Best Milk For Homemade Cheese

If you don’t live on a farm, then finding fresh whole milk is almost impossible. But there is an easy way to create a high calcium non UHT pasteurized milk, and it might just be in your cupboard. I’m talking about powdered milk.

That’s right…good old Carnation Powdered milk has everything but the fat to create the best milk for homemade cheese. I grew up on powdered milk, as my parents had six children to feed and this was the most economical way to keep milk in the household. However, I have always hated powdered milk for one simple reason: my mother never got all the lumps out and nothing was more disgusting to me than straining lumps of powdered milk between my teeth and having to crunch down the glue-like powder.

Today it’s very simple to hydrate powdered milk and make it lump free – just use a stick wand with a beater attachment, or your mixer to create a perfect lump free milk. I recommend using lukewarm water to aid in dissolving the powder, as cheese bacteria don’t have teeth!

But wait…what about the fat necessary to make your cheese form curds? Glad you asked, as I have the perfect answer: Just add 1 pint double cream. Here is what I do:

I keep a sterilized 1 gallon jug container for my milk. Read the directions for how much powdered milk is necessary to make 1 gallon and add it to your mixing bowl. If you use Hoosier Hill Hormone Free Powdered Milk you just need 4 1/2 cups of powder. Now add only 2 quarts of warm water to the bowl and mix until all powder is dissolved. Pour the mixture into the gallon jug and add 1 pint of double cream. Top off with water and refrigerate 24 hours. You have just made great milk for making homemade cheese. It’s really that easy.

Interested in making your own cheese? Try my simple Farmhouse Beginners Cheese Kit and discover how easy it is to make delicious cheese at home. And, as an added benefit, save the whey from cheesemaking to use in your Mistress Dough Sourdough Starter. Life is good!