First off, thanks to the helpful people here, especially John.
I made Neufchatel for the third time and it came out pretty well. I followed the recipe in Home Cheese Making. It's a little tangy, my thinking is that I should have used somewhat fresher cultured buttermilk, as mine had been open over a week. Other than that, I'm pretty happy. I'm the most happy because my fiancé is also interested in cheese making now, as a way to give gifts!
Anyway, I made a pound and a half or so and split it up into three containers, adding:
-minced garlic and diced chives
-bacon (I diced turkey bacon and fried it in a pan with breadcrumbs)
-honey, just honey
the garlic/chive was good and so was the bacon one. I made burgers and put my own cheese on them, very satisfying.
My main question is about the cheese with the honey added. The last batch of cheese was runnier, so adding chives and honey made it very thin, so we used it as a dip, and it was very good. But I drained it a lot longer this time. I added maybe four tablespoons worth of honey to try to thin it out, and it's a pretty good viscosity, but it's not smooth. There are little lumps. How can I remove those? I stirred like crazy with a knife.
How do I remove little lumps when trying to soften soft cheese?
Thanks in advance.
