Green Cheese

Making your own cheese can help reduce waste

The first time I saw yogurt being made was in Southern India, years ago. A woman with wrists covered in bangles stirred milk on a stovetop. She then cooled it slightly before adding a bit of a previous batch as an inoculant. She covered the pot with a plate and, by the next morning, the milk had thickened. We ate it over rice to cool our mouths from a spicy dinner.

Photo of Cheesemaking Photo courtesy of Kitchen Creamery For the modern eater, cheese is often less about survival and
more about flavor.

Watching this process inspired me. Up until then, yogurt had been a food that came from the store. It was scooped out of plastic tubs, often bright pink and overly sweet. This woman had used only a stove and a pot and, in doing so, had proved things could be different. I remember her yogurt as being the best I’d ever eaten.

Fermented milk (in all its glorious forms including yogurt, kefir, and cheese) has since become my passion. I’m now a cheesemaker and cheesemaking instructor and though some may see the craft of turning milk into cheese as esoteric, I see it as a practical method of food preservation. Milk left at room temperature will naturally ferment due to bacteria (which get in the milk as it leaves the udder or, if the milk is pasteurized, from the surrounding environment in general). As milk ferments, it becomes more acidic, which means safer and less likely to be colonized by unwanted microbes. Use a piece of cheesecloth and that souring milk can go from a bulky, sloshing liquid to a portable protein bar.

Modern day cheesemaking is obviously less casual than this, but the point remains: cheese and fermented milk foods come from ancient, simple, time-tested processes. Our ancestors used cheese as a way to capture energy of the summer months, which enabled them, in part, to survive in harsher climates.

For the modern eater, cheese is often less about survival and more about flavor. We eat it because we love a grilled cheese sandwich, a yogurt smoothie, or a slice of cheesecake. Gourmet supermarkets, in response to our cravings for cheese (and lots of it), stock hundreds of cheese styles imported from all corners of the earth. Many of these cheeses are quite precious (and pricey); specialty and small batch ones can gather upwards of $45 per pound.

But opulent cheese counters cost more than just money. Shipping fresh cheeses from France to California means long trips on airplanes and barges — and associated greenhouse gas emissions — not to mention loads of Styrofoam. Finicky cheeses easily turn from delicious to disgusting if over-aged or mishandled (meaning there’s plenty of food waste). Even wholesome ol’ yogurt is no saint: any eater can generate a stack of empties that no amount of leftovers could make use of, and most of these plastic containers ultimately end up in the trash or, hopefully, recycling. Modern food systems — cheese production included — are based on constant availability and endless variety, which also means waste.

One remedy to this waste is to buy locally produced cheeses — fewer miles traveled means less fuel, less packaging, and less shrinkage (the food wasted during transportation and storage). Another alternative is to make your own. While cheeses from your ‘kitchen creamery’ won’t easily equate to a wheel of Comte, they can be equally delicious and offer their own advantages. Home cheesemaking connects you to where your food comes from. Buying milk and turning it into cheese allows you to support a local dairy, and if you’re buying milk in glass bottles, homemade cheese can even be a zero waste food. Furthermore, much like a homegrown tomato in comparison to a store-bought one, home made cheese lets you taste a food that hasn’t been built for transport.

Home cheesemaking is its own education: ripen a wheel of Gouda and you’ll taste how it changes over time. Turn a gallon of milk into cheese and you’ll see how little it actually yields. Make some Stilton and learn the patterns of mold growth (and have the opportunity to deliberately grow moldy things in the back of your fridge). Hands-on food experiences teach us why a food is valuable and remind us that it shouldn’t be wasted.

Perhaps the most important aspect of home cheesemaking is the way it exposes the natural variation that occurs in food production. A virgin white wheel of Brie or identical bricks of cheddar aren’t easily produced. Their uniformity comes from strictly controlled processes which rely on intensive chemical and mechanical inputs. Imperfect batches get discarded. In contrast, a home cheesemaker can embrace imperfections. He or she doesn’t have to throw away a lopsided wheel or a Brie that turned blue. Variations can be exciting and can mean tasty discoveries. I enjoy how a cheese recipe turns out differently depending on the time of year I make it. I love a random batch of yogurt that comes out extra sour.

If you’d like to try your hand at home cheesemaking, start with the following recipe for Farmers’ Cheese. You’ll need only milk, buttermilk, and salt, but you won’t need any special equipment. Depending on how long you drain the curds for, you can end up with anything from fluffy cream cheese to salty cheese crumbles. Try it as a bagel topper or taco garnish. Likely, you’ll be so pleased with the outcome that you’ll dive deeper into the craft.

Farmers’ Cheese

(Adapted from Kitchen Creamery, Chronicle Books, 2015)

1-gallon milk

¼ cup cultured buttermilk

Salt to taste

Pour milk into a stockpot and warm to room temperature (or roughly 76ºF), stirring occasionally. When the milk has warmed, turn off the heat and add the buttermilk. Stir in.

Cover the pot and set in a warm, agitation-free location for 24 to 48 hours, or until there is a yogurty aroma and the milk has thickened slightly or completely.

Place the pot with cultured milk on the stove over medium low heat. Stir every other minute and very gently as you bring the temperature of the pot up to 110°F. For a drier cheese, continue to heat up to 125°F. Stop stirring once the pot reaches temperature.

Let pot rest for 10 minutes before gently transfer curds (using a ladle) into a colander lined with fine cheesecloth, set over the sink. Allow cheese to drain for 30 minutes to overnight (if you chose to drain overnight, cover the colander and drain in the refrigerator).After draining, transfer curds to a bowl and whisk together with salt to taste. For a smoother consistency, pulse curds in a food processor along with ¼ cup of heavy cream or buttermilk. Flavor as desired with additional herbs and spices. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 10 days.

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