Cultured Cream Cheese without rennet

Savory or sweet, hot or cold – whatever you are in the mood for – you can always toss in some cream cheese for a perfect and probably the best tasting addition to your meal. And if you make it yourself, it will be just one ingredient addition – no added thickeners, powdered milk, calcium chloride or flavor enhancers, because who cares about the foods that nourish your family more than you do?

Cheese making process might seem daunting if you do a quick internet search for ‘how to make cultured cream cheese at home’ – having to order a special culture and rennet, and all the temperature control and more steps than flakes in croissants. It’s like baby products industry convincing you that it’s impossible to have a baby without all these things and gadgets, when in reality you only need you, some clothes, diapers and a crib (no wonder I was so stressed out with my first!) Things don’t have to be complicated, and the crazier my house gets with two toddlers, one baby and a job, the more I realize that there is always an easier way to do things.

What I do is use already cultured cream, or a combination of cream and milk, like sour cream, kefir or ryazhenka, and even yogurt. I freeze them, then let the whey drain for a day or so, then cool it. Why this works – traditional cream cheese is made by lowering PH (increasing the acidity) of the milk proteins, which makes them change their ability to hold on to moisture, whey in this case, making milk proteins hydrophobic (repel moisture), rather than hydrophilic (hold on to it) . When I freeze an already cultured cream or milk, the water part of it thaws faster than the rest of the mass, which is mostly fat and some protein, and I simply drain it through a sieve. That’s it. I mix it with a spoon, and eat it.

There is no exact formula for a perfect outcome, you can mix and match different types of fermented dairy based on what you have on hand. Higher fat product like sour cream produces smoother cream cheese while addition of more kefir or yogurt will make it drier. Experiment to find out what you prefer – it’s hard to go wrong with this recipe.

HOW TO MAKE CULTURED CREAM CHEESE WITHOUT RENNET

Ingredients
Sour cream, any amount, preferably homemade (how to make sour cream)
Or – an equal mixture of sour cream and kefir (or ryazhenka or yogurt)

Instructions
Place sour cream (or sour cream and whatever else you are using) in the freezer for 24 hours.
When ready to make cultured cream cheese, place a fine strainer (large enough to fit all your stuff) over a bowl.
Remove the sour cream from the freezer, and put it into the strainer upside down; remove the storage container when the sour cream thaws a little.

Cover, and leave at room temperature for 24 hours. During that time, whey (yellowish liquid) will drip into the bowl (if you are unsure about the quality of your initial cultured dairy, or are new to lactic fermentation, you can keep it in the refrigerator while it’s draining).
Transfer cultured cream cheese from the strainer into a container and mix well. You can salt it and add your favorite herbs, or honey. It will thicken more in the refrigerator.

Print Recipe

Cultured Cream Cheese without rennet

Very easy method to make one ingredient cream cheese from fermented dairy without using additional cultures or rennet.

Prep Time5 minutes mins

Author: Valeria - Beets 'n Bones blog

Ingredients

• Sour cream any amount, preferably homemade
• Or - an equal mixture of sour cream and kefir, ryazhenka or yogurt

Instructions

• Place sour cream (or sour cream and whatever else you are using) in the freezer for 24 hours.
• When ready to make cultured cream cheese, place a fine strainer (large enough to fit all your stuff) over a bowl.
• Remove the sour cream from the freezer, and put it into the strainer upside down; remove the storage container when the sour cream thaws a little.
• Cover, and leave at room temperature for 24 hours. During that time, whey (yellowish liquid) will drip into the bowl (if you are unsure about the quality of your initial cultured dairy, or are new to lactic fermentation, you can keep it in the refrigerator while it's draining).
• Transfer cultured cream cheese from the strainer into a container and mix well. You can salt it and add your favorite herbs, or honey. It will thicken more in the refrigerator.

Notes

• Raw dairy will produce firmer and better tasting cream cheese. I know it can be hard to find raw dairy and it's not legal to sell in many states but there is always a way to find it. I live in Illinois where raw milk regulations are very strict but there are places that sell it; for example I get it from an Amish store that sells it labeled 'for pets, not human consumption' that I found through Yelp.
• If you use pasteurized dairy, make sure it's not ultra-pasteurized or homogenized because (besides being too processed to be anywhere close to a real food) the protein structure in that stuff is too out of wack to make good cheese. In commercial cheese making, calcium chloride (a toxic man-made chemical) is used to correct the balance between calcium and protein.