I've made a couple of different cream cheese recipes, but found this one closest to the texture and taste of storebought (Kraft) Philladelphia Cream Cheese, but it needs some adjustments that I am not 100% sure about and would appreciate some help with.
Its the cream cheese recipe from The Home Creamery by Kathy Farrell-Kingsley.
6 cups whole milk
4 cups heavy cream
1 cup plain cultured yogurt
1 rennet tablet
1/4 cup cool water
salt
Combine milk cream yogurt in pot, stir well and heat to 100F.
Remove from heat, dissolve rennet tablet in water, add to milk and stir for 3 minutes.
Cover and stand for 1-1.5 hours or until curds are firm and breakaway from side of pan. Make sure temperature remians above 85F.
Cut curds into 2 inch cubes, rest for 15 minutes.
Pour into muslin lined colander in bowl, cover with pastic wrap and place in fridge 8 hours or overnight.
Season with salt to taste.
I scraped down the sides of the muslin a few times while it was draining.
The alternations I would like to make (using raw jersey milk and cream from my cow):
Firstly, as I am the only one who eats it, I need to reduce the quantity to half this amount. The taste was a little mild, not as much taste as store bought Philly cheese has, so I would like to use the proper cultures I have now - either MA11, MM100 or Flora Danica but I don't know which one is better or how much to use for half the above recipe? (I don't have enough experience to know how each one will affect taste).
Secondly, after the third day it was very bitter which I am sure is due to the amount of rennet (I actually used a Junket rennet tablet for this one, so that is probably it). The liquid rennet I now use requires 2.5ml per 10litres of milk. Would one drop of rennet be enough to coagulate half the amount of milk and cream?
If anyone has a better recipe for making cream cheese as close to store bought Philly (LOL close to but better;) I would be happy to try it instead of this one.