Homemade Laban Cheese

I made a comment on Facebook the other day about making some homemade cheese. So just a quick blip on that cheese... I make it out of yogurt although it can also be made out of whole milk, buttermilk, and kefir. Making it out of yogurt gives you the texture of cream cheese with an every so slightly sour taste - think of it as a hybrid between cream cheese and sour cream.

Tidbit of the day: To make it specifically out of yogurt creates a cheese commonly used in the Middle East called Laban Cheese.

Rather than recite all the instructions, I'll simply direct you to one of my favorite Foodie sites, Cheeseslave

Here is a picture of my Laban cheese when it is finished:



Moms, this would be a fun EASY project to do with the kids!

One caveat - you must use PLAIN WHOLE FAT dairy. A little blueberry cup of "yogurt" isn't going to work. If you can get raw dairy, even better. When I can't get raw milk to make my own yogurt, I use Strauss yogurt out of CA. It's pasteurized but the cows are primarily grassfed and hormone/anti-biotic free.

Someday I hope to do more cheesemaking someday but this is about as much as I can do with my equipment and knowledge... so far ;-)