Homemade Cream Cheese

When I first began looking for a homemade cream cheese recipe, I met with mixed success. Our cow dried up when I was in the middle of experimentations and after she freshened, I picked back up right where I left off and finally found a winning cream cheese recipe.

Ultimately, what I’m looking for is a dessert cheese to be used for making our favorite cheesecake. We love cheesecake and now by using fresh dairy products and farm fresh eggs, I can feel pretty good serving it to my family as far as desserts are concerned. Allow me to try to persuade you why you need to make this simple, delicious cheese:

Are you convinced yet?

Each recipe resulted in about 36 ounces of homemade cream cheese. Including an amazing Pumpkin Swirl Cheesecake.

{Homemade Cream Cheese}

1-gallon whole milk
1-pint heavy cream (Learn the easiest way to skim cream from milk here.)
1/4 teaspoon calcium chloride, dissolved in 1/2 cup water
4 mesophilic culture cubes
4-8 drops liquid rennet (Make sure you don’t use GMO rennet.)
1 teaspoon salt

*By the way, I have a new favorite thermometer…It’s digital, inexpensive, reads quickly, is self-calibrating, and has a 5-year warranty!! You can get your own here.

• Add the milk & cream to a pot and stir well, slowly heating it to 86 degrees.

• Add the calcium chloride and stir it in.<• Add the mesophilic culture cubes. Melt them and maintain your temperature.

• Add 4 drops rennet, stirring, slowly and gently, in an up and down motion for 30 seconds.

• Cover the pot and set it aside without further disturbance for 12-24 hours.

• The curds are ready when droplets of whey form on the surface about 2-3” in size and the curd mass begins to pull away from the sides of the pot.

(This is actually a clean break on mozzarella, but gives you an idea of what one looks like)
• Check the curds for a clean break

• Using a slotted spoon, carefully transfer the curd into a cheesecloth-covered colander set inside a large bowl to collect whey for further use. (I buy use this one. It has a nice close weave.)

• Drain the curds for 1-2 hours.

• Tie up corners of the cheesecloth and hang it in a warm area for 10-20 hours, scraping the sides of the cheesecloth every 4 hours or so to facilitate further draining. (Complete draining time depends on desired consistency.)

• At the last scraping, mix in 1 teaspoon of salt for flavor and to release any extra whey.

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