Homemade Feta Cheese

Gather the ingredients and equipment needed.

Pour the milk into a large pot. Place the pot in a sink, filling the sink with hot water 3/4 up the sides of the pot. Alternatively, you can put the pot full of milk into an even larger pot of hot water. What you're after is a double-boiler effect of very gradually heating the milk—you don't want to put the pot of milk over direct heat.

Heat the milk slowly to 86 F.

Gently stir in the mesophilic starter culture. Keep the mixture at 86 F for 1 hour. It's typically best to take the pot out of the surrounding hot water during this hour. It maintains the heat fairly well but tends to overheat if left in the hot water.

Stir in 1/4 teaspoon of calcium chloride.

If using the rennet tablet, crush it and then dissolve it in 1/4 cup of cool water. Add to the milk. If using liquid rennet, add it directly to the milk. Gently stir for 1 minute.

Leave the mixture alone for 30 minutes, maintaining the 86 F temperature as closely as possible. This may mean putting it back into the sink of hot water for a couple of minutes if it starts to cool off too much.

The milk mixture will set up and look something like yogurt. Poke a clean finger about an inch deep into the curd (the semi-solid milk mixture) and gently pull your finger toward you. The curd is set when it forms a "clean break," separating around your finger. It will feel like firm yogurt.

If the curd hasn't reached the clean break stage yet, wait another 30 minutes.

With a long-bladed knife, cut the curd from one side to the other, making slices about 1-inch apart that go all the way through the curd.

Turn the pot a quarter turn around and cut 1-inch slices; the second round of slices should cross the first like a tic-tac-toe pattern.

Cut the curd one last time, coming in with the knife diagonally across the squares made by your previous slices, and at a 45-degree angle to the surface of the curd. This doesn't have to be exact. You want to end up with approximately 1-inch chunks of curd.

Stir the chunks of curd very gently. Put the pot back into the sink or larger pot of hot water and gradually raise the temperature to 95 F. You want it to take about an hour. The curds will start to separate from the whey, which is the yellowish liquid. Note that the temperature should not exceed 106 F.

Line a colander with butter muslin or several layers of cheesecloth. Pour the curds and whey into the colander.

Bring the 4 corners of the muslin up and tie it into a tight knot. Let drain for 4 hours at room temperature.

The curds will congeal together while they drain. Cut the mass that has formed into rough blocks about 3 inches wide and let drain in the muslin for another 30 minutes.

Make a saturated brine by dissolving 1 to 1 1/4 pounds of kosher or another non-iodized salt in 2 quarts of water: Add the salt a little at a time, and stop adding salt when it won't dissolve any further. Add 1 teaspoon of calcium chloride and 2 1/2 teaspoons of vinegar.

Remove the blocks of feta from the muslin and submerge them in the saturated brine for 10 to 12 hours. Note: Do not leave them in longer than this. This will result in cheese that is too salty.

Drain the feta. Leave it out uncovered at room temperature for one to two days.

Transfer the feta to covered containers. Store in the refrigerator or a cool cellar or garage. Eat within one to two weeks and enjoy.