Clabber Culture Cream Cheese
This simple to make soft cheese is versatile and has a shelf life of 2-3 weeks, which is fairly long for a fresh cheese!
Ingredients
- 1 gallon whole milk warmed to 85F
- 2 tablespoons clabber culture
- 2 drops animal rennet
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Once your milk has reached the proper temperature, stir in the clabber culture.
- Add the two drops of rennet to 2 tablespoons of water and stir, then mix it into the pot of milk.
- Cover your milk and let it sit around 12 hours, or overnight. I usually average 14 hours by the time I get around to dealing with it the next morning.
- I prefer to use cotton muslin fabric, actual cheesecloth is awful! You'll need about an 18" square or bigger to strain a gallon of milk. I drape it in a bowl or pot, and then scoop the cultured cheese into the cloth.
- Take the corners and tie it up, then hang the cheese, overtop of the bowl/pot, in whatever fashion you can mcgyver. From a pot rack...from a cupboard knob...on a wooden spoon hung between two cupboard handles.
- Let it strain 6-8 hrs. If you're making bigger batches you'll need to err on the longer side. On the shorter side yields a softer cheese.
- When it's done hanging, take the cloth down, dump it into a bowl and stir in your salt. If you're using a premixed seasoning like ranch dip mix, don't add additional salt.
- The salt acts as a preservative so unless you plan to use it within a day or two, I highly recommend salting it.
- Put it into a container in the fridge, and get excited to use it!
Notes
It's "about" 3 ½ blocks of cream cheese, so use accordingly in your recipes. You'll just be watching for the recipe to be the right texture that you are used to with store cream cheese.
Nutrition
Serving: 1ozCalories: 82kcalCarbohydrates: 6gProtein: 4gFat: 4gSaturated Fat: 3gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.1gMonounsaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 16mgSodium: 135mgPotassium: 204mgSugar: 7gVitamin A: 221IUCalcium: 168mgIron: 0.001mg
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