Light Cream Cheese Making - Adding Half & Half to Milk

[Michae; K]

   Hi, I'm a new member and getting ready to make my first cheese in the next day or two. I have avidly been reading Dr David Frankhauser's web pages as well as Ricki Carrol's and this forums. I have decided to go with the CF recipe for cream cheese and I have two questions before I start. First there is no mention of cutting the curd between steps 4 and 5, is this what makes it 'cream' cheese? Second in the Tricks and Traps section it mentions Half & Half is usually UP that has killed most of the good bacteria also. The question on this is if I am adding the H & H to make a creamier cheese to whole milk that is not UP would there not be sufficient bacteria in the milk to overcome this?
   Thanx in advance for any input on these questions, Michael

[Cheese Head]

Michael, very sorry for the late reply.

Cream Cheese is so labeled as it is made from cream, not milk. It is a primarily lactic acid coagulated cheese and thus normally only a small amount of rennet is used. Thus as a lactic acid cheese the curds are generally not cut but instead ladled into the cheesecloth from which the whey drains.

If you are using milk to make this cheese then you are making Light Cream Cheese also called Neufchatel in the US (not to be confused with French Neufchatel, normally a heart shaped formed white mold cheese, see the Light Cream Cheese recipe.

If you want to add some half and half to milk to increase the fat content then yes store bought half & half is often UP, but as added to normally pasteurized milk it should work fine.

[kateskitchen]

I'm no expert -- in fact, I just made my first cream cheese yesterday -- but thought I'd share my experience. I used Ricki Carroll's cream cheese recipe, substituting half and half for the light cream (the recipe indicated this was ok). I buy my dairy products from a store that stocks products from a local farm, so none of it is UP. I followed her recipe exactly, but had difficulty getting the curd to set. (See my post about a cold house.) I was especially confused by her instructions to add hot (170F) water directly to the curd (at least that's how I understood the directions). There was a LOT of whey, but in the end I did get about 2 cups' worth of product. It was dry along the edges of the butter muslin, but somewhat moist in the center. I spooned it into 4oz cups and put in the fridge. This morning it has set up nicely. Very silky and delicious. I'm not sure if this has the proper acidity to qualify as cream cheese, but at least it isn't stinky! And none of that store-bought rubbery texture. I'll definitely try again.

[zenith1]

Kate and Michael- definitely try the recipes again, you will enjoy the process so much more as some of the mystery is stripped away. Congratulations to both of you and as always good tips John.