Homemade Fresh Cheese In Under 10 Minutes Using Only 2 Ingredients
Bertha Cooks
8,361 views
Get La Cocina de Bertha, every recipe in this kitchen written down (372 pages): https://berthascookbook.com
Mija, take that little tub of queso fresco out of your refrigerator. In my mother's house we almost never bought it. She made it on Sunday mornings in the bean pot, with milk and limes, about ten minutes at the stove. Here is how, and the moment the milk breaks into white clouds is the part your whole family will come running for.
HONEST FIRST: the tub at the store is set with rennet in a factory. This is the lime-set ranch cousin. It is white, mild, milky, and crumbles the same way over your beans and enchiladas.
⭐ WHAT YOU NEED (makes about 10 oz, the size of the tub)
• 1/2 gallon WHOLE milk (NOT ultra-pasteurized, read the carton)
• 1/4 cup fresh lime juice (3 to 4 limes), or white vinegar
• 1/2 tsp salt (optional, you already own it)
• A heavy pot, a wooden spoon, a colander, cheesecloth or a thin flour-sack towel
⭐ THE METHOD
1. Milk in the pot over MEDIUM. Stir the bottom every minute so it does not scorch.
2. Heat until little bubbles appear at the edges and it starts to foam and climb, about 185°F. Turn OFF the fire. Do not boil.
3. Add the lime a little at a time. Stir gently 2 or 3 times, then STOP and take the spoon out.
4. Watch the milk break: white curds on top, clear yellow-green whey below. Still milky? One more spoon of lime. Rest 5 minutes.
5. Pour through a colander lined with wet cheesecloth over a bowl. SAVE the whey.
6. Fold the salt into the warm curds.
⭐ TWO CHEESES FROM ONE POT
• SOFT AND CRUMBLY: tie up the cloth and hang it 15 to 20 minutes. Eat it warm.
• FIRM LIKE THE TUB: twist the cloth tight, squeeze, set between two plates with two cans on top, fridge a few hours or overnight.
⭐ THE WHEY: use it instead of water in flour tortillas, rice, or soup. 3 days in the fridge.
⭐ QUESO ASADO: a finger-thick slice of the pressed cheese in a hot DRY pan. It does not melt, it turns golden. Flip once. In a warm tortilla with salsa verde.
THE HONEST WORDS:
• Nothing happened → ultra-pasteurized milk, or not hot enough.
• Tiny grainy curds → stirred too much after the lime.
• Rubbery and squeaky → the milk boiled, or it was not whole milk.
• Too sour → too much lime. Add it slowly, stop when the whey turns clear.
WHO PROFITS, HONESTLY: the tub is about $5 for 10 oz. Half a gallon of whole milk and a few limes are about $3.50 for the same amount. A little money saved, plus cheese made this morning, a jar of whey, and queso asado the tub cannot do.
KEEPS: 4 to 5 days wrapped in the fridge. Freezing works, but it comes back more crumbly, so frozen is for cooking.
And the pot with the scorched milk ring? That is the other half of my life: 🧼 Clean The Mexican Way → [link to cleaning channel]
If you always thought only a factory could make cheese, it was never because you were not capable. Nobody ever showed you. Tell me in the comments: what does your family put queso fresco on first? I read every one.
CHAPTERS (
0:00 The little tub in your refrigerator
0:56 Sunday mornings in my mother's house
1:39 Honest first: the ranch cousin
2:32 The milk: whole, never ultra-pasteurized
3:20 The lime, and salt
4:01 What you need
4:18 Step 1: heat it to the edge of a boil
4:56 Step 2: THE MOMENT the milk breaks
5:41 Step 3: strain, and save the whey
6:10 Crumbly or pressed
7:09 What to do with the whey
7:30 QUESO ASADO
8:05 Honest words
8:36 Who profits, honestly
9:09 How long it keeps
15 Comments
It is delicious.
I want to purchase some fresh herbs 🌿 and add some in it. Not a lot of herbs just enough to add a slight taste. Like parsley, chives, I will probably try jalapenos that have been pickled already. I will just train them really well. And ice them up really small.
