Fromage Blanc

[Spuddy]

FROMAGE BLANC.

Is a fresh easy to make cheese of French origins. It�s name simply means white cheese.
It makes an excellent cheese spread and can have herbs and spices added to it . It can also be used as a substitute for cream cheese or for ricotta in cooking.

It has the consistency of cream cheese with a fraction of the calories or cholesterol. It can be made with either whole or skimmed milk. Use a DVI (MA400) or the usual mesophilic starter. Makes up to 2.5 lbs.

12 hours overnight.

1 gallon of milk. Ripening culture.

Heat one gallon of milk to 180Fand then cool to 72Fand add direct set starter and stir well in.
Cover and let it set overnight at 72F

Line a colander with a cheesecloth an ladle curds in. Allow to drain for 12 hours or until it reaches the desired consistency.

A shorter draining period produces a cheese spread and a longer draining time produces a cream cheese type of consistency. Make sure the room temperature is around the 72F mark all the time it is draining.

After draining store in a covered container in the fridge.

------------------
Rik VonTrense


NOTE: Ripening culture is the culture you add to the milk to improve it's acidity that is the buttermilk and or the Yoghurt.

A Direct Vat Inoculum (DVI) is MA400 which is a freeze dried ripening culture that is added straight to the milk like your buttermilk. When you use a DVI there is a different time for differnt cheeses as a ripening period