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    Home » Articles » Cooking - Recipes

    How to make cheese, ricotta cheese, queso blanco : GardenFork.TV

    by Eric · This post may contain affiliate links, its one way we pay the bills. · 16 Comments

    I've been wanting to show you all how to make cheese for a while now; basic soft cheese like ricotta or queso blanco is easy and gives you the basics to move into more involved cheeses. The homemade cheese recipe and some book recommendations are below the video.


    Click here for an Amazon search for books on how to make cheese. Plus I list the most popular books below.

    The GardenFork.TV Home Made Cheese Recipe

    Get the freshest best quality milk you can find for this. I have seen raw milk for sale now, but use it at your own risk.

    Measure out 2 cups of milk into a microwavable container, a Pyrex pitcher works well for me

    Add 1 teaspoon of Citric Acid, you can also use vinegar, if so, use 2 tablespoons of vinegar.

    Mix the milk and acid together

    Place the container of milk in your microwave and turn on high for 2 minutes

    The power rating of your microwave will determine how long to heat the cheese, you want to get the milk to at least 165F, but you can go up to 185F.

    When the milk has gotten hot enough, take it out and give it a stir, then let it set for a few minutes.

    Pour it thru a fine sieve into a bowl, this will separate the soft cheese from the liquid.

    Labradors love this liquid, called whey, by the way.

    After the cheese has drained, you are ready to eat. Add a bit of salt and honey to make it even better.

    ©2014 all rights reserved.

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Sandi

      March 10, 2011 at 11:46 am

      Is it really this easy? Ricotta Cheese is really expensive in Turkey...next time I make lasagna this is what I'll do! Thanks 🙂

    2. Tonia Moxley

      March 14, 2011 at 11:26 am

      I really, really cheat, and just strain low-fat or full fat organic yogurt, mix with salt, herbs and garlic, pour it into cheesecloth, tie into a ball, let it sit in a strainer over a bowl in the fridge overnight, and voila, a nice homemade cheese appetizer or spread. I love to use it to make grilled cheese sandwiches.

    3. Debbie T

      March 18, 2011 at 10:50 pm

      I'm wondering how a double boiler would work in place of the microwave. It would be a gentler heat.

      I'm dying to make my own cheese, thanks for the tips!

    4. Mia Taylor

      March 20, 2011 at 12:29 pm

      I knew I did something wrong! I didn't use citric acid, which I definitely think would have helped the taste and overall texture. I'd love to make a cranberry cheese if anyone knows of an easy, good recipe!

      Thanks!

    5. Tony Nurre

      March 28, 2011 at 1:45 pm

      I bought some citric acid at my local home brewing supply store. A lot of home brewing supply store are selling cheese making equipment now. Mozzarella is a little bit more work but not much more than making riccota.

    6. Evie

      April 10, 2011 at 12:16 pm

      If you don't have dogs, don't toss the whey!!! Use it for the liquid in bread baking. It gives a yummy, nutritious loaf. (Whey freezes well if you want to store it for a later baking date.)

    7. Sheila

      June 12, 2011 at 5:01 pm

      If you rinse your pan with cold water before you heat milk, or make pudding, or anything else dairy related, you won't have as much possibility of scorching the bottom, and it makes it easier to clean.

    8. Teresa

      June 30, 2011 at 8:43 am

      Whey is also great for lacto-fermenting stuff! amazingly easy, nutritious and good! Has anyone tried this cheese-making with non-whole milk?

    9. Doreen

      July 25, 2011 at 5:07 pm

      Nourishing Traditions by Sallie Fallon is a great book and has a bunch of recipes and food ways that are slowly being lost due to agriculture having gone by the way side...the book gives us hope that the old food/agricultural ways are making a come back with more 'eat local', locavor, and slow food movements being highlighted!! Eating local makes sense. Making our own foods gives us knowledge of where it comes from...blahblahblah....I'm preaching to the choir! 😉 Buy the book!! It's fabulous!

    10. Britni @ Our Eventual Homestead

      September 29, 2011 at 4:43 pm

      I made this recipe earlier this summer. I had to use my stovetop because we don't own a microwave. The results were great and it was soooo easy!

      I'm getting ready to make another batch tonight using fresh milk. Our friend's cow had a baby so she gave us some of the extra milk. Can't wait to see how this batch turns out!

      Thanks for all the great videos, keep'em coming!

    11. tracy

      November 23, 2013 at 11:13 pm

      my stores carry citric acid in the canning area

    Trackbacks

    1. I Like This – March 16, 2011 | My Word with Douglas E. Welch says:
      March 16, 2011 at 7:08 am

      [...] How to make cheese, ricotta cheese, queso blanco : GardenFork.TV | GardenFork.TV – March 13, 2011 – I have been thinking about making some really basic cheese like this and I think Eric has convinced me just how easy it is. Time to pull out the milk and give it a try. [...]

    2. Thundersnow In My Head : GardenFork Radio | GardenFork.TV says:
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      [...] how to make cheese video sweet and sour cabbage recipe video http://www.restareahistory.org [...]

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    4. Making Ricotta Cheese | Our Eventual Homestead says:
      October 3, 2011 at 5:13 am

      [...] recipe source #gallery-1 { margin: auto; } #gallery-1 .gallery-item { float: left; margin-top: 10px; text-align: center; width: 33%; } #gallery-1 img { border: 2px solid #cfcfcf; } #gallery-1 .gallery-caption { margin-left: 0; } [...]

    5. 2012 Gift Guide: Jam It, Pickle It, Cure It by Karen Solomon | My Word with Douglas E. Welch says:
      November 19, 2012 at 11:35 am

      [...] first heard of this book from Eric Rochow over at Gardenfork.tv. He followed some of the recipes for making his own [...]

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