For our first post, lets dive into something easier before we get serious. Parmesan cheese can be a great treatment for all sorts of scalp and hair ailments, including dandruff, dry hair, lynks disease, and general hair thinning. Usually, when it comes to caseus therapy, people say higher grade cheese always works better, but I disagree. Don’t need to break the bank to live a healthy life style! :) Generic store bought parmesean works fine for this, unless it’s a serious case.
Thankfully, this remedy is really simple: just take about a cup of parmesean, and work it into your scalp. It may be best to do this in your tub or shower, as it could get messy! Make sure to get your whole scalp for full coverage. Let it sit for 30 mins to an hour to let the good cheese energy soak in, and the toxic energy out. That’s why cheese is so good at healing! It loves to trade. Once the time is up, rinse out your hair with warm water, and make sure no to shampoo it until at least the morning after to maintain full effect. If you do this every day for a week, your hair will be shiny and lusterous in no time! Good luck my lovelies, and soak up as much adventure under the sign of aries that you can. :)
I’ve put together TWO cheese tutorials for @tracfone, but anyone is welcome to try them. If you do I would absolutely love to see the results and hear about your experience. :D
The first recipe is for a basic farmer’s cheese, and the second is mozzarella. I consider these these two “core” cheeses for what’s quick and easy to make at home and impress house guests and family alike. Last night my parents stood around my pot of milk ooh-ing and ahh-ing over the separation process lmao
Aged hard cheeses like cheddar, swiss, provolone, etc can start their life from these processes, but require a whole setup I’m unfamiliar with to press and preserve them. I’m a huge fan of the New England Cheese Making Supply Company, and they have even more recipes on their site entirely free! They should cut me a check for this plug, but honestly I just really love their site and have spent hours on it.
Okay, surprise! This begins with a quick chemistry lesson. I’m sorry to spring it on you but it’s necessary for cheese-making. This is long but I promise you both of these recipes are very easy and come together in about half an hour or quicker once you get the hang of it. I'm just trying to be as thorough and descriptive as possible since I don't have very many process photos to illustrate with!
So very basic chemistry here:
Milk is comprised of 2 parts, the solids (curd) and the liquid (whey). Milk typically wants to remain milk, so in order to get those delicious curds and make cheese of them, we need to introduce an acid to destabilize the protein bonds and separate them. The most common acids to use are white vinegar and lemon juice. I use vinegar because it's much more economical. They work the same way, and offer no additional flavor to the cheese since the acid will remain in the whey.
To make the most basic cheese we need:
- A large pot with a lid, preferably stainless steel
- cheesecloth (or even clean pantyhose lol)
- milk (from dairy animal of your choice), preferably whole
- acid
For the milk, you specifically want to look for a brand that isn't ultra-pasteurized. This process disrupts the protein bonds between milk solids and liquid which results in poor, or no, curd formation. Raw milk is best for cheese-making and will produce the best curd, but frankly is so difficult to get your hands on in some places unless you know someone with dairy animals. Regular pasteurized milk is fine, it's just the ultra-pasteurization process that messes us up.
Add the milk to the pot and turn the heat on to low. Stir gently with a flat spatula, making sure get the sides and bottom of the pot. This is to prevent any milk from scalding, which will make the final product unpleasant and bitter.
Bring the milk to around 170-180 degrees Fahrenheit or 82 degrees Celsius. At this temperature it should be beginning to froth slightly around the edges, but not truly simmering or boiling. Turn the heat off, and remove the pot from the stove. Add 1 cup of vinegar per gallon of milk at this time. Stir in gentle back and forth motions to combine, and then cover.
Some curds may form immediately, but we want to set this to the side for around 30 minutes to really set up. During this time, I like to set up my straining system which is just a sheet of cheesecloth over a strainer/colander. After 30 minutes, carefully pour the pot over the cheesecloth-lined strainer, and let that sit for 5-10 minutes to make sure all the excess whey has dripped off.
