Neufchâtel Cheese Making Recipe

General
Ingredients - Metric
Ingredients - American
Directions
Options
Tricks

General

Neufchâtel originated in Normandy France and is a very soft, spreadable cheese that is traditionally molded in a heart shape. It is very similar to Cream Cheese except that it is made from whole milk and not cream and the process takes longer. Neufchâtel is used in many cooking recipes and desserts as well as on toast, bread, and bagels.

Ingredients - Metric

Makes ~0.55 kg of Neufchâtel Cheese:

2 litres fresh whole cow's milk.
60 ml of homemade or your choice of manufactured Mesophilic Starter Culture, amount as per directions.
Rennet, your choice of type, amount as per your experience or package directions, diluted in ~125 ml cool water.
Optional: Flavourings.

Ingredients - American

Makes ~1.1 pounds of Neufchâtel Cheese:

2 US quarts fresh whole cow's milk.
2 ounces of homemade or your choice of manufactured Mesophilic Starter Culture, amount as per directions.
Rennet, your choice of type, amount as per your experience or package directions, diluted in ~1/2 cup cool water.
Optional: Flavorings.

Directions

Pour milk into food grade container.
Add mesophilic starter culture and thoroughly mix in.
Add diluted rennet and thoroughly mix in.
Cover and set aside to ripen for about 15-20 hours at ~21 °C/70 °F room temp, the full time is needed to develop the correct flavour.
Ladle the curds into a colander lined with a fine cheese cloth, set aside for 5 minutes for excess whey to drain.
Tie the four corners of the cheesecloth together and hang above container for 8-12 hours to further ripen and drain whey.
Discard drained whey and place the curds into a small bowl and mix to make homogeneous.
Add salt, herbs, etc. to taste.
Place the Neufchâtel into a sealable food grade container in fridge where it will firm up a little as gets cold.

Options

Popular post Neufchâtel making seasonings-flavorings are:

Strawberry, Blueberry, Cranberry, Peaches
Herbs and Garlic (Boursin Brand style)
Honey and Chopped Walnuts
Sundried Tomato
Salmon/Lox
Bacon Scallion
Olive Pimiento
Onion and Chives
Garden Veggie (using dry vegetable soup mix)
Jalapeño
Brown Sugar and Cinnamon Spice
Chocolate

Tricks & Traps

To get dryer cheese, while hanging, either i) half way, turn cheese upside/wet side down or ii) every ~2 hours, scrape de-whey'd drier cheese (filter cake) off of walls to allow moister curd's whey better exit route to the cloth.
Start making cheese in afternoon so that ripens in stockpot overnight, can hang next morning, turn or work cheese during daytime, done in afternoon, and have spare extra time in evening in case need to hang longer to get drier.
When finished, little whey appearing around cheese before fully consumed is normal in non-manufactured store bought Neufchâtel.
Do not try to rush this natural process, it needs the time to develop the flavour. However, for higher ambient room temperatures such as ~30 °C/86 °F room temp, you will probably need to cut off a couple hours, otherwise it will become over ripe.


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