I really like making Neuf, as it is so simple, uses a couple of gallons of milk without too much effort, and yields nicely. Also, I skim the cream off to use for butter, etc., but the product doesn't seem to suffer for it.
American Neufchatel
2 gallons skimmed milk
1 cup buttermilk or raw milk clabber or plain yogurt
1 pinch (between the fingers) powdered calf's rennet OR 1/2 Junket rennet tablet, dissolved in 1/4 cup cool water
Salt to taste
Whisk buttermilk/clabber/yogurt until thin. Whisk dissolved rennet into the buttermilk, then whisk into the skimmed milk right away. Allow to set 10-12 hours at room temperature (about 72*). If your house is cool like mine (60* in the wintertime) you can set your kettle of milk inside a larger kettle filled with hot tap water. Don't replace the hot water, though, just fill it once.
Ladle large chunks of curd into a cheesecloth-lined colander and allow to drain. Occasionally scrape the cheesecloth, as the curd will form a skin that will get dry, leaving the interior of the cheese too moist. I've found that this is easier to accomplish if the milk is set overnight to age, then drained in the morning.
Once it reaches your preferred consistency, turn into a bowl and mix in salt, about 1 teaspoon at a time, until it is the flavor you like. The cheese may be stiff enough that it is easier to use your hands to mix it in.
Thanks MrsKK. I have one ready to be drained now that sat overnight. I used half that much buttermilk as per the recipe I used. Otherwise the same. I thought the curd was a little weak first thing this am so am letting it sit a little longer. It is just now about 12 hours. In the past I had trouble with it being lumpy. I was using Jersey milk and the cream would separate overnight. So I think the 'cream' portion of the cheese created lumps in the 'milk' portion of the cheese. This is my first try with milk from Brown Swiss cows and it looks like that will be less of a problem. But have my fingers crossed! Thanks for posting.
Susan
The lumps from the cream are why I skim the milk. I hope yours turns out good.
This one turned out fine. Except I over drained it. It is more the consistency of queso. But tastes good. I love te flavor of the cream in it but don't care for the lumps. When I have the Jersey milk again I am going to try to lightly 'homogonize' the milk by beating it a little on low speed with a blender before making the cheese. Have you ever tried this? Won't have this milk until June.
Susan
How much liquid rennet would you use? Thank you so much for posting this. I look forward to making it in class next month!
McCreamy, With liquid rennet, I would use only 1-2 drops. You may have to experiment with that a bit, as I never made it when I had liquid. I'm really looking forward to the class in May, too, but am glad I have a few weeks off before then...I kinda overbooked myself for a few weeks here and I'm starting to feel it.
Susan, try putting your finished Neuf in the blender or food processor to get any lumps out. I don't think that beating the milk will do much to homogenize it. I just say that from my experience with making whipped cream from fresh cream - if I get any milk in it at all, it settles out within a couple of hours and leaves a layer of milk in the bottom of the bowl of whipped cream.
Any idea how long this cheese will keep? I need to make a cheesecake in late May but have skim milk now.
You could freeze it.
The milk, or the Neufchatel?
Meant to say I have 2% milk. Don't know if it will freeze or not but whole milk frozen is the pits.
Cheese,
It shouldnt change the end result when used in a cake.
Thanks!
Darius,
I make my Neufchatel using skimmed raw milk, which probably comes out to about 2%. I do freeze up quite a bit of it, too, as I make it in 2 gallon batches and rarely have enough use for it right away.
I don't think I'd want to spread it on bagels, but it works just fine for cheesecake or dips.
Cheers!
Thanks, Karen... This will be a 2 gallon batch. I think there are still about 8-9 days to the use-by date so I'm stalling a bit on the make.
Karen, I need to know how to tell what the right dryness is when draining. I haven't bought cream cheese in years, and have never made a cheesecake... so I have NO frame of reference! I sent you a PM but no copy has shown up in my mail so you may have not received it.
My curds are draining NOW.
Thanks,
darius
Never mind. I drained it overnight and salted it this morning. Consistency feels good to me!
I did answer your pm this morning, but I'm very glad to see that you made your way through it without me. The picture looks fantastic!
For other readers, what I told Darius in the pm is that I scrape the outer layer of curd toward the center every few hours. That helps with draining, as the outer portion will get dryer and kind of seal off the center portion from draining. When what I'm pulling in is pretty close in consistency to what is in the center, I decide it is done.
Once it is refrigerated, it will thicken even more.