We are bringing back old traditions! Cheese curds date back to the mid-1800s and even earlier when it was thought that someone carrying milk in a calf stomach curdled, creating cheese curds. There are variations of this story, but the gist is the reaction between the rennet and the milk heating causing curds to form. Cheese curds are known as “baby cheddar” and known for their squeaky texture. Cheddar has a few more steps before pressing into a wheel of cheddar but the base is curds.
Cheesemaking was something I always wanted to learn! I have set different goals this year of new skills that I want to learn, and cheesemaking is definitely at the top of my list! My daughter is helping me which makes it so much more fun! I am excited to share with you not only what we did but what we learned!
Cheese curds are used to make poutine, and I’ll share that a bit more later.
Let’s get started!
To start, pour 4L/1gallon whole milk in a large pot. Leave sit 3 hours at room temperature. We are using non-homogenized whole milk. Non-homogenized milk means that the cream has not been fully removed from the milk and the milk has not been shaken to incorporate that cream. You can also use homogenized milk.
We needed to mix the Calcium Chloride with water. Stir – we mixed it with a chopstick. Be careful because the mixture will get hot, much like lye does in soap making.
Let cool completely – it takes about 10 minutes. This will keep in the fridge for one year.
Pour 1/4 tsp of the calcium chloride into the milk and stir.
Heat the milk to 90F.
Stir with the cheese-stirring method which is putting the paddle or slotted spoon into the milk and bringing it up and across the pot. Do this a few times. Video is coming soon!
Once heated, add 1/8 tsp of culture. Remove from heat.
Let sit 1 minute.
Stir using the cheese-stirring method.
Keep curd warm for one hour. We wrapped the pot in towels to keep warm.
Chop rennet fine. We are using microbial vegetable rennet. Put quarter tablet into 1/4 cup water. Let sit 15 minutes. Pour into milk. Be sure to rinse the rennet bowl/cup in the milk to get all of the rennet out. Stir using cheese-stirring method. Let sit 30 minutes.
Slice the curd – it should take 15 minutes to do so. We sliced it fairly quickly, perhaps misinterpreting the directions – I share more on that later!!
Stir using cheese-stirring method. Let sit 10 minutes.
I’m so excited to be making cheese curds!!
Here’s the whey we got.
Time to strain. The curd was a bit crumbly. Rinse cheesecloth in cold water and squeeze excess water out. Place curd over top. Place another damp piece of cheesecloth over curd. Place board on and about 5 pounds to press excess whey out. Press for 30 minutes, rinse the cloth and squeeze water out and press for another 30 minutes and then repeat one last time.
Break up curd into pieces.
Here’s the cheese curd.
Time to salt the cheese. Sprinkle with cheese salt. Mix well.
Store in fridge. This cheese is so tasty! It’s absolutely amazing and I will always make our own cheese curd!
We are having the curds tonight for supper on poutine.
Poutine, a dish of fries, cheese curds and gravy was created in rural Quebec in the 1950s and is a Canadian classic! Before pressing the curd, we tossed a bunch on our homemade fries and poured a beefy gravy over top. It was so good!! We added some shredded store bought cheese too – there’s no comparison — the homemade curd is so much better!
UPDATE: February 7
Today we are making another batch of curds. We have switched it up a bit since we learned from our last batch. We also learned a lot from making cheddar cheese so we applied what we learned to this batch of curd.
We made a couple of vital errors originally. Firstly, we did not maintain the 90F temperature the whole time. We did not bring the curd up to 102F temp either. That was something we learned making cheddar cheese. We also sliced the curd much too quickly. This time, we took the proper time to slice the curd which really made a difference. Waiting two minutes in between slices really is needed for the curd to rest and recuperate after each slice. We learned from our mistakes, and now the cheese curd is so much better!
