You can make cheese at home with surprisingly little: good milk, rennet or a food acid, a thermometer, a large pot and some patience. This guide covers the basics of home cheesemaking, from choosing milk and setting the curd to the easiest cheeses to start with, and shows how Uytella’s step-by-step recipes take you through each stage in the right order.
What you need to make cheese at home
The ingredient list is short: milk, a coagulant and salt. Depending on the recipe, the coagulant is rennet or a food acid such as citric acid, vinegar or soured whey, and many cheeses also call for a starter culture and calcium chloride. For equipment, start with a large stainless-steel pot (not aluminium), an accurate thermometer, a long knife for cutting the curd, a colander, cheesecloth and cheese moulds. Everything that touches the milk should be spotlessly clean.
What milk to use for making cheese
Uytella’s recipes are written for pasteurised milk, and ordinary pasteurised whole milk from the shop usually works well. Ultra-pasteurised (UHT) milk is a different matter: the high heat changes its proteins, so it tends to give a weak curd. Check the label before you buy. Cheesemakers often add calcium chloride to shop-bought milk to help the curd set firmly. Whole milk gives a richer texture and flavour, and the same recipe can behave differently from one brand of milk to another.
How cheese is made: the main stages
Most cheeses follow the same basic path. The milk is warmed, cultured if the recipe calls for it, and coagulated with rennet or acid until it sets into a curd. The curd is then cut and stirred so that it releases whey, and the whey is drained off. From there the methods diverge: stretched-curd cheeses such as mozzarella and suluguni are kneaded in hot water or whey, brined cheeses such as brynza mature in brine, and hard cheeses are pressed and left to ripen.
Easy cheeses to make at home for beginners
Adyghe cheese is a gentle first project: it is set with acid rather than rennet and is ready to eat the same day. Brynza then introduces rennet, cutting the curd and brining. Next come mozzarella, pizzarella and stracciatella, which teach you to stretch the curd. Suluguni, braided chechil and burrata, a stretched shell with a creamy filling, are the most involved of the eight. After that, the complete library moves on to aged and mould-ripened cheeses such as gouda, camembert and brie, as well as yoghurt, kefir and butter.
Step-by-step cheese recipes with Uytella
In the eight starter recipes, cooking mode takes you through one step at a time with built-in timers, saves your progress as you go and lets you choose 5, 10 or 20 litres of milk, scaling the eligible ingredients for you. The site works on your phone, can be installed on the home screen and is available in six languages: English, Russian, Kazakh, Turkish, Uzbek and Azerbaijani. The starter collection costs $2.99 and the complete library $29.99, each a one-time payment with no subscription.
Homemade cheese safety and storage
Use pasteurised milk, as the recipes assume, and keep pots, utensils and work surfaces clean. Take particular care when stretching curd: the hot water or whey used for kneading can burn, so protect your hands. Keep fresh cheese in the fridge in a clean, covered container. Storage times given in the recipes come from their authors. They have not been validated and do not mean the cheese is safe to eat for that long, so if a cheese looks or smells wrong, or you are in any doubt, throw it away.
Common questions about homemade cheese
How do you make cheese from milk?
Warm the milk, add a starter culture if the recipe uses one, then set it with rennet or acid. Cut the curd, let it release whey and drain it. Depending on the cheese, the curd is then shaped, stretched in hot water, salted in brine, or pressed and left to ripen. Fresh cheeses are usually ready the same day; aged cheeses take weeks or months.
What kind of milk do you need to make cheese?
Uytella’s recipes are written for pasteurised milk, and ordinary pasteurised whole milk from the shop is the usual choice. Avoid ultra-pasteurised (UHT) milk: it usually gives a weak curd that will not hold together. Many cheesemakers add calcium chloride to shop-bought milk to help the curd set. Results vary between brands, so if one milk lets you down, try another.
Can you make cheese without rennet?
Yes. Some fresh cheeses are set with acid instead of rennet: hot milk is curdled with soured whey, citric acid or vinegar, and the curds are drained. Adyghe cheese is made this way, as are paneer and ricotta-style cheeses. Most stretched-curd, brined and aged cheeses still need rennet, because they rely on a firm, elastic curd.
Why is my milk not curdling when making cheese?
The most common culprit is ultra-pasteurised (UHT) milk, which rarely forms a firm curd. Old or badly stored rennet, milk at the wrong temperature, too little acidity or disturbing the milk while it sets can also stop the curd forming, and shop milk may need calcium chloride. Go through these one by one and check each against your recipe.
What is the easiest cheese to make at home?
Acid-set fresh cheese is the simplest place to begin, because it needs no rennet and no stretching; in the Uytella starter collection, that means Adyghe cheese. Brynza comes next: it introduces rennet and shows you how the curd is cut and how the whey drains. Mozzarella is a good next step once you are comfortable judging the curd.
How long does it take to make cheese?
It depends on the type. Fresh cheeses such as Adyghe cheese are usually ready the same day. Brined cheeses need extra time in brine, while aged cheeses such as gouda or camembert ripen for weeks or months before they are ready. Read the whole recipe before you start so you can plan for resting, cooling and any waiting between steps.
What’s the difference between the $2.99 and $29.99 collections?
The $2.99 starter collection includes eight recipes: burrata, mozzarella, chechil, Adyghe cheese, brynza, suluguni, stracciatella and pizzarella. The $29.99 complete library adds the extended library to those eight, 97 recipes and 14 guides in total, covering more cheeses, dairy products, desserts and techniques. Both are one-time payments with no subscription or automatic charges, and the site and recipes are available in six languages.
Can I make a smaller batch of cheese?
Yes. In the eight starter recipes you can choose 5, 10 or 20 litres of milk, and the eligible ingredients are scaled automatically. Some things are not simply scaled: rennet is dosed as directed on its label, and the brine strength stays the same however much milk you use. Library recipes keep the quantities from their original source.
Does Uytella work on a phone?
Yes. Uytella runs in your phone’s browser, and you can add it to your home screen so it opens like an app. Cooking mode is designed to be followed step by step in the kitchen, and your progress is saved, so you can pick up where you left off.