When it comes to poutine, it’s all about the cheese curds. Fresh and squeaky cheese curd iswhat makes poutine “authentic.” Getting cheese curds in Australiais quite easy; you can easily walk down the street a couple of blocks and buy an entire package for just a few dollars. But you might not always get the fresh cheese curds at the store.
So, in such case, it’s always better to know how to make cheese curds at home. You don’t have to compromise with non-squeaky cheese curds. Though making cheese curds at home is not fast or easy, but the time and effort you invest will be worth it.
Read the recipe and follow each step precisely; with no doubt, you will have fresh and squeaky cheese curd at your home.
Ingredients
Milk 1 gallon
Calcium Chloride ½ tablespoon
Culture ½ tablespoon
Rennet ½ tablespoon / 0.55 g
Direction
- First, transfer a gallon of milk into a sterilized pot, and place the pot over another pot that has a few inches of water in it, creating a double boiler. Slowly bring the temperature to 90 F while stirring it once in a while.
- Now, dissolve some calcium chloride in water. If you have a crystal calcium chloride, it needs to be crush against the bottom and keep string until it’s dissolved.Once you have entirely dissolved calcium chloride, stir it in the milk and stir for about one minute.
- Sprinkle the mesophilic culture (the bacteria that turns milk into cheese). Sprinkle over the milk and let it sit on the surface for precisely one minute. Now, use up-and-down stirring motion and stir gently and thoroughly.
- Cover it for 30-35 mins and let the culture do its things. It will give those microorganisms enough time to get down and reproduce.
- Before adding the last major ingredient rennet, dilute it in a little bit of water. While the culture turns the milk into cheese, it’s the rennet that’s going to make this mixture coagulate to form the curds. Stir the diluted rennet in and continue stirring the milk for 1 min.
- Back up and set the timer for 45 mins, or until you achieve a clean break (i.e.,if we tear or cut the curd, it will separate cleanly with the crack filling with clearway). You can test it with knife; if you are at the clean break stage, that knife will cut right through curds very cleanly.If you are not at a clean break stage, keep it at 90 f until you are.
- Go ahead and slice the curds into cubes and let it sit for 5 mins. If you are to the clean break stage, you should see it start to come out. The cubes of curds will begin to shrink and separate.
- Raise the temperature of the mixture into 98F,cover and cook it for about 90 minutes, stirring approximately every 10 mins, try to keep the temperature around 98 F throughout the time.
- Take off the lid and stir it for half a minute. If you see any curds that look abit big, you can break them down to a smaller size. As time passes, those curds will get smaller and smaller. The longer you cook them, the smaller they will get and the firmer you finish.To check if it’s adequately done, gently squeeze the curds together they will stick to each other
- After it’s cooked long enough, transfer them into a cheesecloth-lined strainer that’s set over another pot and let them drain for min or two. Wrap it up and cover it.
- Place a small plate on top of curds and press with weight for 2-3 hours.
- Once it has shrunken up pretty well, transfer it on a paper towel. Cut the curds into cubes; you can pick any size you want and transfer them into a plastic bag where they must be salted, else it will taste like nothing. Sprinkle some salt and give it a shake so that salt is evenly absorbed.
You can enjoy it as soon as salt gets absorbed, but you can age it overnight by covering them in cheesecloth and letting them sit out for 12 hrs. It helps to improve the taste a little more.
There it is!! A homemade cheese curds, wonderful fresh milky flavor featuring an interesting texture slightly firm and rubbery that squeaks against your teeth. Eat as it is, or fry it, or use it in your poutine.
The cheese curds may not last long, so you need to transfer them into an airtight container and keep in the fridge; it will help them last at least a week. I do hope you will give it a try.