This is what we did to get amazing cheese curd:
Pour 4L/1 gallon non-homogenized whole milk into a large pot. Let sit one hour at room temperature. Pour 1/4 tsp of calcium chloride into the milk and heat it to 90F. Once the milk reaches 90F, remove the pot from the heat and place it in the sink with some warm water. We added 1/8 tsp culture, let it sit 1 minute and stirred using the cheese-stirring method. Let sit at 90F for one hour. Then, we bloomed 1/2 tablet of vegetable rennet in 1/2 cup cold water, letting it sit 15 minutes before pouring it into the milk. Rinse bowl/cup from the rennet mixture in the milk to be sure it’s all in the milk. Cover and keep temperature at 90F. Let sit 30 minutes.
When you can put a knife in the cheese and make a slit and it holds shape, it’s ready to cut. Make one cut every two minutes until you’ve placed all the cuts in the curd. This is where we went wrong the first time, and it really does make a difference in the quality of the curd. Let sit 5 minutes after slicing is complete. Stir slowly for 5 to 10 minutes. We stirred for 6 minutes. Let rest 10 minutes. Stir again for 5 minutes. Let rest 10 minutes once again. Bring curd up to 102F. We just did this by adding very hot water in the sink and covered the pot of curd with the lid. It took about 10 minutes to come up to temperature. Once it reaches 102F, it’s time to strain. The curd should have sunk.
The curd should hold its shape when squeezed together (you can see that in the picture below). Strain. We are using a fine mesh strainer and a produce bag (it’s what I use for all my straining and it works so well!). We had to dump the whey into jars as we strained the curd. There’s a lot of whey! We ended up with 3 quarts of whey.
Place curd onto a piece of cheesecloth that has been rinsed in cold water and squeezed to get most of that water out. Place on cooling rack over a baking sheet. Place another piece of rinsed cheesecloth over top the curd. Place a board and something heavy over top to strain the excess whey. Leave sit for 30 minutes. Rinse both pieces of cheesecloth again, flip the curd and press for another 30 minutes. We will do this one more time for a total of 3-thirty minute pressings.
Lastly, we will break up the curd and salt it with cheese salt. It’s ready to eat! Store in fridge for up to 5 days.
Making Cheese Curds
Pour 4L/1 gallon non homogenized whole milk into a large pot. You can use homogenized milk if you need to.
Pour 1/4 tsp of calcium chloride into the milk. Heat to 90F.
Once the milk reaches 90F, remove the pot from the heat and place it in the sink with some warm water. Add 1/8 tsp of culture, let it sit 1 minute and stir using the cheese-stirring method. Let sit at 90F for one hour.
Put 1/2 tablet of rennet in 1/2 cup cold water, letting it sit 15 minutes before pouring it into the milk. Rinse bowl/cup from the rennet mixture in the milk to be sure it’s all in the milk. Cover and keep temperature at 90F. Let sit 30 minutes.
When you can put a knife in the cheese and make a slit and it holds shape, it’s ready to cut. Make one cut every two minutes until you’ve placed all the cuts in the curd. Be sure to follow this step. Let sit 5 minutes once cuts are complete.
Stir slowly for 5 to 10 minutes. We stirred for 6 minutes. Let rest 10 minutes. Stir again for 5 minutes. Let rest 10 minutes once again.
Bring curd up to 102F. We just did this by adding very hot water in the sink and covered the pot of curd with the lid. It took about 10 minutes to come up to temperature.
Once it reaches 102F, it’s time to strain. The curd should have sunk. The curd should hold its shape when squeezed together. Strain. We are using a fine mesh strainer and a produce bag (it’s what I use for all my straining and it works so well!).
Time to press. Place curd onto a piece of cheesecloth that has been rinsed in cold water and squeezed to get most of that water out. Place on cooling rack over a baking sheet. Place another piece of rinsed cheesecloth over top the curd. Place a board and something heavy over top to strain the excess whey. Leave sit for 30 minutes. Rinse both pieces of cheesecloth again, flip the curd and press for another 30 minutes. We will do this one more time for a total of 3-thirty minute pressings.
Lastly, break up the curd and salt it with cheese salt. It’s ready to eat! Store in fridge for up to 5 days.
