Learn how to make cream cheese with my super simple recipe. Homemade cream cheese is so delicious, you’ll be eating it off a spoon. Here’s what you need to know for your home dairy journey with making cream cheese.
Learning how to make cream cheese is one of those things that makes you feel like a homesteading rockstar…
But I have to warn you before you proceed, otherwise it just wouldn’t be fair:
Homemade cream cheese is one of those things that beckons you to eat it in large spoonfuls. You’ve been warned.
Yeah, yeah… Smearing it on homemade bagels is nice too, but there’s just something about eating it plain…
Since I am currently milking our cow twice daily and have an abundance of cream (for the first time in a looong time), I decided it was time to try playing around with making my own cream cheese.
And, let me just say that it couldn’t be easier!
First, some clarifications on making homemade cream cheese…
Number 1: there seems to be about a million different methods if you want to learn how to make cream cheese… This is the method I prefer, and it’s pretty darn simple.
Number 2: Many, MANY “cream cheese” recipes are actually yogurt cheese or fromage blanc recipes. I’ve made a lot of yogurt cheese as well, and it’s great– but not the same as real cream cheese. The flavor and texture are notably different.
Number 3: I used my fresh, raw cream for this recipe. However, since you are adding a culture to it, you could use store-bought, pasteurized cream if you had to. Or even half & half would work. Just try to use the highest quality cream that you can find.
How to Make Cream Cheese
(This post contains affiliate links)
- 2 cups cream*
- 2 cups whole milk*
- 1 package cream cheese starter culture OR 1/8 teaspoon of Mesophilic starter culture (where to buy mesophilic culture)
- Fine cheesecloth (Find out how to improvise your own cheesecloth, or purchase cheesecloth here.)
- Sea salt to taste (optional, but I love this one)
*Select raw dairy or regular pasteurized dairy. Avoid ultra-heat treated (UHT) milk or cream, as it will yield inconsistent results.
Make sure you are using a glass container to hold your cream/milk. Gently stir in the starter culture.
Loosely cover (not airtight!) and set it on your counter top to culture for 8 to 12 hours. (It may take more or less time, depending on the temperature of your kitchen.)
You’ll know it’s done when it has set up and somewhat resembles yogurt. (It might not be a perfectly even consistency, but that’s ok.)
Dump the thickened cream into the cheesecloth and allow the whey to drip out for at least 12 hours (the longer it drips, the firmer your finished cheese will be).
(Instead of draining the cream at this stage, you could also turn it into cultured butter. Decisions… decisions…)
You might have to get a little creative with your drip set-up. I don’t have any knobs on my cabinet doors, so I tie the ends of my improvised cheesecloth around a wooden spoon and allow it to drip into a pitcher.
Once it has reached the desired consistency, scrape it out of the cheesecloth and lightly salt it to taste. The salt is optional, but it will help it keep slightly longer. Store in an airtight container in your fridge– it will get firmer as it chills.
I usually get 1 1/2 to 2 cups of cream cheese out of 1 quart of cream/milk. Yields will vary slightly.
Kitchen Notes:
- I’ve seen several recipes that use cultured buttermilk instead of the mesophilic culture to make cream cheese. I haven’t personally tried it, but it would probably work just as well. Add 1/8 to 1/4 cup of buttermilk to your quart of cream to try this method.
- You can use all cream in this recipe for a richer result, or all milk for a less-rich cream cheese. The choice is yours.
- You can spice up your cream cheese with all sorts of different flavors! Mix in cinnamon, fruit preserves, or even some chives and onion powder for a unique treat.
- To make yogurt cheese: Follow this exact same method, substituting the quart of cultured cream with a quart of yogurt (homemade yogurt or store bought) instead.
- Here are a bunch of ways to use the leftover whey. Getting fresh whey is one of the perks of learning how to make cream cheese– don’t waste it!
- If you *ahem* accidentally forget about your cream cheese and leave it culturing or dripping for longer than stated above, don’t sweat it. It won’t hurt it and the worse that will happen is that it will just be slightly tangier.
- I love New England Cheese Making Supply Co. for all of my cheese making needs. They’re a great, family-owned company, not to mention their superior products that haven’t failed me yet. While you can stock up on cheese making supplies from places like Amazon, it’s a great idea to only buy cultures and starters from reputable companies to prevent frustrating attempts at making cheeses with poor-quality cultures.
Let me just say that homemade cream cheese is infinitely better than the store bought stuff. You’ll want to scoop it out of the container and eat it plain… Or smear it on some chocolate zucchini bread… Or homemade bagels… Or make a pumpkin cheesecake… Or….
