I'm on a bit of a fresh homemade Montreal-Style Bagel kick. So I thought, why not give homemade cream cheese a try, to pair with it? Back when we had a family milk cow, I made mozzerella and brie cheeses with great success. For the cream cheese, I tried a few different methods and ingredients to come up with what I thought made a creamy, slightly tangy, spreadable delight. It only takes five basic ingredients and most of the time is just spent waiting for it to set up. To the finished product, which is delicious plain, you can add garlic (raw or roasted), herbs or fruit to make a tonne of variations.
It really helps to use a good quality cream with no additives. Most store bought cream is not great in this application as it contains - sodium citrate, sodium phosphate, carrageenan and locust bean gum. I found a local dairy, which bottles pure, unadulterated milk and cream.
I've also learned to use non-reactive bowls, pots and utensils when cheesemaking. This prevents any metallic taste from transfering to the cheese.
Preparation
Start by collecting the few ingredients you require. They include:
2 cups half and half
2 tbsps plain greek yogurt
1/8 tablet rennet
2 tbsps water
1/4 tsp salt
Yields about 1 1/2 cups cream cheese
Recipe doubles easily
Give yourself 16-18 hours to complete the whole process
Mix it Together
Dissolve the rennet in the water, until completely incorporated. I actually use a 1/4 tablet in 4 tbsps water and only ultimately used 1/2 of that, because the rennet comes with easily cuttable quarters.
Mix cream, yogurt and salt in a small Dutch oven or heavy bottomed pot
Heat over low (3 out of 10) until the cream mixture reaches 85 degrees with an instant read thermometer. Mine has over by a few degrees with no ill effects.
Remove from heat immediately.
Pour in the rennet mixture and stir thoroughly to combine.
Let it Set Up
Cover the pot with a lid and let it sit in a warm environment for about 8 hours.
I placed mine in the oven with just the light on.
After 8 hours it should no longer be liquid, but set curd.
Run a tooth pick or wooden skewer through the curd to break it up a bit.
Drain the Whey
Line a sieve with a few layers of cheesecloth , place it over a bowl.
Empty the contents of the pot into the cheesecloth.
Cover and return to the warm spot for about 6-8 additional hours, depending on your desired creaminess level - less time = creamier.
Stir it Up & Chill
After 6-8 hours, gather up the corners of the cheesecloth and gently squeeze out more whey.
Remove the, now drained, cream cheese to a bowl and stir well, to make it creamy and uniform. If it over drained, either add back a bit of whey or cream.
Add any additional flavourings at this time and stir well to incorporate.
You can also whip the cream cheese in a food processor to achieve an ever smoother finish and incorporate any additions you make.
Today, I added 1 extra-large clove of finely minced garlic, 1/8 tsp each of salt, black pepper, dried basil and oregano.
Refrigerate for at least a few hours to firm it up and meld flavours, then enjoy!
Additional Information
You can store this cream cheese in a container, with a tight fitting lid, for about 5-10 days in the fridge. It may weep some extra whey, but you can either drain it off or reincorporate it.
I've heard homemade cream cheese can be tricky when making cheesecake. It is not as firm as store bought varieties and thus, the finished cheesecake may not hold up as well. If you try it, you may have to add some extra eggs or egg yolks and perphaps some lemon, for additional tartness.
You can find rennet tablets at some grocery stores (I got mine at Food Basics) or online. If using liquid rennet, use 2 drops in the 2 tbsps water.
Use the leftover whey, which contains protein, to add to bread dough, smoothies, soups and even feed it to the chickens - they love it!!
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