# Hillbilly Cheese Making



## keren (Oct 26, 2008)

No offense intended towards any hillbillies 

I have been doing what my partner calls 'hillbilly cheesemaking', and having a blast!

I have made chevre, real ricotta/anari from whey, fetta and mozarella (and cajeta as an aside, but thats not cheese obviously). 

The best part of it (and the hillbilly part) is that I have made all these cheeses without buying anything special at all! I've only used stuff I had in the kitchen and stuff I can buy at the supermarket. 

I've used yoghurt to culture, and junket tablets for rennet. I'm using Chux wipes and clean pillowcases instead of cheesecloth/butter muslin. I use a big saucepan to heat the milk (it holds about 5 litres) and I dont have a thermometer, I just monitor the temp with my finger and have a guess at it. Several times I havent even heated the milk, simply used it fresh from the goats - milk into a 10L bucket, bring it inside and put the culture and rennet in it and let it sit. Easy. My cheese press is a beetroot tin with the ends cut off, I line it with a chux wipe, sit it on top of an upside down colander over a plate to catch the drips, put one of the cut off ends ontop of the cheese and sit an empty bottle of bourban (filled with water) on top of it all as a weight. 

Next I want to try a herbed goat cheese, and I'd like to try baking my ricotta. And for some reason haloumi is defeating me. I still havent managed to get it right, it always disintegrates when I try to re-boil it in its whey. I might try the microwave version and see if that works. 

Some time next year I think I will have to buy a real cheesemaking kit so I can try some more difficult cheeses like camembert and cheddar.


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## nancy d (Oct 5, 2007)

Do keep us updated on your cheese making adventures Keren.
"Hillbilly" pretty much sums it up as "Make do with what you already have", no need to get sucked into buying expensive equipment if you can make it without spending a fortune.


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## Shellshocker66 (Mar 19, 2012)

Sounds good  

Here we now call it survival skills I think instead of being hillbilly? 

But what is even funnier is that to my 89 year old mother who was raised during the depression in Arkansas that would just be the way your suppose to do things. They didn't run to the store for hardly anything because there wasn't one close and they didn't really have a lot of money. Everything was re-used, and everything was used! 

So history repeating itself a lot of folks are trying to live more simple lifestyles and be less dependent on the stores. Good thing to see as it's something I've had to deal with all my life with my mom.


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

I'm a Hillbilly.... as was my dad and his family, no offense taken and Nancy pretty much summed it up...we make do with what we have AND enjoy our resourcefullness 

Sounds like you made a good go at cheesemaking....thats only the beginning!


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## MOgoatlady (Oct 23, 2012)

Lol all of my cheese attempts so far were just with what I had in the house, lemon juice, normal pots and pans etc. Hubby wants to build me a cheese press with some leftover PVC pipe from one of our projects. GO HILLBILLIES!!!


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

My cheese press consists of a 8 inch piece of PVC pipe with a follower made from leftover acrylic counter top, cut to fit inside the pipe I use a 2 qt bottle filled with sand and water as a weight


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## riaketty (Feb 22, 2009)

keren said:


> empty bottle of bourban (filled with water) on top of it all as a weight.


I don't know why but this cracked me up. :hammer:

Hubs has all these cheese doodads he's going to build for me.

Hasn't yet... but, well, ONE day...

.... maybe


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## xymenah (Jul 1, 2011)

Every time I strategically follow a cheese recipe, monitoring the tempature, carefully measuring the rennet and cultures it never turns out. Every time I just wing it I get something good. 

I was raised in a high class neighborhood in California(wine glasses and manicured lawns) but I have more hillbilly in me then some of the "back woods" people I have met. Yay for ingenuity.


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## ThreeHavens (Oct 20, 2011)

I'm gonna bump this since I'm getting into cheese-making. Any "hillbilly" recipes anyone wants to share?


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## Tera (Dec 21, 2007)

I am a recipe follower, I want to try to make cheese without any of the stuff you buy online. Anyone have any recipes for "hillbilly cheesemaking"?


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## keren (Oct 26, 2008)

This is more or less the recipe I use for fetta cheese, from this website http://www.junketdesserts.com/cheeserecipes.aspx
I've added my comments in *bold*.

