Queso Fresco Recipe

Bring the milk to 86* and add the mesophilic culture and lipase. Stir well and let set, to ripen, for 1/2 hour. Add the rennet and stir briskly for 15 seconds. Cover the pot and let the milk set for 45 minutes, or until you get a clean break. Hold the milk at a temperature of 86* for the entire time.
Cut the curds into 1/4 pieces with a stainless steel knife. This always seem to be the trickiest part of cheese making, but take your time, and don't worry if all the curds are cut to exactly 1/4. After you have cut the curds, do not stir them yet. Let them rest, undisturbed for 10 minutes.

Now you can stir the curds and cut any that you had missed. If you stir the curds with a big wire whisk, this will cut any curds you missed automatically. Raise the temperature of the curds to 95* over the next 20 minutes, stirring occasionally so the curds do not stick together. Let the curds settle for 5 minutes, undisturbed.

Drain the whey from the curds and save it for making Ricotta. Now, leave the curds in their cheese making pot that is placed inside the canner. Make sure the water in the canner is kept at 950 and this will allow you to hold the curds at a temperature of 95*. Hold the curds at 95* for 10 minutes, stirring with your hand occasionally so that the curds don't stick together.

After you have held the curds for at 95* for 10 minutes, stir in the salt. At this point in the cheese making you could spice up your cheese by adding some herbs, such as chives, or even minced jalapena peppers, if you'd like. (To be honest, I never add herbs, I think this cheese is great just plain.)

Line a cheese mold with cheesecloth and add the curds. Press the cheese at 35 lb. for 10 minutes, remover it from the press, flip it over and place it back in the press. Continue pressing at 35 pounds for 6 hours.

After it has pressed for six hours, remove the cheese from the mold and wrap it (I put it in a ziploc bag), and refrigerate the cheese for several days before testing. Really, believe me on this, it's worth the wait. If you taste the cheese too soon, it may seem "rubbery". Also, the flavor develops during the short "aging" process.