Just thinking out loud.
Now I have to figure out what i'm going to do with the whey
Cheers, and thx for the video.
Homemade Fresh Cheese In Under 10 Minutes Using Only 2 Ingredients
Bertha Cooks
8,361 views
Get La Cocina de Bertha, every recipe in this kitchen written down (372 pages): https://berthascookbook.com
Mija, take that little tub of queso fresco out of your refrigerator. In my mother's house we almost never bought it. She made it on Sunday mornings in the bean pot, with milk and limes, about ten minutes at the stove. Here is how, and the moment the milk breaks into white clouds is the part your whole family will come running for.
HONEST FIRST: the tub at the store is set with rennet in a factory. This is the lime-set ranch cousin. It is white, mild, milky, and crumbles the same way over your beans and enchiladas.
⭐ WHAT YOU NEED (makes about 10 oz, the size of the tub)
• 1/2 gallon WHOLE milk (NOT ultra-pasteurized, read the carton)
• 1/4 cup fresh lime juice (3 to 4 limes), or white vinegar
• 1/2 tsp salt (optional, you already own it)
• A heavy pot, a wooden spoon, a colander, cheesecloth or a thin flour-sack towel
⭐ THE METHOD
1. Milk in the pot over MEDIUM. Stir the bottom every minute so it does not scorch.
2. Heat until little bubbles appear at the edges and it starts to foam and climb, about 185°F. Turn OFF the fire. Do not boil.
3. Add the lime a little at a time. Stir gently 2 or 3 times, then STOP and take the spoon out.
4. Watch the milk break: white curds on top, clear yellow-green whey below. Still milky? One more spoon of lime. Rest 5 minutes.
5. Pour through a colander lined with wet cheesecloth over a bowl. SAVE the whey.
6. Fold the salt into the warm curds.
⭐ TWO CHEESES FROM ONE POT
• SOFT AND CRUMBLY: tie up the cloth and hang it 15 to 20 minutes. Eat it warm.
• FIRM LIKE THE TUB: twist the cloth tight, squeeze, set between two plates with two cans on top, fridge a few hours or overnight.
⭐ THE WHEY: use it instead of water in flour tortillas, rice, or soup. 3 days in the fridge.
⭐ QUESO ASADO: a finger-thick slice of the pressed cheese in a hot DRY pan. It does not melt, it turns golden. Flip once. In a warm tortilla with salsa verde.
THE HONEST WORDS:
• Nothing happened → ultra-pasteurized milk, or not hot enough.
• Tiny grainy curds → stirred too much after the lime.
• Rubbery and squeaky → the milk boiled, or it was not whole milk.
• Too sour → too much lime. Add it slowly, stop when the whey turns clear.
WHO PROFITS, HONESTLY: the tub is about $5 for 10 oz. Half a gallon of whole milk and a few limes are about $3.50 for the same amount. A little money saved, plus cheese made this morning, a jar of whey, and queso asado the tub cannot do.
KEEPS: 4 to 5 days wrapped in the fridge. Freezing works, but it comes back more crumbly, so frozen is for cooking.
And the pot with the scorched milk ring? That is the other half of my life: 🧼 Clean The Mexican Way → [link to cleaning channel]
If you always thought only a factory could make cheese, it was never because you were not capable. Nobody ever showed you. Tell me in the comments: what does your family put queso fresco on first? I read every one.
CHAPTERS (
0:00 The little tub in your refrigerator
0:56 Sunday mornings in my mother's house
1:39 Honest first: the ranch cousin
2:32 The milk: whole, never ultra-pasteurized
3:20 The lime, and salt
4:01 What you need
4:18 Step 1: heat it to the edge of a boil
4:56 Step 2: THE MOMENT the milk breaks
5:41 Step 3: strain, and save the whey
6:10 Crumbly or pressed
7:09 What to do with the whey
7:30 QUESO ASADO
8:05 Honest words
8:36 Who profits, honestly
9:09 How long it keeps
Every recipe my mother taught me is written down in my book: https://berthascookbook.com
What does your family put queso fresco on first?