Adventures with Cream Cheese

[rgreenberg2000]

Susan-

I am a lazy cheesemaker, so the only milk I get comes out of the dairy case at the store!   This was Clover Sonoma whole milk (not organic.)

Other than the cream cheese I've made, I still haven't gotten to eat any of my cheese.  So, until I can prove to myself that I have half a clue what I'm doing, I will stick to store bought.

If you need the bagel recipe, just search for Water Bagel on the King Arthur Flour site.....I've modified it a little, but the original recipe is a great place to start.

Cheers,
R

[Susan38]

Well I am glad the Clover whole milk works good with the cream cheese recipe I came up with.  I tried the Jersey whole milk with this recipe again and it did not come out very well at all...it seems with this milk, for soft cheese recipes the rennet makes everything too firm, almost like cottage cheese, even when I cut back on the rennet. (Which is strange, because for the semi-hard cheese recipes the rennet amount seems perfect.)  I think the high cream content I use for the cream cheese results in a softer curd and the wonderful texture I prefer.  It's definitely rich, though...a little goes a long way.

I have used Straus milk in the past; it's vat pasteurized and not homogenized (and organic I think) so it's the next best thing to getting farm fresh.  It is a bit expensive, though.