Cheesemaking Again--Feta!

Since I got quite a lot of feedback (mostly verbal--certainly not blog comments!) on my last cheese post about how to make Farmhouse Cheddar, I thought I'd do a couple more of these on other cheeses.  People pay scads of money to take cheese making classes, and so long as you're after just cheese-making-know-how, and not party atmosphere, then a photo journal of the process is all you need.  If you want to pay lots of money and take a class, by all means!  I've taken one and it was a good class and I'd do it again--it made making cheese seem not so difficult and scary, and it was fun!  But now that I've gained a little confidence, I'd rather spend money on supplies than classes.  So, if you've got other ways to spend your time and money, but still want to see cheese making in action, here's your opportunity.  This post will be about feta.  I made the feta and chevre at the same time, so you will see a bit of that in these photos, but it shouldn't be confusing. :)

 I started out with 2 gallons of feta.  Warm the milk up to 86*F.  Culture the milk with 1/4 tsp. mesophilic culture, 1/4 tsp. flora danica, and 1/4 tsp. lipase powder.  Stir it in well and let it set for one hour.

 After one hour, you will add 1/2 tsp. rennet diluted in 1/4 cup non-chlorinated (use distilled or reverse osmosis) water.  Mix well, and then let rest 30 minutes. 

 After 30 minutes, you should have what is called a clean break.  You can cut the curd and it forms nice lines, not running back together. 

 Once you have cut the curd, let it rest 10 minutes.

 Stir the curd for 20 minutes.  Here's what it looks like when you start stirring:

 And what it looks like by the end of the 20 minutes:  You want to stir gently. 

 Next, you will pour off as much whey as possible without losing curd.  Our dogs and chickens love whey!

 Next, you will pour the curds and remaining whey into a lined (I used the same pillowcase as I discussed in my Cheddar post) colander.

 Here are the curds after pouring:

 Then, gather the edges of your pillowcase (or butter muslin if you've invested in that) and hang to drain.

 I started the cheese in the morning and then let it hang all day.  In the evening, I took it down and opened it up.

 From here, you cut the cheese (no, not like that!) into slabs and then cubes. 

 Sprinkle salt on the cheese.  I used to lay all my cheese out in one layer in several pans, making sure to salt all sides of each individual cube... phooey!  Now I just pile it in the pan, sprinkle liberally with salt, and put the lid on the pan and shake it up!  It can take it, I promise!  Notice, I've used cheap canning salt.  (Yes, that clearance sticker on the front of the container really does say $1.00!) Any non-iodized salt will do.

 You may not be able to see it from the photo, but more whey will continue to drain out of the cheese for a few days.  Keep the cheese at room temperature for 2 days, salting, flipping, and draining.

 Draining the cheese:

After the 2 days, refrigerate the cheese in brine.  You can make a brine with 1 TBS salt (non-iodized, again) to 1 cup of water, making however much is necessary to cover the cheese.  The longer the cheese ages, the better it becomes in taste and texture.  However, it doesn't get a chance to age very long around here!