How to Make Cream Cheese
- Yield: 1 1/2 to 2 cups of cream cheese 1x
Ingredients
- 2 cups cream
- 2 cups milk
- 1 package cream cheese starter culture OR (1/8 teaspoon) Mesophilic starter culture
- Fine cheesecloth or a tea towel
- Salt to taste (optional)
Instructions
- Use a glass container to hold your cream/milk and gently stir in the starter culture
- Loosely cover (not airtight!)
- Leave on countertop 8 to 12 hours to culture, time varies depending on temperature
- It’s ready when it somewhat resembles yogurt
- Dump thickened cream into cheesecloth and allow whey to drip out at least 12 hours (the longer it drips, the firmer your cheese will be)
- Scrape out of cheesecloth and lightly salt to taste (salt is optional, but it lasts longer)
- Store in an airtight container in fridge
Notes
It gets firmer as it chills
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Sounds delicious, can’t wait to try it!
I HAD wondered. Thanks for the info!
Fantastic! I’d love to try this, thanks for the tutorial! 🙂
It must be cheesemaking time – I posted about hard cheese today! Your cream cheese recipe is very similar to mine, I just wanted to add a couple of points that might interest you – if I don’t have enough cream, I use milk instead or to top up the cream, I think this is technically cottage cheese, but it still tastes good with sweet chilli sauce. I also use a thermos of hot water to keep my culturing milk warm enough on a cold day (i.e. I put the jar of milk in the thermos). Sometimes it doesn’t go solid enough in 12 hrs, so I just leave it for 24 hrs. I love your draining solution, very clever!
Good idea about the thermos- although the mesophilic starter *should* be able to do it’s thing just at room temp. Or are you using thermophilic instead maybe?
I tried this recipe twice (with whole milk and cream). I will NEVER go back to store bought! The second time i used ultra pasteurized organic milk then i remembered you recommended against it because of inconsistent results. i think i got lucky because it turned out great! but it turned out great with the “store” brand pasteurized products also and they werent as pricey. i want to thank you sincerely for sharing this recipe. im new to your website but will definitely be visiting it regularly!
I’m very eager to try this, as I live in the UK and all you can get in the store is cream cheese spread—terrible for baking!!
Can you double or triple this recipe without any issue?
I am wondering if you can double the recipe? I have three Jerseys in milk and I am swimming in it. 🙂
Um, I tried the recipe and because I don’t have access to fresh cream (I wish I did) I used 40% cream from the store with a 1/4 cup of buttermilk. It turned out to taste like butter and not cream cheese. I don’t know much about cheese making so if anyone could enlighten me I would be grateful. Even though it didn’t turn out like cream cheese I did add my homemade cocoa mix to part of it and it’s a great chocolate spread. Then the other parts I made into a cinnamon spread and then a garlic n onion spread. I will keep on tryin!
Fresh cream = whipping cream = cream (30 – 40% fat). You used the right thing. Maybe try a product with less fat? It won’t taste like the store bought cream cheese but better.
Do you think that I could use a bit of the leftover creamcheese to restart the next one as the cultured starter, just like yogurt, or do I have to go through the process all over again (not that it is hard)?
Plus, if I leave the mixture in my yogurt maker (cuz the winter is really cold here) would it be better/faster?
Not sure if you still get these comments. But, I just cooked your recipe to a T. Using Raw milk, Raw cream and cream cheese culture, and the cream cheese came out perfect consistency, however, it tasted awful, very sour. What could have gone wrong? Any insight?
It could be that one of the dairy products was on the verge of becoming sour so it altered the taste of your entire batch. You might want to try again with fresh ingredients and see if that helps!
I do use mesophilic starter, but sometimes temperatures in my kitchen in winter when we are both at work are below the mesophilic ideal range (68-102F), so I like to give it a boost then, also the higher the temp the faster the microbes multiply (within the ideal range), so I like to keep it closer to the top of the range to speed up the process. I haven’t actually tried it without the thermos, so that might be an interesting experiment….
Ah- gotcha! might have to try that later this winter- my house gets pretty chilly sometimes, too!
On the Cultures for Health website, Mesophilic Culture is listed along with Cream Cheese Starter. Do they produce they different results in making cream cheese or can you use them interchangeably? Thanks!
