Fresh Cheese

I have been experimenting with fresh cheese. No rennet, just an acid. No heat, just reaction. So simple a 7 year old can do it, and he has been assisting. I wanted at Double Wars to make a simple fresh cheese recipe to serve at the Laurel's lunch. My failure on that was detailed earlier, even though the Kefir like milk stuff made great cheese it just took longer.

So my recent experiments have been, a batch with lemon juice, a batch with balsamic vinegar and a batch with Brantwein vinegar. The last has sort of an apple vinegar taste but it is not from apples. In each I used 1 liter of mild and in everyone added a bit of cream. In the lemon I added 100 ml of cream, the balsamic had only 50 ml cream and the Brantwein had 200 ml. When I made it at DW I too added cream to the Kefir, I believe it was 200 ml or there about. In each one The initial mixture sat for a minimum of 12 hrs some longer.
The DW mixture never really got heavy and initially when put in the cheesecloth drained a bit white then moved to clear. The lemon in my kitchen fully separated, became heavy and drained clear. The balsamic didn't get heavy but drained clear and the Brantwein, never separated, never got heavy and has not run clear. In fact I needed to change cloths as the curds had not pulled together enough and has blocked the holes in the cheesecloth so it would not drain at all. Currently it is hanging in a new cloth. It is possible that with heat the barntwein would do better.

Taste: All but the brantwein has been tasted and they are all good, even my 7 year old like it. With added herbs it has been great. I think the vinegar base would be best with herbs and the lemon could be sweetened with honey or fruits. A simple but elegant addition to any table.

I will continue to experiment with non rennet and simple methods of making cheese. When I have gotten comfortable with them I shall endeavor to move on.

 Cheese update: The white balsamic worked fine, lovely cheese. The Brantweinessig, not a complete failure but super super soft still. No longer runny though. No hint of vinegar taste at all, super creamy.