Rinse them under cold water, and don't be afraid to get your hands in there to gently squeeze out any whey that remains. Whey is a yellowish liquid, so once the water is running clear you're good to transfer the curds into a bowl and season them how you'd like. Congratulations! You have farmer cheese, or possibly cottage cheese I don't actually know the difference. :D
If the curds are a bit big for your liking you can mash them with your fingers or a fork to make them smaller. After seasoning you can also add yogurt or buttermilk and mix this into a cream for creamy cottage cheese. You may need to adjust seasoning if you do this, especially salt levels.
The one thing I've realized with cheese is that it requires WAY more salt than you realize. I usually end up adding half a tablespoon of kosher salt to any cheese I make.
This is like THE recipe, the kooky grandfather of pretty much every cheese and you can tweak and adjust from it to make most others. But it's not a melting cheese. For something like mozzarella, you need rennet.
Rennet is a fermentation of milk taken from a calf's stomach after slaughter. There are vegetarian options made from thistle and they work just as well if that's gross! I use the vegetarian rennet, and the only difference I’ve noticed is cheeses made with it are just barely softer.
For mozzarella you need pretty much the same setup:
- big pot
- 1 gallon of milk (from dairy animal of your choice), preferably whole
- 1/4 teaspoon rennet, or 1/4 tablet if using rennet tablet
- 1/2 tablespoon of acid, traditionally lemon juice or citric acid is used
If you're using citric acid powder, dissolve it in 1 cup of water before beginning. If you're using straight lemon juice you can add it straight. In a different container mix your rennet into 1/4 cup of water, make sure the tablet is fully dissolved.
Now begin heating your milk over medium heat, and add your acid mixture/lemon juice. Mozzarella only needs to reach around 90 degrees Fahrenheit or 32 Celsius, so this is going to go fairly quick. Once this temperature is attained, turn off your heat and remove the pot from the stove.
Stir in your rennet mixture now, using gentle back and forth motions. You need to mix this for less than a minute. Now cover the pot, and let it sit for 5-10 minutes. If it still looks liquid-y let it sit longer. What you're looking for is a tofu-y looking texture. Now's the fun part!
Cut the curd with a long knife, doing your best to reach the bottom of the pot. I found that a filet knife works perfect for this! Cut it in a nice checkerboard pattern, and put the pot back on the stove. Turn the heat on medium, and warm everything up to 105-110F or 40-43C while slowly stirring. Try to move around the edge of the pot, without breaking up the curd too much. They'll start clumping together, which is perfect, and then fully separate from their whey.
Turn the heat off and remove the pot from the stove again, and stir for another 5 minutes. Now it's time to separate your curds and whey. Using a ladle or slotted cooking spoon is easiest but one of those deep-fry basket spoons might work too! You want to place them in a microwave-able bowl, because the next step is to microwave the curds for one minute, then drain the whey again.
It gets slightly tricky here because you have to knead mozzarella like a dough, thermal resistant gloves are nicest but rubber gloves work in a pinch. Fold the curds over on themselves. It's okay if they're still very loose, they tend to be at this point. Return them to the microwave at 30 second intervals until they've reached 130-135F or 54-57C. Once this temperature has been reached, salt your cheese. About 2 teaspoons of kosher salt is the sweet-spot for me, and it needs to be squished and kneaded in.
At this point it's just stretching and folding the cheese until it gets shiny, any remaining curds will melt as you work it. Once it’s shiny looking it's time to shape it which can be done by just folding/rolling it into a ball and giving it some firm pats. You can eat it super fresh and warm which is delightful with a bit of olive oil and sprinkle of salt, or toss it in the fridge to use later once it's cooled down. Store fresh mozzarella in enough whey to cover it, with an additional teaspoon of salt.
Whey from cheeses can also be kept as a by-product. You can add it to sauces and cooking stock to boost protein and rich flavor, deglaze other cooking pans with it the way you would use water or broth, make pickles with it, etc. There are a lot of different ways to use it, and how to use it is a big discussion point in the cheese-making community.
