Homemade Yogurt **Updated** Cheese and Buttermilk

[cookinmom]

After determining that holding it for 12 to 24 hours was an unacceptable solution

 

[MissPrissy]

How did your yogurt cheese turn out, James?

 

[PDXChickenChaser]

Well, I just finished pulling all my cheese out of its little bundle, and it was awesome! It's a spreadable cheese, and it is very acidic. It almost tastes like there is some lemon juice in it, lol. I'm guessing this is just the tang of the yogurt carrying over to the cheese...perhaps if I incubated my yogurt for a shorter period I would get milder cheese (this is worth experimenting with...).

I decided to flavor my cheese in two different ways. One part I added salt and freshly ground pepper to taste, and to the other I added salt and Herbes de Provence (an herb mixture that we use on fish). I left a little bit plain to give others the benefit of comparison. Personally, the herb one is my favorite, although I went a little heavy on the salt.

My plan is to invade my girlfriend's knit night tonight so I can get more independent opinions

Many of the ladies are already excited about the liqueurs I've started making, so it shouldn't take much persuasion

MissPrissy: I noticed that your yogurt bundle is nice and spherical...after spending some time picking chunks out of what had been the folds in my bundle, I begin to see why. My next attempt will definitely be tied tighter, and hopefully I'll get something closer to one large ball of cheese, rather than several long slivers of cheese!

Thanks for the instruction, this is tons of fun!

- James

 

[cookinmom]

I made two quarts of yogurt today (plus a little jar that took what the big jars wouldn't hold), and have one of them dripping in the cheesecloth now. When I made my first couple batches I did them at night and left them in the cooler overnight. This time I did it in the morning, and set the cooler out on the porch. It was pretty toasty in there when I brought it in after about 5 hours, and the yogurt was set just right. Looking forward to tasting that cheese tomorrow!

 

[heatherc]

One question...can this be done in the pint sized jars? I have tons of jelly jars and would hate to think I need to buy more just for the size?
Thank you,
I can't wait to try my hand at this!!!!!
Heather C

 

[Backyard Buddies]

I'm sure it would work Heather. I'm using recycled wide mouth pickle jars.

 

[cookinmom]

the cheese is awesome!!! I left some plain, and some I mixed in this herb blend (Braggs sprinkles) from the HF store (kind of like Mrs. Dash). Absolutely wonderful on crackers!!!
Miss P, you are da bomb!!! Thanks so much for sharing these recipes with us!

I couldn't believe how much whey came out. It was about 2 cups. I put it in a jar in the fridge to use in bread. I hope nobody drinks it!

 

[Backyard Buddies]

So, are you saying that the finished cheese is about half the volume of the original yogurt?

 

[cookinmom]

Probably, but with the cheese being more solid, therefore more dense, I don't think it is quite 2 cups in volume. Seems to be a little less, although I didn't measure. It probably would be about a cup and a half measured out.

 

[Backyard Buddies]

OK, thanks. I just set some out to make some cheese but I didn't want to use the whole quart. I think I need to put out more than I did, though. I can't wait!