Hi Linda,
Some cream cheese recipes call for the addition of rennet along with the starter culture. It appears that the Cream Cheese Starter is simply a packet that has the rennet and starter culture already combined. I haven’t found rennet to be necessary for my cream cheese, although it wouldn’t hurt anything to use it. However, I think the *slightly* cheaper route would be to just purchase the mesophilic culture by itself. Hope that helps! 🙂
I just found your recipe to make your own cream cheese and am super excited about it. However, I was wanting to split the recipe in half and was curious if that would indeed split the time in half????
No, I think even if you halved the recipe, it’d probably take the same amount of time to culture/drain.
Hi there
If I am using fresh milk from our cow do I have to strain the cream off to get two cups of cream and then get two more cups of milk that aren’t strained? And do I have to use the culture if it’s fresh milk?
Thanks I’m advance
Hi there! Yes, that’s probably the best way to get your 2 cups of cream and milk. But keep in mind the recipe calls for whole milk, so it would be best to not use fully-skimmed milk. Also, yes, you would still need the culture, as that’s what helps the milk and cream turn into cream cheese. I hope this helps! 🙂
I’m going to try it soon, thanks. How long will it last in your frig?
What is the term “ half and half” ???
Hi Jill, How long does your cream cheese usually keep for? I have done the yogurt cheese and enjoy the taste but it only seems to keep for a few days…
Hi Nicole,
Unfortunately, I usually use it so quickly that I’m not 100% sure! But, I would think not much more than a week. Adding the salt might help with that a little, though.
Used your cream cheese recipe twice now. Honestly, it’s so much better than store bought. And so easy to make. Love it. Thank you for sharing it with us.
I use cultured buttermilk instead of the meso culture- works great and you can keep a jar of buttermilk culture going- 2 tbls. of the old culture into a quart, leave on counter 10 hours or so then to the fridg! And if you get enough (without eating it!), the cream cheese freezes really well.
Awesome! Good to know Lee Ann- thanks for sharing! 🙂
How do u culture buttermilk?
I understand the health benefits of using a culture, but do I need to add the culture for it to be cream cheese? Have seen recipes with cream,milk, and lemon juice.
Lee Ann, how much buttermilk to how much milk/cream?
*** meant to say 2 tbls of cultured buttermilk into a quart of milk!
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. I can’t wait to try it:)
Is it okay to leave the cream and then cheese (when the whey strains) out for all that time unrefridgerated?
Yes- since you are culturing it with the good bacteria, it will be just fine.
Have you tried it with goat’s milk? I am trying to avoid dairy and goat ‘juice’ seems to pacify my needs for moo juice.
Hi Catherine,
Yes, I have made this with goat’s milk. However, I don’t have a cream separator, so I have never tried it with actual goat “cream.” It will work just the same with the milk- it will just produce a slightly different texture and flavor than with the cream. I believe that when made with goat’s milk, you could technically consider it “chevre” cheese.
Jill, you are correct. Chevre is a soft, fresh goat cheese and it is actually my favorite. I have two questions. Can you post a recipe for chevre? And, if you use raw cream for the cream cheese do you still need to add the culture?
I will definitely plan on posting a chevre recipe in the near future! And yes, I still add the cultures when I use raw cream– I find that it produces a more pleasant end result. 🙂
yea! I am excited about how easy this sounds. I am looking forward to when the people we get our raw jersey milk (and cream!) have enough to sell again – they took a break when the calves were born.
We are still getting goats milk now though so maybe I will try it with that first.
This seems so simmple! I can’t wait to try.
Great tutorial! I’ve only made ricotta cheese at home, I might have to try cream cheese. You are so right about grocery costs increasing!
I milk goats so I have plenty of raw milk. One gallon of raw milk will make one pound of mozzarella cheese and with the whey from draining that, you can make 6 to 8 oz. of ricotta. The ricotta freezes well and the mozzarella will last a week or so in the fridge, though I can’t seem to keep the kids out of it long enough to really know! One gallon of milk and poof, home made lasagna!
How long can you kep the rocotta in te freezer and how do you keep it from “weeping” hen thawed?
Thanks for the post…sounds delicious and I may have to try making it with the buttermilk. Blessings! Nancy at livininthegreen.blogspot.com
Great timing, I recently took a full day soft cheese making class and am now trying to learn as much as I can – your post and all the comments are really helpful!
