Making Hard Cheese at Home

By The Mother Earth News Editors
Published on May 1, 1976
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Learn to make cheese at home. Healthy, delicious and versatile, you can use your cheese in a wide variety of recipes.
Learn to make cheese at home. Healthy, delicious and versatile, you can use your cheese in a wide variety of recipes.
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Step 3: Mix in rennet.
Step 3: Mix in rennet.
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Step 2: Add starter (optional).
Step 2: Add starter (optional).
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Step 4: Let set until curd breaks cleanly.
Step 4: Let set until curd breaks cleanly.
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Step 5: Cutting the Curd.
Step 5: Cutting the Curd.
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Step 6: Stir curd by hand.
Step 6: Stir curd by hand.
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Step 7: Warm slowly for one hour.
Step 7: Warm slowly for one hour.
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Step 12: Dress the cheese.
Step 12: Dress the cheese.
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Step 10: Salt the curd.
Step 10: Salt the curd.
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Step 13: Press cheese.
Step 13: Press cheese.
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Step 9: Pour curd.
Step 9: Pour curd.
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Step 11: Form into a ball.
Step 11: Form into a ball.
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Step 14: Paraffin, then store in cool place.
Step 14: Paraffin, then store in cool place.

The recipe that follows is a basic formula for producing
natural (uncolored, unprocessed) hard cheese at home. Keep
in mind, however, that domestic cheesemaking is an
imprecise art at best. Many variables—such as how
“ripe” the milk is, the length of time (and the temperature

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