Hunting a simple kefir based recipe

[Mike Harmon]

Hi,
I am having a hard time finding a recipe that I can use my strained kefir curds on. I am a wanna-be cheese maker having made no cheese except cream which is really strained kefir.. I have not even salted it yet.
I had understood that if you used lacto generated curds that you did not need rennet but all I can find here is recipes and instruction using the rennet.
ANy advise or maybe a book title?
Mike

[Al Lewis]

Have a look here.

[Mike Harmon]

Thanks,
That last one looks like it will work. I want to do the kefir and drain and then add the ricotta and try to keep the probiotics going on while aging. I can always throw it to the animals

[awakephd]

Welcome, Mike!

A word of clarification: whether or not you use rennet does not affect whether/how long the bacteria linger on. To get curds just from the lactic action, you have to let the pH drop more or less to the bottom of what it will go ... and it will still be a very, very delicate curd, only suitable for use in soft, lactic-acid type cheeses. To get stronger curds that will work for a pressed cheese, you'll have to use rennet. The bacteria will continue to work until you add salt. I don't think the salt kills the bacteria; just slows down their activity -- ??

But if you are aging cheese, then sooner or later the bacteria WILL die. And this is a good thing, because in dying, they leave behind all sorts of enzymes that are crucial to the development of the flavor of the cheese. How quickly do they die? Not sure -- there has been some discussion on that point here on the forum. Note that the FDA requires commercial cheese made with raw milk to be aged a minimum of 60 days to ensure ALL bacteria are dead (including any potential harmful bacteria that might have come along for the ride in the raw milk) -- but that doesn't mean it actually takes 60 days for the bacteria to die; I've read somewhere that it happens in just the first few days; I've read elsewhere that it takes about 3 weeks.

So, bottom line, if you are wanting cheese with active cultures in it, you'll need to go the route of fresh cheeses, with or without rennet as needed. If you want aged cheese, enjoy the benefits of all the bacteria, but don't expect to meet any of them alive.

[Mike Harmon]

Thanks Andy... You told me more than i gathered from a 4 day search on the subject.

1] I was thinking the lacto stayed alive for a long time.
2] salt does retard lacto but I also guess will kill it as well.
3] While lacto can make curds they are not strong as rennet ones.

#3 I dont understand but see what you are talking about though.

Ok I have another angle to work with. Now I need to makeand taste  some regular cheese or at least curds to taste and see the difference.  I again thanks you Mr Andy.
Mike

[Savu]

Read David Ashers book The Art of Natural Cheesemaking, he uses only kefir to make a range of cheeses from feta through to Parmesan. I've used kefir to make Camembert style with natural geo trichum mold from his recipe many times. Kefir takes longer to mature than using candidum and the taste is different, a much more fuller, complex flavour.
Here's the link to David Asher on this forum:
https://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,14818.msg113252.html#msg113252