How to Make Cheese

I've just made my last batch of cheese for the year.  Cheese making is something that I do only in the "poor weather" months in that it is both fun and tedious - there is a lot of waiting around.  When the weather is nice in the spring/summer, I don't want to be forced to stay indoors.
Cheese making is pretty easy and relatively cheap to do.  If someone were interested in making cheese, I would suggest getting one of the good books out there, learn the basics and then throw them away for a while.  While trying to get the "feel" right for the cheese and when to do certain steps, practice is what is needed.  Adhering strictly to times/temperatures/ingredients will only lead to frustration.  Additionally, most recipes expect a certain ingredient list to be used which may not always be practical.  A book is helpful for understanding the theory however.
Equipment:  You don't really need much.

• Double boiler.  Basically two pots, one inside the other.
• Normal knives/spoons/etc. that every kitchen likely has.  Also a colander and a couple pans.
• A cheese mold (not the fungus kind) to hold the cheese in a shape while it is being pressed.  This can be as simple as two buckets or very elaborate.  I've had several generations - and keep changing what I'm using for this.
• Weight for cheese mold.  I use old barbel weights.  I bought a rather expensive (for what it was) press for cheese, but it did not work as advertised.  I still use it as the mold, but use external weights as I believe this is MUCH more consistent.

Ingredients:  Most can be bought at the supermarket or are available through a cheese making supply company online:

• Milk.  Like many people, I have access to store bought milk (I recently found a source for goats milk - yeah!).  Avoid ultra-pasteurized milk.
• Cream.  Pump the fat up in the cheese - it is better.
• Bacteria.  I have found the thermophillic easier to work with.  The direct set powder is cheap enough for what I do with it.
• Rennet.  This is the enzyme that sets the milk.  I like the calf's rennet - a little goes a long way.
• Cheese cloth.  Washing this stuff is a pain so I use the plastic disposable stuff.  I think it separates easier from the cheese as well.
• Non-iodized salt.  You need salt and iodine adds a funny taste.
• Calcium Chloride.  This helps set store bought milk.
• Distilled water to dilute the rennet - chlorine kills rennet.

Notice I do not list amounts of any of the above.  I make one gallon's milk worth of cheese at a time.  Follow the instructions that come with your cheese-specific ingredients (bacteria, rennet, etc.) as to how much to use.  I find that adding about double the rennet required helps set store bought milk.

Before starting, clean and sanitize the area.  Since the cheese will be air dried for a time, you want to be reasonably sure that nothing else will be growing on it.  Rinse everything a lot before starting.

Mix milk, cream calcium chloride and thermophillic bacteria in a double boiler.  Heat to 90F.

Let the mixture sit for around a half an hour to let the bacteria come alive and begin to ripen the milk.
Dilute the rennet in a half cup of water and then add to the milk.  Stir vigorously until mixed.  LEAVE IT ALONE FOR ONE HOUR!!!!  Let the milk set, don't go back and try to remix or check on it.

Use a long knife to cut the curd into strips in a "cross-hatch" pattern.  VERY SLOWLY heat the curd to 110F.  This should take about a half an hour.  Stir very gently only occasionally as it comes up to temperature.

Cook the curd at 110F for about an hour.  Stir very gently a couple times during this time.  You now should have curd chunks floating in some odd-looking liquid.

Strain the cheese curds to get rid of the whey.  I've never had much luck saving the whey from store-bought milk for anything.  Drain for a few minutes, but don't let the curd cool too much at this point.

Dump the curds back into your pot and add a heavy tablespoon of salt.  Stir the curds and put the cheese cloth into the mold.  Spoon and pour the curd into the mold.  Do this in the sink since whey will continue to be expelled, especially after the addition of the salt.

Now use weights to press the curd.  The point of this is to press out the liquid to leave solid cheese.  Start with a little weight.

Flip the cheese and add weight a few times over the course of a couple days.  I like the final weight to be about 30 pounds for about one and a half days.  

After a couple days of pressing, remove the cheese from the mold and take off the cheese cloth.  If the cheese is rock hard, it was pressed too much.  If it is still sloppy, it wasn't pressed enough (or possibly wasn't cooked long enough in the pot).

After the cheese has been taken from the cheese cloth, salt the outside of it with non-iodized salt and let air dry for a few days.  Flip the cheese every other day to help it dry evenly.  Once the cheese starts to harden on the edges, it can be eaten, or waxed for aging.  Use a cheese wax as it is easy to remove to eat it.  It will age very slowly at refrigerator temperatures.

And, that is it.  It really is that easy to make cheese.
I almost gave up on this until I got rid of the recipes and just began to work with it.
Have fun, but remember that there is a time commitment to doing this.  So if the weather is nice and you can't stand being inside in the  summer, wait for winter.

As for me, I'll get ready to do this again in about seven months.