Also, I would love it if you stopped by and shared this on my new link-up, Waste Not Want Not, a link-up for frugal, sustainable, chemical free living 🙂
http://www.poorandglutenfree.blogspot.com/2012/10/waste-not-want-not-wednesday-1.html
I first saw this on Pinterest and it is the reason I started to read your blog, which I am getting through very quickly thanks to loving what /how you write. I haven’t tried the recipe yet as I’m currently at work offshore but it’s top of my to do list when I get home. Thank you
Thanks for your support Kathryn! And let us know how it goes when you get a chance to make cream cheese! 🙂
I’ve been making some of my own cheese lately. Can’t wait to try the cream cheese.
So I just now started a quart, yay! Then read the comments, boo! Did I just ruin my meso starter by putting it into refrigerator-temp cream? Is that too cold/should I have allowed the cream to warm to room temp first?
Nope- you should be just fine Gennah. I’ve made mine with cold milk– no problem!
Is it possible to use the fruit flavored yogurts to make the flavored cheese or do u add a fruit afterwards?
Hello! I think I might be having the same issue? I used whole milk (oberweis,gently pasturized) and the mesophilic culture. 12 hours later and my mixture is still totally liquid. Any suggestions?
I just had the same thing happen! I even forgot to strain it before bed and it still wasn’t set! I used raw cows milk/cream that had been refrigerated and the culture I keep in the freezer.
Something that might be helpful in this process (possibly….) How about using a tofu press? All it is is a box with some holes on the side along the bottom with a top that has a lid that is smaller than the inside perimeter of the box. When i make tofu, I line the box with cheesecloth and pour the curdled soy milk and the press the “whey” out of it by putting some weight on the lid and letting it set for a few hours. Could you do the same for the cream cheese?
Hmmm– I have no experience with tofu, or tofu presses, but the concept sounds like it might work. I’m betting it would produce a firmer end product, too.
Cream cheese is $5.00 a brick here.
Ouch Donna– I guess I shouldn’t complain… All the more reason to make your own. 😉
I’m so very new to this. Have just begun getting raw goats milk from my Mom’s goats. How do I get the cream off?
Has anyone successfully frozen this cream cheese ?
I think if you use whole milk it would be like neufatchel cheese which they sell in the stores as “low fat cream cheese”. I need to get some starter and try this, I get so into making butter with my cream that I do not think of things like this and even sour cream. Thanks for the tips.
Yes– you can totally make your own soft cheese (neufatchel) with milk! Same process. 🙂
I’m the exact same way. Every time I get a qt. Of cream I think, Yaaaaayyy! Butter!! Hahaha!
I’m so bummed, i tried this with my fresh raw cream yesterday and it failed miserably.
I think your blog and information is so helpful! I was disappointed to see that the cheese / yogurt starters include ingredients like maltodextrin :(. I will find a way to incorporate your amazing ideas without the starters, but wanted to thank you for your effort and your time to dedicate to this blog 😉
I didn’t read thru all of the posts, so maybe someone else said this, but the same recipe with goat’s milk is Chevre (just be sure to use “pasteurized” not “ultra-pasteurized” (of course, fresh is best) and we make this all the time with plain old whole cow’s milk – yummy, and even cheaper!!!
Is there a way to foster a “mother” and breed the starter or do you need to buy direct set each time?
I believe there is a way to do a mother mesophilic culture– unfortunately, I don’t have much experience with that. Would be worth looking into, though!
isn’t the sap from a fig tree/bush plant rennet could this be used since it is easily found without going to the store or ordering itRob
You actually don’t need to add mesophilic starter to your cream, I don’t and I’ve been doing it for awhile.. just let your cream sit out for 8-12 hrs (turns it into awesome sour cream) and then drain that in cheesecloth for 12 hours and Voila!! Super easy and cheaper since you don’t have to buy the starter 🙂
You know– I’ve tried letting my cream naturally sour, but I don’t care for the taste as much. However, maybe each batch of milk is a little different? It’s a great way to avoid buying starter, though!
I’ve been wanting to do this! I need to order some cultures 😉
Jill, very nice post and site you have here. The cream cheese recipe is great. Making Greek yogurt uses the same process except with milk rather than cream. I would advise to not make cheese or yogurt without the cultures. Using specific dairy cultures promote rapid growth of the beneficial bacteria rather than potential spoilage bacteria found in the air, tap water, and other locations around the kitchen. Different cultures can be used to generate a bit different taste as well. Cheers.
Nice! Love this blog! where can I buy the culture? I live in PA
If you click the blue link (mesophilic culture), it will take you to the website where I buy my supplies.
