Cultured Yogurt “Cream Cheese”

​I started making this cheese about three weeks ago and I can’t get enough of it.  I used it to spread on bagels with some lox, I added it to a French omelet with chives, I eat it as a spread with some honey drizzled on top.  It’s got a lovely tang but retains all the probiotics from the yogurt during the cheese making process.  Making the cheese itself is easy.  However, first you have to make the yogurt!
 
Cultured cream cheese is different from the regular cream cheese.  So this process is a little different than the traditional "cream cheese."
 
First, the milk you use matters. I buy unhomogenized milk from local farmers- preferably with slow pasteurization. I bought Greek yogurt cultures from CulturesforHealth.com.
 
I heated a 1/2 gallon of milk to 190F SLOWLY - not more than 1 degree per minute in an enamel pot. ***It's really important to stir continuously as it's heating up and as it's cooling down to prevent scorching or skin formation.***
 
Once it came to temperature, I took it off the heat and let it cool to 110F.
 
Once it reaches 110F, add the cultures. If you have a previous batch of yogurt, just add a 1/2 cup of yogurt to 1/2 gallon of milk.  Stir slowly until fully incorporated.
 
I then put the milk in quart-sized canning jars and put it in my bread proof box at 110F. If you don’t have a proof box that lets you set the temperature, you can put it into a cooler wrapped in a blanket with jugs of hot water around it and close the lid.
 
It needs to remain at 110F for 12 hours.
 
Okay – that was the hardest part!! Everything else is easy.
 
After 12 hours, take the jars out and check to see if they set. If it looks like custard and pulls away in a semi-solid state, it's ready. Put the jars in the fridge.  It needs to sit in the fridge for another 6-12 hours to fully set. Now you have yogurt.
 
To take it to cream cheese, line a colander with muslin and hang the colander over a tall bowl or pot (tall enough for it to drain). Put the yogurt into the muslin and then tie it up. Let it hang in the fridge for 24 hours.
 
After 24 hours, take it out and put it in a bowl.  Add about 1/4 tsp of salt and whip it with a whisk. Return the whipped cheese to the muslin and put it into a ricotta pot - something that has holes on the bottom - a small flowerpot could work. then put a bowl underneath it (I use takeout Tupperware) and a can on top to weigh it down. Put it in the fridge. It takes between 5 and 7 days to cure.