The Easy Cooking Method For Your First Batch Of Fresh Cheese

When it comes to making cheese at home, fresh cheese is undeniably easier to make than something like hard cheese or a soft ripened cheese. All it requires is a couple of ingredients, a pot, a thermometer, and some cheesecloth, and since it doesn't require aging, it's ready to eat almost immediately. But that's not to say it always goes smoothly. Milk requires a specific temperature to coagulate correctly, which can be difficult to maintain for extended periods. Here's where a sous vide machine makes things a whole lot easier. Its sole function is to cook things at a precise and consistent temperature, making it ideal for home cheese-making.

The traditional method for making fresh cheese like this homemade ricotta is to heat the milk separately, add the lemon juice or vinegar, and then continue to cook until you get curds. During the process, you need to ensure the milk doesn't get too hot, and you must stir regularly to avoid the milk catching on the bottom of the pan. It's simple but hands-on. With the sous vide method, you add all the ingredients to the bag at once, set the temperature, and let the machine do its thing. Once the curds separate, you simply transfer them to your cheesecloth for draining as normal.

This "everything in the bag" technique is the most hands-off way to make cheese with a sous vide machine, but it does take considerably longer than on the stovetop. If you want to speed things up while still taking advantage of the temperature control, there is an alternative way to do it. You'll need two containers of different sizes: A larger one for the water bath and a smaller one for the milk to sit inside it. You're basically using this smaller container as you would a saucepan. With the milk in place, the water bath is heated to the desired temperature, at which time you add the lemon juice or vinegar. Once the curds form, you can drain as normal.

You might be surprised by how many fresh cheeses you can make at home, most of which are suitable for these sous vide techniques. What usually varies between recipes is not so much the cooking method, but rather the ingredients (or ratio), the temperature, and how the cheese is handled after cooking. Swap the cow milk for goat milk, and you've changed the taste completely, creating a chèvre cheese ready to add to a classic French salad. By using heavy cream as the base instead of milk, you can make a rich mascarpone. By pressing your curds after draining, you'll get a firm, fresh cheese that is perfect for making simple palak paneer.