Make Feta Yourself – That’s How it Works

Make feta yourself – that’s what you need

Feta is a protected designation of origin, which is why the cheese can only be made in certain regions of Greece from milk from certain types of sheep or goats. So you can’t make real feta at home. However, you can make similar herder’s cheese yourself. For this, you need sheep milk. Use cow’s milk, only make sheet cheese.

• So you need sheep’s milk, it’s best to use pasteurized fresh milk. Raw milk can contain Listeria and
• Salmonella and the production would be a bit more complex. Incidentally, you cannot use UHT milk to make cheese. From 10 liters of milk, you get about a kilogram of cheese.
  100 ml of yogurt with live cultures serves as an acid starter.
• You also need rennet to make cheese. One milliliter is enough for our recipe.
• Of course, you also need a large pot. A kitchen thermometer should not be missing either, since you have to pay close attention to the temperature.
• Finally, to cut the cheese in the whey, you will need a long knife.
• In order for the herder cheese to form, you should have a few cheese molds ready and clean cheesecloth.

DIY recipe for feta cheese

Once you have everything together, you can get started and make your own feta-like cheese.

• Heat the milk in the large saucepan to a temperature between 35 and 40 degrees. Then add the yogurt and stir once.
• The mixture must now acidify for an hour. To do this, you can leave the pot on the stove, but switch off the plate.
• After an hour of waiting, reheat the milk to 35 to 39 degrees. The temperature must not be higher, but also not lower. Mix the rennet with a little water and then add it to the milk. Stir with a spoon and remove the pot from the heat.
• Now the milk needs to rest again in a warm place with the lid closed, for about two hours. Check if the milk has been set. If this is not the case yet, you will have to wait a little longer.
• Once the milk has been set, cut it lengthwise and crosswise in the saucepan, making lots of squares about two inches in size.
• Now you can line the cheese molds with the cheesecloth and spread the cheese over the molds with a ladle.
• Close the top of the towels and squeeze out the liquid.
• Put the molds in the fridge. It is best to place a high baking tray underneath, as a liquid can drip off. The shepherd’s cheese needs to stay in the fridge for about 8 to 10 hours. During this time, take it out every two hours and salt the cheese a little.
• Now you can take the cheese out of the mold. But he should be allowed to mature for about two more days.
• So when you remove the cheese, place it on a clean board. Pour boiling water over the board to kill any bacteria that may be present.
• Cover each cheese with cling film to keep it from drying out as it ripens.
• You can then enjoy your homemade cheese right away or put it in oil with various herbs and spices.