I use either cultured buttermilk or plain Russian kefir to make my cream cheese… if you let it be very soft, mix it with salt pepper and chives it makes a great meal together with salt potatoes. If your culture has a hard time starting, preheat your oven to its lowest setting ~150-175 deg insert your bowel with the mix and let it sit in the oven for about 5 min, then turn off the oven and leave the mix sitting in it until its room temperature. By then you can make the decision if you want to just leave it there for the next 12+ hours or if you want to put it on your counter top to cure.
Yum John!
forgot to say.. I use those as the starter….1 quart of buttermilk (organic) or one bottle of plain Russian kefir (organic) plus one Gallon of organic whole milk.Sometimes I add a pint of heavy cream I get directly from our local Dairy. I only buy milk in glass containers….its so much healthier.
I use the whey to cook or drink it on a hot summer day..its very refreshing.
I was wondering what Yogurt cheese is? We make a sort of cheese where we basically let raw milk sit in a warm kitchen for about 2-3 days until we can see it start to firm up, then we strain it out and have some sort of tangy cheese and whey. We also have taken fresh cream and used a yogurt starter culture (thermophilic I think, because my husband sticks it in a cooler with hot water overnight) and we make cultured cream that tastes sort of like cream cheese, but we don’t have to separate it…then again our cream separator is very serious about it’s job and regular cream left in the fridge overnight will harden like butter. I am interested in making cream cheese. I usually just use cultured cream as a replacement, but I am curious to try what the “real stuff” would taste like. Thank you for this blog, I sincerely appreciate it.
Yes, what you made is considered clabber cheese, and is very similar to yogurt cheese. I’m betting you’ll like this recipe– I love how smooth and mild it is, although it’s probably not too different than what you’ve done. That’s what I love about raw milk– SO many cool things you can do with it!
At what stage would you add the flavorings? When you add the salt?
Thanks, can’t wait to try this!
I wouldn’t add the flavorings and salt until the very end after the draining process. You can mix it in before you stick in the fridge, or pull out small portions and flavor small amounts at a time. Enjoy! 🙂
Making this tonight! Can’t wait to see how it turns out. Thanks for the recipe. My DD has already claimed this batch of goat cream cheese for making fruit pizza.
Ooooh, I LOVE fruit pizza! One of my fav desserts. 🙂
I found these thin, fitted-cotton bassinet sheets at KMart to use as a strainer. More dense than cheese cloth and easier to wash and reuse.
I use a bowl with handles that came with a counter top mixer to strain the cheese and pull the sheet taught over the handles and the rest of the sheet down under the bowl with the weight of the bowl holding the sheet.
http://www.kmart.com/summer-infant-2-45-pack-white-bassinet-sheet/p-024W016149550001P
My mother used to make cheese using Junket. When you use the junket you have to heat it on the stove. We always used the cheese cloth in the colender which held it in place very easily. I want to give this a try and of course will save the whey for cooking with. Enjoyed you post, thanks for all the tips.
Thank you for the wonderful article! I am going to share with our facebook readers today! I hope to bring you some more traffic 🙂
Blessings,
Pearl
Thanks so much for the share Pearl! 🙂
Blessings on your day!
I was going to try this tonight, but was wondering if a whole package of DS is okay, since it says it can set-up 1-4 gallons. I’m kind of new to this and am so glad to have stumbled on to your site!
Thanks!
In Christ,
Angie
I don’t know if you’ve seen this website but it is fantastic for the beginning cheese maker. There is troubleshooting tips and instructions are very specific and easy to follow. http://biology.clc.uc.edu/fankhauser/cheese/cheese_course/cheese_course.htm
I love that website– have spent many hours there looking around!
The website url is a dead end. Someone please tell me how to find it? Thanks.
The web archive has it https://web.archive.org/web/20160306045819/http://biology.clc.uc.edu/Fankhauser/Cheese/Cheese_course/Cheese_course.htm
I love this, thank you. Question – can you reuse the culture or do you have to buy a new one every time? Seems to me it would cost more than the store stuff (which we won’t eat because we tend to stick to stuff we make and are on GAPS). Thanks for the help. 🙂
I make my own yogurt often using the crock-pot method, straining it to be greek yogurt; I found jelly bags work wonderfully for this purpose. Got them on Amazon (and they even come with a ring/stand) pretty inexpensively. Rinse them out and they are ready for the next round. I can see they would work well here too. Can’t wait to try this!
I am definitely going to try this out! But I wanted to ask if there is a reason that you use the mesophilic starter culture instead of the cream cheese starter (I see they sell both on the website)? Also, would this be considered “fermenting”? Thanks!
