This beginner-friendly cheese recipe requires zero special ingredients or tools, can be made in a short amount of time, and can be customized to your taste preferences!
Making farmer’s cheese was my way of carefully dipping one toe into the world of cheese making. Let me tell you, I’m hooked!
If you have been wanting to try out making cheese and have been at all intimidated, this is the recipe for you. Farmer’s cheese is simple to make, requires no fancy ingredients, and tastes AMAZING!
Ingredients You Will Need
1 gallon of milk
½ cup of white vinegar
1 tablespoon of salt
Any flavoring you would like to add – the options are endless!
That’s it!
The Equipment You Will Need
Large pot
Wooden Spoon
Flour sack towel (I love mine! You can check them out >>here!<<
Colander
Pot or bowl that your colander will sit on top of
Optional: thermometer (You can just eyeball it too. This recipe is pretty forgiving!)
Steps to Making Farmer’s Cheese:
- Add your 1 gallon of milk to a large pot.
- Heat the milk slowly over medium heat. Stir continuously.
- When the milk gets to about 200 degrees (right before a boil, but not quite!), you are going to add the vinegar. Pour slowly, stirring to combine.
- Stir slowly for one minute, then remove from heat and set aside for 10 minutes.
- Set your colander on top of another bowl or pot. Line the colander with a flour sack towel.
- Strain the whey and cheese through the lined colander. The whey that you catch in your bowl or pot is great for many things, so don’t toss it. At the very least, feed it to your chickens!
- Let the curds sit and drain for at least 10 minutes. You can also press gently and stir with a wooden spoon to encourage more of the whey to drain away from the curds.
- Next, with the curds still hanging out in the towel-lined colander, add 1 tablespoon of salt and stir. This is also when you would add any additional flavorings. Make sure you stir well, you don’t want to chomp down into a chunk of salt!
- Now, lift the towel full of curds, and holding it over the pot, twist the top of the towel to squeeze out any remaining whey. Careful, it might still be hot!
- Wrap up the ball of curds in the entirety of the towel. Then message and press the ball on a countertop, letting any remaining whey soak into the towel.
- Unwrap the towel and transfer the cheese to a glass loaf pan or container. Press down to shape.
- Refrigerate until firm. Or, if you can’t help yourself, sneak a bite of that warm cheese. You won’t regret it!
- This cheese will last about 10 days in the refrigerator, but can be vacuum-packed and frozen for longer storage. Just pop into the refrigerator a few days before you plan to eat it, and you will be good to go!
Important tip: Make sure you wash all of your equipment, including your towel, as soon as you can. As it hardens, it is near impossible to remove!
Quick and Easy Farmer's Cheese
The easiest cheese you will ever make! This homemade cheese requires no special ingredients or fancy equipment and can be customized
Ingredients
- 1 gallon of milk
- 1/2 cup white vinegar
- 1 T salt
- flavoring ingredients of choice (optional)
Instructions
- Add 1 gallon of milk to a large nonreactive pot
- Heat the milk slowly over medium heat. Stir continuously.
- When the milk gets to about 200 degrees (right before a boil, but not quite!), you are going to add the vinegar. Pour slowly, stirring to combine.
- Stir slowly for one minute, then remove from heat and set aside for 10 minutes.
- Set your colander on top of another bowl or pot. Line the colander with a flour sack towel.
- Strain the whey and cheese through the lined colander. The whey that you catch in your bowl or pot is great for many things, so don’t toss it. At the very least, feed it to your chickens!
- Let the curds sit and drain for at least 10 minutes. You can also press gently and stir with a wooden spoon to encourage more of the whey to drain away from the curds.
- Next, with the curds still hanging out in the towel-lined colander, add 1 tablespoon of salt and stir. This is also when you would add any additional flavorings. Make sure you stir well, you don’t want to chomp down into a chunk of salt!
- Now, lift the towel full of curds, and holding it over the pot, twist the top of the towel to squeeze out any remaining whey. Careful, it might still be hot!
- Wrap up the ball of curds in the entirety of the towel. Then message and press the ball on a countertop, letting any remaining whey soak into the towel.
- Unwrap the towel and transfer the cheese to a glass loaf pan or container. Press down to shape.
- Refrigerate until firm. Or, if you can’t help yourself, sneak a bite of that warm cheese. You won’t regret it!
Notes
This cheese will last about 10 days in the refrigerator but can be vacuum-packed and frozen for longer storage. Just pop into the refrigerator a few days before you plan to eat it, and you will be good to go!
Isn’t that easy?! You now have zero excuses to not be making cheese at home. Go try it out and tell me what you think. Also, I’d love to hear your flavoring combination ideas!
