so much i used to get my cup of coffee in the am and literally walk out to the cow to get my milk for it (or open the milk tank and scoop the cream off the top ahhhh the good ol days
) wifey is on the kick right now ohhh gotta get 2% milk from the store 
i keep askher what are you gonna do whjen we start getting fresh milk? 
i get no awnser Do you use store bought milk for this process? Have you tried with fresh milk and what differance would it be? im sure there would be some kind of differance... Have you tried making any other cheeses? Like i said when we start getting fresh milk we want to start making all sorts of things milk base. I though i saw somewhere in this forum bought a cpl of users making soaps... but i think they were dish soap??? or luandry soap??? with essential oils i think i cant remember 
OH have you tried the second way.. making the cake form? i might try both ways
PS you will all learn that my spelling SUCKS and i apologize... even the spell checker saz i suck and thats sad....
Thanks again and sorry for being a pain in the beep
Same goes for the possibility of salmonella from chicken eggs. I do not eat raw eggs, now, but did as a child. Some Taverns/bars have raw eggs available to patrons wanting in their beer.. I prefer my brew egg free.
keep pouring the ideas out and if i may im stealing them ALL 