Have not seen anyone post how much this comes to per 8 oz.. If you have to buy all the products I don’t think with the price of cream and the price of culture it would be less than 2.50.
I just wanted to share these videos that show goat’s milk separation with cream separators
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8_Tom5Q93w
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q85wFTPhJZ8
Awesome- thanks for the links!
Great information!! I’m definitely going to try this. I have a couple questions – do you know if you can can your cream cheese onceit’s done? Also, I looked at your link on where to find the mesophilic culture and it says it has to be refrigerated or frozen. How would you keep this culture fresh if you are living off grid?? You may not know, but I figured it doesn’t hurt to ask. 🙂 Thanks.
Hi Wendy- I haven’t experimented much with storing culture off-grid. I’m guessing you could make a mother culture and keep propagating it- it’s more work that way, but requires no electricity. I don’t believe you can really can cream cheese– and if you did can this particular recipe, it would loose all of it’s beneficial raw properties. I’ve heard varying reports on the safety of canning dairy products. HOwever, if you hear of something different, let me know!
I have canned butter that is made locally by some amish and have heard of canning cream cheese and was going to buy some to can but then I stumbled across your recipe on how to make it so I was curious if the purchased cream cheese (that might have some sort of preservatives) would be safe to can but homemade wouldn’t??? I have no idea as I’m new to all of this.
I’ve also heard the varying reports on canning dairy products, but I made sure I did my butter using pressure canning vs. some people’s method of just melting the butter and then as the hot butter cools it seals your lid (which to me is not canning). The easiest solution for me would be to have my own cow or goat so I could make it whenever I want, but I don’t think my city will allow that (although I am checking with them).
Wow– I’ve never thought of canning butter! I imagine you might be able to do cream cheese too, then– but I have no idea of the process- sorry!
Check with your local extension service. They are very helpful and can give you tips on how to can butter or cream cheese safely. It usually takes a few days to get a response and they do the research if they have not had that question before. Would be interesting to know.
How much cream cheese will you get from 1 quart of milk?
Sorry I just seen the answer to my question. Thanks
I wonder if I could use milk kefir for the culture?
I make a low fat version of this cream cheese using 2% milk, it is not as rich, but is so much better than the store bought and such a satisfying treat. I make my own meso culture from cultured buttermilk and freeze it (I start with fresh buttermilk about once a year). Thanks for the post – I love your idea for straining in a pitcher, makes the process much easier. I also enjoyed the comments, good info!
After you make this once with the starter culture, can you just use a little bit of the raw cream cheese to start the next batch? Or do you have to use the mesophilic culture every time?
awsome site with good old school info. I usually make cottage cheese from fresh whole milk. Two five gallon pails at a time. Naturally soured (it usually takes about three days at room temperature).
The real pain was dealing with the whey, too many diapers to wash,too time consuming, not enough upper cupboard door pulls and too many drip catcher to wash.
-let the milk sour right in the food grade pail (can be filled within two inches from the top)
– keep the lid on but unsnapped (some gas is produced)
-let sit for three days undisturbed (I have left it for a week with no negative results)
-the cheese/ whey will be on the top half of the pail
-with a large stainless serving spoon skim the cheese/whey off into your cooking pot
-skim in one inch layers across the surface, when you are almost half ways down the pail you will reach the true whey/cheese separation. You may have to use a siv to get the last little bit skimmed.
-I heat the cheese/whey on high heat to 110F,shutoff, temp will still rise to about 114F. During heating constantly stir to avoid bottom sorching.
-leave undisturbed to start cooling and to allow the cheese to settle down (an hour?)
-use your wine racking syphon tube to syphon the surface whey back into your bucket (be careful the whey temp could be hot enough to burn your wips) …….oops running out of typing room, if this helps email me for the rest of the steps to my no diaper process. OG
Wow– 5 gallons at a time–impressive! And yes, I agree–dealing with all the whey can be a pain sometimes.
I freeze whey in premeasured amounts for bread making and other baking. Marvelous bread…use instead of water and/or milk, reduce the amt of butter if called for.
I am not familiar with Mesophilic starter culture and I’ve only made cheese once before so I am a newbie. I would love to make my own cream cheese. I make my own kefir and I was wondering if it could be used in place of the Mesophilic starter culture. Any idea? Thanks.
How do I get the Mesophilic starter culture on amazon through you site?
So a person could buy a quart of heavy cream and make butter and buttermilk from this then use the buttermilk to culture half and half?? If so, you would have butter, buttermilk, cream cheese,and whey. What do you do with whey?
