Homemade Feta Cheese

  5.0 – 2 reviews  • Greek

You can always have some red sauce on hand to smother grilled chicken, steak, or pork for quick weekday dinners because this stores well in the refrigerator (up to 3 months).

Prep Time: 45 mins
Cook Time: 5 mins
Additional Time: 14 hrs 8 mins
Total Time: 14 hrs 58 mins
Servings: 16
Yield: 1 pound

Ingredients

  1. ½ cup water, divided
  2. 1/2 teaspoon calcium chloride
  3. 1/2 teaspoon liquid rennet
  4. 1 gallon whole milk
  5. 1/4 teaspoon feta MT1 cheese culture
  6. 8 cups water
  7. 5 tablespoons coarse sea salt
  8. 1 teaspoon calcium chloride
  9. ¼ teaspoon white vinegar

Instructions

  1. Combine 1/4 cup water and 1/2 teaspoon calcium chloride in a small bowl; mix well.
  2. Combine 1/4 cup water and 1/2 teaspoon rennet in another small bowl; mix well.
  3. Pour milk into a double boiler set over medium-low heat. Heat milk until it registers 86 degrees F (30 degrees C) on an instant-read thermometer. Sprinkle cheese culture on the surface. Allow to dissolve without stirring for a few minutes, then stir well. Cover and keep at 86 degrees F (30 degrees C) for 1 hour.
  4. Pour calcium chloride mixture into the milk; stir for 1 minute. Add rennet mixture; stir for 1 to 2 minutes. Let stand at room temperature until milk sets into curd, about 1 hour. Press edge of the curd gently with a palette knife or the back of a spoon to check for firmness.
  5. Cut curd all the way to the bottom of the pot into 1-inch squares. Stir gently with a rubber spatula. Let rest, 5 to 10 minutes.
  6. Stir curds, maintaining temperature at 86 degrees F (30 degrees C), until they sink to the bottom of the pot, about 20 minutes. Scoop out liquid (whey) with a ladle and discard or reserve for another use.
  7. Line 2 basket-style molds with damp cheesecloth. Ladle curds into the molds with a slotted spoon and cover with ends of cheesecloth. Place one mold on top of the other, pressing lightly. Let drain, switching the molds and stirring curds a few times, until cheese is firm, at least 4 hours.
  8. Mix 8 cups water, sea salt, 1 teaspoon calcium chloride, and white vinegar together in a large container to make brine. Submerge cheese in brine and let soak, at least 8 hours and up to 3 weeks.
  9. You can use mesophilic Aroma Type B, mesophilic Type II, or MM100 mesophilic cultures.
  10. Nutrition data for this recipe includes the full amount of brine ingredients. The actual amount consumed will vary.

Reviews

Jeffrey Burns
Made mine with raw goat milk from my small homestead. This is my 3 rd time. Great feta! A lot of steps but not hard to make. Only a few ingredients. Liquid rennet and calcium were only things I didn’t have on hand
Felicia Armstrong
I think it was really good Feta Cheese and it had good favor. I would definitely use this chefs recipes for cooking in the kitchen. You can see that she is a great chef by not just her talking to you but also buy her recipes and she is very talented. I could get A lot of recipes from her. Thank you.

 

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Scroll to Top