Thought I'd give cheesemaking a go. I've ordered some proper cultures and rennet off of the webnet but for now here's some small experiments. I've been using live yoghurt as the culture and spirit vinegar in the place of rennet. The yoghurt in question contains three bacterial cultures, including the Streptococcus used in cheesemaking as well as the two normally found in yoghurt. No idea why the cheese culture is in there, but I've seen it a few times so must be fairly standard practice?
Experiment 1
Three tablespoons of live yoghurt were gently heated. Three capfuls of vinegar were gradually added stepwise. The yoghurt became thinner. No curds were formed. The experiment was halted and the ingredients thrown away.
Experiment 2
A small quantity of ordinary homogenised semi-skimmed milk was gently heated. A capful and a half of vinegar was added stepwise. A couple of tablespoons of curds precipitated, but only fully after the stated quantity of vinegar was used. The whey tasted strongly of vinegar and was discarded. The curds were drained, and tasted noticeably of vinegar. They were washed with cold water, reducing the vinegar flavour, although the taint remained. Eaten with salt.
Experiment 3
A tablespoon of live yoghurt was added to a small quantity of ordinary semi-skimmed milk, and the mixture left to stand at room temperature for thirty minutes. After this time the mixture tasted noticeably "cultured". It was gently heated and only half a cap of vinegar was needed to precipitate the curds. The whey remained pleasant and was retained for experiment 4. The curds were washed in cold water, yet retained a very slight vinegar taint. Eaten with salt. Yield was similar to experiment 2. This method is similar to the normal recipe for mexican Queso Blanco.
Experiment 4
A teaspoon of live yoghurt was added to the hot whey and left to stand for a couple of hours. The whey was then reheated and a tiny amount of vinegar added. A very slight precipitate formed, which when collected in a muslin cloth and washed with cold water. A further yield of a tablespoon of curds was recovered. Ricotta is an example of a whey cheese made by methods similar to this.
The curds produced in Experiment 2-4 were indistinguishable to my uneducated mouth.
