Essential to producing nearly every kind of cheese, rennet enzymes (generally just referred to as rennet) were traditionally obtained from the stomach linings of young ruminants like calves and lambs. The enzymes in rennet aid in the young animals’ digestion of their mother’s milk. When we add rennet (be it animal-, microbial-, plant-, or fermentation-based) to milk, it coagulates the milk, forming the curds and whey in the process of making cheese.
Animal-based rennet is the most frequently used option in cheese-making and yields the most consistent results. And it is what we’ll be discussing today.
You read that correctly. Yes, even when things fall apart, you can make cheese if you so desire. It isn’t rocket science. So that is why you want rennet.
Now, you have two basic choices for rennet: liquid rennet or rennet tablets.
Liquid rennet is generally preferred by cheese makers as being more reliable and yielding consistent results. It is easier to measure accurate. Unfortunately, like most liquids, it has a shorter shelf-life than its solid counterpart. And for most people, it is only available online.
Rennet tablets, on the other hand, have a much longer shelf-life, but are less reliable. They are also less expensive and can often be found in the baking aisle of the grocery store somewhere around the Jell-O and almost always on the top shelf. The trade name is Junket, but as the Junket company also manufactures a few other dessert items, make sure the box you pick up is rennet. Take a look at the Junket rennet images on Amazon before going to the store so you know exactly what you are looking for.
One teaspoon of liquid rennet, approximately 20 drops, is equal to one rennet tablet. Both of these are commonly used to turn five gallons of milk into cheese. Keep in mind, however, that you will not be getting five gallons of cheese. Recipes vary but yields will be closer to 1-2 gallons of cheese, depending on the recipe. Once the milk solids are coagulated into curds, a few gallons of whey will remain. Don’t throw it away! It is quite desirable for making bread and smoothies or fortifying soups.
Once you’ve got your rennet, what will you be able to make with it?
- “American” Mozzarella
- Baker’s Cheese (which is similar to ricotta or cottage cheese)
- Cottage Cheese
- Farmer’s Cheese
- “Feta” Cheese
- Neufchatel Cheese
- Queso Fresco
- Rennet Cheese
Most of these cheeses require whole milk or low-fat, but not
all. Some of them can be made with
nonfat powdered milk.
Whether it’s possible to make good cheese using powdered
whole milk or adding shelf-stable whipping cream to powdered nonfat milk will
be the subject of future articles this winter. But if you can't wait--and I don't blame you--visit the Junket Desserts page (address below) for recipes.
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