Feta Cheese

3 gal	whole fresh milk		1 qt	half & half
1 pkg	Direct Set Mesophilic Culture	or	2 oz	starter culture thawed out
1/4 tab	rennet	or	1/2 tsp	diluted in 2 tbls cold water

1. Warm the milk to 85 F(29.5 C).
2. Add 2 oz of mesophilic starter culture and mix thoroughly with a whisk the culture must be uniform throughout the milk.
3. Allow the milk to ripen for two hours.
4. Dissolve 1/4 tab rennet into 3-4 table spoons COOL water. Hot water will destroy the rennet enzymes.
5. Slowly pour the rennet into the mil stirring constantly with a whisk.
6. Stir for at least 5 minutes.
7. Allow the milk to set for 1/2 hours until a firm curd is set and a clean break can be obtained when the curd is cut.
8. With a long knife, cut the curds into 1/2 inch cubes.
9. Allow the curds to sit for 10 minutes to firm up.
10. Stir the curds gently and cut any pieces that are bigger than 1/2 inch cubes.
11. Allow the curds to sit for 30 minutes, stirring every so often.
12. Drain the whey by poring through a cheesecloth lined colander. Tie the corners of the cheesecloth together and allow the curds to drain for 5 hours.
13. Remove the cheese from the cloth and stuff it into a rectangular container, so that it is about an inch thick, an dputa cover on it (tupperware works well for this).
14. Chill in your refrigerator for about 90 minutes.
15. Remove the cheese from the refrigerator and cut into 1 inch cubes.
16. Place the cubes in a COLD brine solution ** for 5 to 30 days and store in your refrigerator. The longer you age it like this the crumblier it will be.
17. After aging in the brine, remove the cubes and pat dry with a paper towle.

The cheese can now be served or stored in an air tight container.

**Brine Solution

1. Dissolve 1.5 cups of salt into one quart warm water.
2. Cool the brine in your freezer, some salt will precipitate out.
3. To use the solution, simply place it in a bowl and place your cheese into it.
4. After you are done with the brine, you can store it in a container in your freezer.
5. With each new cheese, you will need to add additional salt so that the solution is saturated.
6. The solution is saturated with salt when no additional salt can be dissolved.

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