_Equipment:_
1) 5 quart stainless steel pot with lid sterilized by placing a small amount of water in it, covering, and boiling for 5 minutes. *I just use my biggest pot which holds a bit over a gallon. Its non stick, not stainless steel, but seems to work fine. I dont bother sterilising it. *
2) thermometer should read in the range of 32-220 F (0-110 C) *I dont use a thermometer, I just stick my finger in it. *
3) long bladed knife to cut the curd *I use a bread knife*
4) quart strainer to support the draining cloth (handkerchief) *I use a colander over a bucket*
5) 2 sterile handkerchiefs draining cloth, sterilized by boiling and hanging to dry *I use a chux wipe or a clean pillowcase*
6) receiving container to catch draining whey. A one gallon bowl or clean plastic bucket will do. *just a $1 bucket*
7) cheese mold and weight Cut the ends out of a smooth-sided 4 x 5 inch tin can, save one of the cut ends for the press *beetroot tin. *

_Ingredients:_
1 gallon milk whole milk for a richer flavor or skimmed milk for low calorie cheese 
1 Tbl fresh active plain yogurt to use as an inoculum (yogurt must contain live and active cultures) 
1/2 tablet Junket Rennet to coagulate the milk 
5 Tbl table salt to prepare the pickling brine

1. Warm the milk in the sterilized pot to 86°F (30°C). Do not let it burn on the bottom. Remove from heat. *I heat mine slowly, stirring almost constantly so the bottom doesnt burn. I heat mine till its a bit warmer than lukewarm but I can still put my finger in it (ie. not too hot.). Kind of like a nice warm bath but not a hot bath. *
2. Mix yogurt with an equal part milk to blend, then stir into the warmed milk to mix thoroughly. 
3. Cover and let inoculated milk sit for one hour at room temperature. Meanwhile, dissolve 1/2 Junket Rennet tablet in 1/4 cup of cool water. *I dissolve the junket tablet right before I need to add it. I found out that if you dissolve it and let it sit for an hour while the milk is culturing, the enzymes arent as effective. *
4. After the inoculated milk has set for one hour, stir in the dissolved rennet to mix well. 
5. Cover and let the inoculated, renneted milk sit overnight at room temperature. 
6. The next morning, the milk should have gelled to produce a clean break (as in the basic cheese recipe). Some of the whey will have separated. Cut curd as per basic cheese (see recipe). The curds should be about 1/2 inch in diameter. 
7. With very clean hand and arm, reach to the bottom of the pot and gently lift the curds to stir. Cut large pieces which appear with a table knife so that they are 1/2 inch pieces. Continue gentle stirring for 10-15 minutes until curd is somewhat contracted. *I only stir gently for a couple of minutes. *
8. Decant off the whey through the handkerchief supported by the strainer, then pour curds into handkerchief. Let the curds drain until no more whey drains out (about 2-4 hours). The whey may be saved for ricotta (see recipe). *I leave mine in the colander for 10 minutes, then tie the cloth together with string and hang it over a bucket for 10 - 12 hrs for it to drain completely. *
9. Transfer the drained curds into a bowl, break into small pieces and mix in 1/2 tsp salt. 
10. Prepare the cheese mold by lining the tin can (with ends cut out) with a handkerchief. Place the curds into mold, fold over ends of the cloth, place one of the cut ends on top, and place a heavy weight on top to press the curds. Let sit overnight to drain. *I use a bourban bottle filled with water as a weight. Leave for 10-12 hrs. *
11. Prepare pickling brine (12.5% salt): 20 oz of water plus 5 Tbl salt. Stir to dissolve. 
12. Remove the cheese from the press and cut into 1.5 inch pieces. Place into a wide-mouth quart jar. Pour brine over to cover. Let pickle for 1-2 days in the refrigerator. The cheese pieces may then be removed from the brine and stored in an air tight container in the refrigerator. Rinse before use to remove excess salt. *I like mine in the brine for about a day or two. Some people leave it for a week or more. I tend to remove it from the brine and rinse, then I put half in oil and herbs as marinated fetta, and the other half I keep fresh. We eat a lot of fetta so I make a batch every week or two, the marinated stuff will last for months in the oil, the fresh stuff lasts about a week. *

I will add some more recipes later.


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## Tera (Dec 21, 2007)

Yay! Thank you Keren! I don't think I've ever eaten Feta . Definitely going on my list to try!


