FermentingProcessing & Food PreservationRecipes

The Benefits of Eating Raw Cheese

Where in the world can you get hold of raw cheese? Not in this country, unless you make your own that is.

So what’s so special about eating raw cheese? Well it’s the flavour that you notice first. When chomping into a piece of cheese made from organic, raw milk, you really taste the difference! There is a certain complexity about raw cheese that is noticed straightaway after that first bite; and then you know you’re onto something good! Flavour is the first stage of experiencing the way cheese was meant to be. Another bonus is that it’s actually good for you! Healthy, organic, raw milk is very beneficial to your health, adds good bacteria into your gut and brings its own package of digestive enzymes with it. Raw cheese abounds in enzymes that help to digest the fats and proteins. When the food you eat has abundant bacteria and enzymes, then the digestive system is not over taxed.

Most of us suffer from depleted digestive enzymes and our health is often compromised for it. People often complain about feeling sluggish and lacking energy. This is because we are chronically short on healthy gut flora and digestive enzymes, as the food we eat is mostly dead.

How do you get these life-giving raw dairy products? You make them at home in your kitchen!

The yogurt you buy probably has too low a bacterial count to start with to do you much good but if you eat yogurt made from a live culture you will also boost the population of the good critters and at the same time build up your immune system. Supplementing your diet with kefir will also give you a definite edge in the stake for good health. Eat only butter made from raw fermented cream, and have kefired cream on top of your fruit salad! Enjoy food again as it was meant to be.

You won’t have a cholesterol problem when you eat raw milk products and you will assimilate far more calcium from the milk. People enjoyed excellent health on raw dairy products for thousands of years until we pasteurized and homogenized our milk.

Check out www.westonaprice.org for more info on raw milk.

Have a go making some simple cheeses without any special equipment. The cheese cultures can be ordered through a selection of home brew shops.

Cottage Cheese

Making old fashioned cottage cheese (otherwise known as quark), is the easiest cheese you’ll ever make.

Simply take some milk and place it in a glass jar and allow to curdle at room temperature. Any amount of milk can be poured into the jar and any milk can be used as long as it is raw. The curds and whey can be seen through the glass jar as the milk begins to curdle. When it is about a third to a half curd and whey, then the entire contents can be poured out into a muslin lined colander sitting in a large pot. Leave the curds to drain for twenty four hours then spoon the curd into a container ready for use.

  • If the ambient temperature is too cool then find a warm spot to sit the milk in such as an incubator, top of the fridge or on a hot water system. A temperature of around 30- 35ºC is best.
  • Don’t leave it to sit any longer than five days.
  • Make sure everything is very clean.

Neufchattel – a spreading cheese

You’ll need:

  • 5 litres of skim or full cream milk
  • mesophillic starter – 3 grams
  • rennet- 1.5 ml

Bring the milk to 20ºC and add the starter.
Add the rennet by diluting it in cooled boiled water and stir for more than one minute but no more than three.

Leave to set for twelve hours.

Cut the curd into 1” cubes and leave for twelve hours.

Ladle the curd into a draining bowl and drain for twelve to twenty four hours.

Add a teaspoon of salt, some kefired cream, kefired milk and/or some of the drained whey, and place the ingredients into a blender or food processor and whiz until smooth.

This spreading cheese will keep for several weeks in the fridge and freezes really well.

Let me know of your successes and failures!

~~~~~

Come and learn with me! I’m an accredited permaculture teacher and I’m looking for one or two interns to come and stay at my farm on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, Australia. I’m on 6 acres at Black Mountain and grow and produce most of my own food. I can teach you all I know about home food production through hands on experience on the farm and also at workshops and courses that I conduct on the Sunshine Coast. I’m looking for someone who eats a general diet including meat. Most food served at meals will be organic. I would like a stay of around ten weeks or more and board and lodging will be $200 per week to help with costs incurred. I live 7 kilometres from Cooroy and a half hour drive from Noosa. Please check out the post written by Carly Gilham on the PRI website to give you a bit of an idea of what my place is like, and you can also check out my website to see what areas of food production I cover. I look forward to hearing from anyone that might be interested. Contact: info (at) permacultureproduce.com.au

6 Comments

  1. This is great information Elisabeth. My Mum would love cheese making. I’m going to look on your website and get her in one of your fermentation & Cheese making courses. Thanks.

  2. Minimum food miles, minimum food guilt, minimum diet fear, low stress, good sleep, plenty of good work exercise, good interesting stimulating conversations, good community and vegetarian, vegan, fruitarian, meat, milk or what ever you like as long as it is food from an ecosystemic soil creative system and you will have full health potential.

    All this we can design with Permaculture systems while having fun!

  3. This article would be greatly improved with a new picture, the cow’s rear end isn’t appealing…

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