du fromage, but not of the French variety

Alright, it's time to learn to make cheese! This is an Imeruli cheese, from the Republic of Georgia, but a simple farmer's cheese and probably the easiest to make as far as cheese goes.

Some things you will need:
• Milk – 1 gallon, whole
• Buttermilk - 1/4 cup (or ½ cup plain yogurt)
• Rennet: 1/4 tablet rennet (e.g. Junket brand, though it's not specifically for cheese, it's usually the most easily available (at Whole Foods)) or 10 drops of liquid rennet (cheesemaking.com)
• Salt: non-iodized sea salt


• A food thermometer (that measures at least 60 to 100 F)
• Large wooden spoon
• Stainless steel pot with lid-- MUST be stainless steel! Sterilize it by boiling little bit of water for about 15 minutes and then draining it.
• Strainer
• Cheese cloth, also sterilized

This cheese process takes place over two days, so plan accordingly! It's quite easy to take 15 minutes before you go to sleep to start, and then it's ready to go in the morning.

Day 1

1. Warm the milk to 68oF in the sterilized pot and put aside.

2. Blend in buttermilk. Cover with the sterilized lid and let sit at room temperature overnight (or 8-10 hours).  

Day 2

3.Warm milk up to 86oF (constantly mix with the spoon).  

4.Dissolve ¼ tablet of rennet (or 10 drops of liquid rennet) in ¼ cup (120 ml) cold water. Add dissolved rennet to warmed milk and mix with the spoon. Remove from heat.

5. Cover the pot and set aside and DO NOT DISTURB! After about 40 minutes to an hour, take a look and test the milk for completed action of rennet ("clean break").  To test for “clean break” put your index finger into the milk and lift the top layer of the milk up (which should be like a Jell-O). The mixture should be firm and should have a crack when the finger is lifted. If it’s not ready, allow more time without stirring or disturbing the pot. 

6. When it’s ready, cut the curd with a long knife into half inch cubes (cut straight down to bottom repeatedly parallel to the previously cut side. Then rotate the pot 90 degrees, cut as before. Repeat this once again.
7. Place pot over a very low fire, stir curd with cleaned bare hand by reaching down to bottom, gently lifting and stirring. Cut larger curds as they appear. Do not mash or squeeze.  

8. Continue stirring for 15 minutes until the curds are about 95oF warm. Heating higher will make for a harder cheese. You can also add some salt in at this point if you like. Remove from the stove.  They should look like your typical curds and whey after all the stirring:

9. Place curds in a cheese cloth and over a strainer. Squeeze the mixture together to remove almost all the liquid and give a desired shape.  

10. Leave the cheese over a strainer for a few hours (or even overnight) to ensure that excess liquid is removed. I've been pretty creative with this part, constructing my own cheese press out of a plastic food container with poked holes and placing a can of food on top for weight. It's not necessary and you can certainly simply use cheesecloth only and form a ball, but it's fun to experiment!

11. Sprinkle some salt on the cheese from both sides and store in a container with a lid. Leave the salt to achieve desired flavor but once ready, wash the cheese with cold water and remove the salt.