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## NubianFan (Jun 3, 2013)

What I want to know is, What in the world are junket tablets and chux wipes?


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## ahead-by-a-hare (Jan 6, 2013)

Where do you get the junket or rennet? Are these things you have to order? I want to branch out because our doe lost her little one so we have to milk till fair for show.


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## keren (Oct 26, 2008)

Chux wipes (they dont have to be chux brand)









Junket tablets










I get them from the supermarket but I think you can buy junket online too. But then again you can buy actual rennet liquid online, so if you were going to that extent and waiting for it to arrive, I would get the proper rennet liquid. I use the junket tablets just because it is easy and convenient to grab them when I go grocery shopping.


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## NubianFan (Jun 3, 2013)

ooohhh you are in Australia, that makes more sense. We don't have either of those things in the grocery store here. Are the chux wipes cloth or some sort of paper I can't tell from the pic. I want to make cheese eventually so I guess I will order rennet. Try to think what would substitute for chux wipes. A clean cotton dish towel maybe?


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## xymenah (Jul 1, 2011)

iI have seen junket rennet in Walmart and I'm in the US so you should be able to find it NubianFan.


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## NubianFan (Jun 3, 2013)

I live in rural Arkansas and I have never seen it, what area of the store would I find it? It is possible I have missed it I guess. Would it be with baking supplies, or canning supplies or?


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## keren (Oct 26, 2008)

Its hard to find, usually.in the desserts sections with jelly and instant pudding etc. 

Chux wipes are cloth wipes. Call me crazy but surely you have disposable cloth wipes in america??


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## keren (Oct 26, 2008)

Yeah you can use a clean cotton dish towel or a clean pillowcase, even an old clean t shirt. Honestly though if its difficult to find it why not just order some cheesecloth?


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## GTAllen (Jul 22, 2012)

YOu can order junket rennet direct from Junket. But, it is very common in most places.


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## ahead-by-a-hare (Jan 6, 2013)

Thanks for the info and pictures!


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## DDFN (Jul 31, 2011)

I have to agree that I would be what you are calling a "hillbilly" cheese maker.

I actually use store bought men's handkerchiefs. Around here they come in a pack of 12 for $5. I can fit all the cheese curds from processing a gallon of milk into one handkerchief, but if you are making bigger batches you will need additional handkerchiefs ready.

Like the others I boil water in my pots to sterilize my pots and other items that I will use during cheese making. I pour boiling water over my colander, cups, spoons, thermometer and tongs. In a separate pot of boiling water I place my handkerchiefs and paracord. I use the paracord to hang my clothes from the cabinet handles for draining.

So far in East TN I haven't seen the Junket Tabs in Walmart, but I just order my rennet online.

My hubby is actually amazed at how many types of cheeses I can make from the same formula by just altering minor details without using any rennet or cultures at all. I have a type of goat cheese that I make from just Citric Acid (4 tsp) and milk (1 gallon) that is similar to what most people would call Feta Crumbles. I can use the same type of format to make other types like a basic soft goat cheese to a whole milk ricotta. Options are limitless depending on what type of seasoning you like! All of my Citric Acid basic cheeses are made between 115 and 120 degrees.


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## NubianFan (Jun 3, 2013)

YUM y'all I can't wait til next year....


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## ahead-by-a-hare (Jan 6, 2013)

Found the junket rennet tablets at my favorite bulk food store  making Cajeta tonight by Sunday I should have enough milk for cheese!


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## keren (Oct 26, 2008)

Mmmmm I made soooooo much cajeta last year when I had heaps of milk! Barely have enough for drinking at the moment, cant wait till august!


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## katie (Dec 3, 2012)

keren said:


> No offense intended towards any hillbillies
> 
> I have been doing what my partner calls 'hillbilly cheesemaking', and having a blast!
> 
> ...


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## katie (Dec 3, 2012)

We use paint straining bags to strain cheese It might be out of the way but it strains well is reusable and works wonderfully.


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## keren (Oct 26, 2008)

Katie, i will post it tomorrow


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## katie (Dec 3, 2012)

can't wait!


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## NubianFan (Jun 3, 2013)

I found the Junket Rennet at my (fairly) local Amish Grocery store.


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## katie (Dec 3, 2012)

I would still love that mozerella recipe.


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