You could definitely make butter from the cream, but the buttermilk you would have left would be old-fashioned buttermilk–not the cultured kind. It would still be good for making pancakes or biscuits, but wouldn’t have the necessary bacteria to culture anything.
Is there something I could do to culture the buttermilk? Without having to order things?
I just put a fresh milking of raw cow milk into a 2 qt jar and sit it on top the fridge for a couple days. Once it separates, I drain it in cheese cloth and mix in salt to taste. Ingredients: raw milk and a hint of sea salt, nothing more. No cultures needed.
I thought so, no cultures needed…
I’m the founder/moderator for Punk Domestics (www.punkdomestics.com), a community site for those of use obsessed with, er, interested in DIY food. It’s sort of like Tastespotting, but specific to the niche. I’d love for you to submit this to the site. Good stuff!
Would this recipe be for raw milk?
I tried but after 24 hours my mixture still had not thickened at all
I had the same problem I don’t know what I did wrong, I left it for 3 days so it will probably not be any good, but it did thicken further. It was quite cold in the kitchen when I made it.
Same here! Someone please help 🙁
Someone taught me to make cream cheese by using plain yogurt and draining the whey. I made refrigerator mashed potatoes with it last evening. They tasted great! Today while heating them (and after the flavors came together), I think they taste really vinegary. Is there any way I can fix this? I think I used too much “cream cheese”. From now on, I will be using this recipe!
Making this today, thanks for the recipe!
Do you have to use the culture you suggest in your article on cream cheese making? Amazon has a direct set mesophilic cheese culture that is a little cheaper (free shipping).
No– you don’t have to use the exact culture I linked– there are many mesophilic cultures on the market that will work.
Please Help!!! I bought the Mesophilic A culture and used it with the half and half I bought from costco. I used a gallon and put in 1/2 tsp. Nothing happened. After two days I emailed the seller on Amazon and they said ultra pasteurized milk won’t work and maybe I can add rennet to help it out. It did not work. I didn’t see instructions for heating the milk so I didn’t either. I’m not sure if I was supposed to.
Is there a difference between pasteurized and ultra pasteurized? I can’t find raw half and half in the stores. I now have animal rennet and the starter powder. What should I do? I really would like to make some cheese. I even bought a nut bag to strain my gallon milk which I threw down the toilet…literally. Thank you for anyone helping.
Hi Christina,
Yes, definitely avoid using ultra-pasteurized cream or milk. It doesn’t have to be raw cream, but UHT dairy products will not yield good results. I would suggest trying again with regular pasteurized. If you don’t want to waste cream as you figure it all out, just try it with regular milk instead, until you get the hang of it.
It did work with regular pasteurized half and half!!!! I have cream cheese! Now what do I do with the whey? Would I be able to make more cream with this? If so how much do I use?
Thank you
I’m so glad it worked! You can’t make any more cream with the whey– I would just substitute it 1:1 for water in baking recipes (breads, pancakes, etc) Congrats!
years ago when my kids were little, there was a diary farmer just over the border who had the brown cows and they would sell me fresh milk. bought it straight from the cooler in the milk house on the honor system……labelled for month, day and am/pm. $1.50 gal…..that WAS in the 70’s…………..
I’d strain off the cream by putting the jug on top of the microwave or elevated surface – (once the cream had finished rising to the top) and used a clear aquarium hose to siphon the milk off the bottom – leaving only the cream in the jug. I’d make butter with that, ‘squeeze it’ then return that to the gallon of remaining milk. got almost my full gallon of milk back plus the butter……..
now I can’t find anyone to sell me raw milk………I’d liked to make fresh mozz. ricotta, etc and can no longer do it. at least there are a few more options that don’t have the UHT stuff……………..
I’m in NE Illinois, so if you know of anyone who might be willing to sell me some milk? I think its legal here as long as they follow the rules – no advertising, bring your own container etc.
I had 5 kids. we went thru about 4 gallons of milk every week……..so it was a beautiful thing. now if you can find raw milk – you have to make sure it’s not from cows that have been injected with stuff or fed with weird stuff…………
I sure miss those days……………
I do make Quark using milk and buttermilk…….that seems to work out OK with the store stuff. I even have rennet left from the mozz days……..
when we tried this on the first batch it took about 21 hours to set and still on the thin side, after dripping the consistency is closer to sour cream and taste like sour cream deliciously but not cream cheese. what might have i done i followed the directions to a T unless i got the wrong mesophilic?
How long does the cream cheese last in fridge?
