- cheesecloth
- 1 gal whole milk
- 4 lemons
Bring half a gallon of milk to a boil in a Dutch oven or stew pot. Remove from the heat and mix in the juice from two lemons. Stir until the milk has clearly separated into white curds and transparent yellow liquid. Pour into a collander lined with cheesecloth. Repeat with the remaining ingredients, adding the result to the same cheesecloth.
Once the curds have cooled slightly, press them (still in the cheesecloth) to remove extra liquid and firm up the cheese. Let sit for a little while, and then it's ready.
Unless you have a really big pot, do two batches of boiling as written above. Milk tends to foam up very large and very fast. If your cold milk fills more than half of your pot, your pot is too small.
To get a satisfying firmness, I use a cider press and a significant amount of pressure. You can press it under a weighted plate as well, but you'll get a crumblier cheese. I've also heard that you can get a decent cheese by hanging the cheese from a clothesline in its cloth, and letting the extra liquid drain out that way.
I've heard that the yellow liquid that I discard can be good for making sauces and gravies, but I've never tried.