Interactive lesson

Semi-hard and hard cheese, step by step

Interactive lesson: from grass-fed milk to a wheel in the cellar — scalding the curd, a lever press, brine, the cheese cave, rind care and signs of spoilage.

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The whole lesson as text

1. Milk and rennet

Hard cheese is the oldest way of keeping spring milk for winter.

Milk from grass — Fresh milk, no more than a day old, from healthy animals. Milk from animals fed on silage carries clostridial spores: the cheese blows and splits.
Pasteurising — Hold the milk at 63 °C (145 °F) for 30 minutes, then cool it to 32 °C (90 °F).
Calcium chloride and culture — For 10 L: 3 mL of 33 % calcium chloride in 50 mL of water. Sprinkle the culture over the surface, leave it 2 minutes, stir, and keep the milk at 32 °C for 30–45 minutes.
Rennet — For 10 L, 2.5–3 mL of liquid rennet in 50 mL of cold boiled water. The total time to cutting is the flocculation time multiplied by 3, roughly 30–40 min.

Why: The less water a cheese holds, the harder it is. Water is driven out by cutting small, scalding, long stirring and heavy pressing. It all starts with good milk.

Semi-hard cheese: 10 L of milk gives roughly 1 kg of cheese; it ripens for 6–12 weeks.
Sheep milk gives almost twice as much cheese; mixed sheep and cow milk is the classic of the Livno region in Bosnia.

2. Cutting and washing the curd

Semi-hard cheese in the style of Gouda and Trappist: mild, elastic, for slicing.

Cut the cubes — When the clean-break test shows the curd is ready, cut it into 1–1.5 cm cubes.
Rest and stir — Let the curd rest 5 minutes, then stir it gently for 10 minutes.
Washing the curd — Drain off a third of the whey. Slowly add water at 60 °C, stirring, until the curd reaches 36–38 °C.
The fist test — Stir 20–30 minutes until the curd is like cooked rice: squeezed, it holds together, and it falls apart when you open your hand.

Why: Smaller curd and washing with warm water drive out more whey. Washing removes some of the milk sugar, so the cheese is milder and more elastic.

Add the water slowly, stirring; reaching 36–38 °C (97–100 °F) takes about 10 minutes.
For your first cheese take 10 L and one mould. Write every step in the batch diary.