Making your own cheese at home can be the achievement of the year for you. It is quite a process but with the right supplies, you can pull off a perfect homemade mozzarella. You can make cheeses that can be eaten on their own, sliced and used to garnish other foods, spread on foods, taken with soups and so on.
Today, it is quite possible for you to buy cheese-making kit for different types of cheeses. This is a complete kit, with cheese culture and everything else that you will need. Thus, if you would like to make a cheddar cheese at home, order a cheddar cheese supplies kit.
Homemade cheese supplies
The good thing here is that many of the cheeses just require a few ingredients, less than five. Some of these might even be things that you already have in the kitchen. The same applies to the equipment that you will need. A large pot, a long-handled spoon, a thermometer, curd knife, drip tray, butter muslin or cheesecloth and cheese draining mats.
As for the ingredients, you can get them easily. Just order what you need online and it will be delivered to your doorstep. In fact, even if this is your first time to make cheese and you do not know what you need, this kit will have the cheese making instructions.
Whole or regular pasteurized milk
It is recommended that you avoid ultra-heat treated (UHT) milk and UP milk. Instead, go for whole milk or raw cow or goat milk. You can find this milk in the health food stores. You may also use the regularly pasteurized milk to make cheese. You will find this milk in the local grocery store.
Rennet – thickens the milk
Rennet for cheese is an enzyme that is found in the stomach lining of cows, sheep, goats and buffalos. It is used to thicken milk and curdle it. However, if you would like to make vegan cheese, you can get plant rennet, which is often sold in tablet or in liquid type. Plant rennet is always derived from thistle, nettle and artichoke, to name but just a few of the most popular ones. Since rennet enhances the process of turning liquid into solid, it is important that you know how much to add.
Calcium Chloride
This one helps homogenized milk that you will buy from the grocery store to stabilize and thicken. Almost all of the milk that is sold locally is homogenized, which is the reason why you need a re-stabilizing agent like calcium chloride.
Salt
Do not use the common table salt, which has been fortified with iodine. Iodine reacts with the lactic bacteria that are found in milk. You may use kosher salt because it does not have iodine. You may also ask for cheese-making salt.
Yeast
If you are interested in making yeast cheese, you need to have some great quality yeasts to make delicious cheese.
Bacteria
Bacteria are very important as they enhance the flavor of the cheese. You will have to buy different bacteria culture for different types of cheeses. The bacteria culture also helps the milk to acidify. Acidifying milk helps it to form into curds.
Citric acid powder
The purpose of this powder is to help the curds separate from the water, which is also called whey. It is also used to increase the acidity of the milk.
These are the most important supplies that you need to start making your cheese at home. You may also order lipase powder, which enhances the flavor in your cheese.