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There are just a
few main ingredients when making cheese. These ingredients include milk
(of course), salt and a coagulation agent. What is meant by a
"coagulation ingredient" is a substance that causes the proteins
in the milk to clump together, or "coagulate" into a solid
curds.
There are two main ways to "coagulate" milk:
You can add acidic substance to the milk as the acids cause the milk
proteins to clump together. Natural bacteria cultures are the main way to
do this for most cheeses, especially the harder cheeses such as Cheddar.
Some of the softer cheeses, such as the Queso Blanco that we'll show you
how to make use vinegar to add acid to the milk.
You can also use a
substance called rennet. Rennet has been around for centuries and is one
of the fastest ways to cooagulate the milk into solid curds. However,
rennet does not add a particular flavor to your cheese, so most recipes
use a combination of bacteria cultures and rennet.
To make your Queso
Blanco cheese, you will need one gallon of whole pasteurized milk and use
plain cider vinegar as your coagulation agent. When making the Mascarpone
cheese, you will need one quart of 'light' cream and will use tartaric
acid for your coagulation ingredient, which is available in the baking
section of most grocery stores. |
Equipment
You Will Need:
Although other types of equipment will be needed when making more
difficult cheeses, all you will need to make your Queso Blanco and
Mascarpone are the following items:
Make
sure that ALL equipment is completely sterilized. The easiest way to do
this is to run all of your equipment through the dishwasher without any
soap.
Use
the heat-drying cycle if available. This will ensure that your equipment
is sterilized and ready for use.
The main cause of a
ruined cheese is poor sanitation, so THIS is your most important step!
Ready? Click on through to the next page to make your cheeses!
Click
Here To Continue |
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