April
At least a week or two, maybe longer.
Excuse me, what’s the fat content of the cream in the recipe?
Sorry for a layman’s question, but I have always thought (mistakenly or not) that ‘cream’ is a pretty stretchy notion, and can mean from 9 to 36% of fat or thereabouts.
So what kind of cream are we talking about?
Many thanks for clarifications
I would use heavy whipping cream for this recipe.
Hi I am trying this recipe..my mixture of raw cream and milk with culture has been setting out for over 24 hrs and still isn’t thick. I tasted it and it tastes really sour. Should I let it set longer or did I do something wrong? Do I let the milk come to room temp before adding the culture?
Hi 🙂 thank you for sharing. I’m so disheartened though, as I’ve tried this recipe twice, and the first time it was grainy and this last time (though it looked super promising) it came out of the musilin looking like a cross between butter and cottage cheese. I mean, it was even yellow in some places. What have I done wrong? I used high quality raw milk with half cream and half just the milk part. Any help would be appreciated! Thanks again!
Once I make cream cheese the first time can I save some of he cream cheese to use as the starter from now on?
I am definitely going to try this as my family and I are doing everything from scratch! It’s insanely ridiculous how good homemade fresh cheeses are. Thank you for this straight forward recipe.
Hi when you say leave it on the counter, what’s the ideal temperature range we are looking for? Wondering whether putting it into my instant pot under yoghurt setting would work? THANKS
Just trying to find somewhere to ask a question. Is this recipe actually for neufchatel? Not cream cheese? Cream cheese is made with all cream, correct?Recipe
I have access to a local rancher who sells both raw milk and fresh cream. I already make my own yogurt and buttermilk. So I decided it was time to start with other soft cheeses. Thanks for the great recipe.
Jill, We ended up with soured milk so I gave the cream cheese & whey thing a try. (I didn’t use a culture.) Left the milk out on the counter to separate, then strained through a towel into a bowl. All of it–the cheese & the whey–has a very strong smell. Is this normal, or should I toss it all? I’ve always tossed soured milk and am nervous to feed this to my family…
Have you ever used this kind of spreadable cream cheese for making cream cheese frosting? Most recipes I’ve found call for the brick style, which is full of icky additives.
Hey, I have a herd share with some goats, and I was wondering if you could do this recipie with goats milk or cream?
Great instructions, thank you! I made this the other day using the cream cheese starter, however, it didn’t solidify very much. I set on top of fridge at night and on top of stove with oven on during the day for a total of 24 hours plus the 12 hours of draining. I ended up with about a 1/2 cup of cream cheese. Turned out good, but bummed I didn’t get more. Do you think more time or more heat is needed or both or more temp consistency? Or something else?
Hi, i’m so excited to make homemade cream cheese. It’ll be my first cheesemaking experience. I was just a little confused regarding the culture. If i use the mesophilic culture that you linked, Mesophilic Starter Culture – Real Cheese, do i use a whole packet or 1/8 tsp?
I am not sure if you realize it but the ads on your page are very distasteful. Nearly or actually nude women. (only body paint to cover)
Im thankful for this recipe. But I dont plan to come back to your site if it happens again.
Question – how long should one keep homemade cream cheese in the refreigerator? That is what i am a bit confused about…
It should stay fresh in the fridge for at least a week or two! If it goes bad, you’ll know!
Last week I tried it, and it came out great. The texture, the taste, everything was over the top. Plus, I made a cream cheesecake using this cream cheese, which everyone liked, and it got finished in no time. Thanks for sharing ?
So happy to hear this!
I was very excited to find this recipe on Pinterest yesterday. However, mine has sat for 24 hours and hasn’t thickened at all. I followed the recipe just as it’s written. I have a jersey cow, and separated her cream, used whole milk, etc meso cultures the whole recipe and nothing. Please help!! Thank you so much
Fantastic I would like to learn more post about this form you.
What type of milk/cream would be used to make a version of the 1/3 less fat cream cheese? Also, can the correct butter milk culture be make from powdered buttermilk?
Thank you!!
Definitely going to try out Cream Cheese by following your recipe.Thanks for sharing.
Great info. Thanks!
Hi! Can I double or triple this recipe?
Hi! How many 1/8 tsps of culture are in each packet of the mesophilic culture you linked?
Thanks!
Mine didn’t thicken much. The whey that drained off was thick and white, not what I usually see when I make other cheese. What was left in the cheese cloth amounted to about a half cup.
Can this cream cheese be used in baked cheesecakes?