Making Queso Blanco Cheese: Curds & Saving The Whey
Homemade Queso Blanco Cheese
The other day I came across a post from @funhappylives and he was talking about his free kindle books. Well I am a person who loves to read, loves getting free books and LOVES cheese. And he had a cheesemaking book! I was SO there!
Queso Blanco Cheese Recipe
Now I took his recipe in the book and considered how to adjust a few things. It didn't specifically say how much salt to add, what kind of salt, etc; so I did a little research of my own. Found another recipe and tweaked it some for my household's preference.
- 1/2 (8-cups) gallon raw milk; which I bought on a recent trip to a local dairy farm
- 1/3 plus 1 tbls apple cider vinegar
- 1 1/2 tbls sea salt
I heated the milk to 185-degrees, stirring frequently as to not scorch it. I never boiled it, just a good rolling simmer. Then added salt. Stirred then added half the apple cider vinegar, stirred until curds started; then added other half of apple cider vinegar. Kept the rolling simmer going and within five minutes the cheese was curdling enough for me to spoon (using a slotted spoon) into a cheesecloth lined colander (which drained into a bowl beneath). I placed a heavy glass bowl over the folded up cheesecloth to assist with draining the liquid away.
It takes about two hours for the cheese to drain real good; and the longer you let it drain, the drier the cheese will taste.
It was SO EASY and I asked myself why I had never made this cheese before. I buy it all the time for when we tacos, burritos and nachos; plus I will just cut off a hunk and nibble on it for a snack.
SAVE THE WHEY!
When I do make homemade cheese, I save the whey. This is the perfect liquid to replace water in a homemade bread recipe; which I will be doing later this week. I am planning on making some homemade dinner rolls to take to my parents for Thanksgiving dinner.
So there you have it. My first time making this variety of cheese. I have done ricotta hundreds of times, but never Queso Blanco. I have BIG plans for the other half gallon of raw milk later in the week. Come back and look for another GREAT recipe
I bet that is so delicious! Awesome work. Whats your favorite tasting cheese to make?
Oh man! Favorite?
We are such cheese freaks in this house.
I have only made ricotta and this one so far. I have my sights on making some mozzarella, marscapone and one day... my ultimate favorite cheese... MUENSTER! LOVE the saltiness from ALL cheese!
Asiago, fontinella, extra sharp cheddar.. I could go on and on about cheese.
I am thrilled I took the step into making another kind aside from ricotta.
Sounds like you need a milk cow lol.
Oh yeah! That would be so awesome! But I can just run to the dairy farm nearby. I was there last Friday and did a post. They have so much cool stuff
You make it look so easy!! I really want to try making my own ricotta cheese, no supermarkets sell it near me and I miss it so much. Do you think it would be prepared similarly to your Queso Blanco?
It is almost identical really. I just don't add salt to the ricotta, plus you add heavy cream in place of some of the milk.I had done a post of my ricotta cheese recipe also months ago.
Oh how handy, you already have a post on it! I'll have a look through your blog and try to find it :) thank you! I love my cheese and need it in my life!
Could you tell me what your ricotta post is titled?
I think it's title "Cause There's nothing like homemade ricotta cheese" I tried scrolling on my page but... without categories it would be forever lol