How to Make Feta Cheese

We have become very big fans of feta cheese in our family.  We sprinkle it mainly on scrambled eggs, zucchini and green salads.  So I was delighted to read that Feta Cheese is very easy to make on your own.  Having plenty of goat milk, I decided to give it a try.  

I used the Feta Cheese recipe from the book Cheesemaking Made Easy by Ricki & Robert Carroll.  To make your own, you will need the following supplies:   

• Thermometer
• Cheesecloth (not the mosquito netting type, but one that is more closely woven)
• Colander
• Pot (only use stainless steel, glass or enamel-lined)
• 1 gallon whole milk
• 2 ounces mesophilic starter culture
• Liquid rennet (can also use rennet tablet’s)

Step 1:  Heat 1 gallon of whole goat’s milk (can also use cow’s milk) to 86°F.  Add 2 ounces of mesophilic starter culture and mix in thoroughly. Let this sit for 1 hour.

Step 2:  Dissolve 1/4 rennet tablet (or 1/2 teaspoon liquid rennet) in 1/4 cup cool water.  Stir gently into the milk for several minutes.  Cover and let it sit for 1 hour.

Step 3:  Cut the curd into 1/2″ cubes and let it set undisturbed for 10 minutes.

Step 4: Line a colander with cheesecloth. Pour the curds into the colander. Gather the four corners of the cheesecloth and tie into a knot. Hang to dry for 4 hours.  (Probably should have cleared some of the clutter out of the picture 🙂 )

Step 5:  After 4 hours, open the bag and prepare to be delighted at what you find…

Step 6:  Slice the curd into 1″ cubes (I made mine smaller).  Sprinkle the cubes with 2 T of coarse flake salt and toss.  Place the cheese into a covered bowl and allow to age for 4-5 days in the refrigerator. 

The recipe calls for 4 T but this looked like way too much.  I use 2 T and then I wash the cheese at the end of 5 days, otherwise it’s still too salty for me.  Maybe I should try even less salt.

If you want a stronger-flavored cheese, you can soak the curds in a brine solution for 30 days but I haven’t tried that yet.

I also watched this video on making Feta Cheese and while their directions for making feta are somewhat similar, at the same time, they are quite different.  Watch Fine Cooking’s video and see what you think.