How to Make Feta Style Cheese

Feta style cheese is so easy to make, and only needs 4 litres of milk instead of the normal 8 that I use for a harder type cheese. With minimal stirring after cutting the curd, and a pressing of only 4 hours, what is not to like about this cheese?

I don’t use a normal press for this cheese, just a  two litre milk bottle filled with water serving as the weight. It doesn’t need much pressure to form the cheese. The curd starts off in both moulds, then at the two-hour mark, they have shrunk enough for me to squish them together in a single mould forming one block.

Once pressed, I make up a strong brine by adding half a cup of salt to two litres of the leftover whey, and a quarter of a cup of white vinegar. This was the first time that I had used the whey as the base for the brine, and found that it worked very well and it improved the final flavour of the cheese.

Alternatively you could use this brine method; I boil up 2 litres (approx 2 quarts) and add 1/3 to 1/2 cup of non-iodized salt and 2 tablespoons of white vinegar and teaspoon of calcium chloride. Then I let it cool and submersed the cheese, which usually floats to the top. I find that this is just enough salt, and the vinegar and calcium chloride stops the cheese from leaching calcium back into the brine. I then reuse the brine as a washing solution on other hard cheeses to help inhibit mould growth.

I let the cheese soak in the brine for two days before cutting it in half, and storing it in two smaller containers that fit in the fridge. I use the same brine to keep the divided cheese moist for storage.

The finished product is a firm, crumbly, yet creamy feta that can be stored for at least 6 months in this manner. It is great crumbled on top of pizza or cubed into a Greek salad with lots of home preserved black olives!

It is just so simple to make and took me 3 hours from start to press, then about 15 minutes with the brine and putting it in the fridge to mature.

So to make it even easier, here is our latest video tutorial that shows the entire process.

If you are keen on making this simple cheese in your very own home, then try our Feta Cheese Kit.  It has all the item necessary to make Feta for your and all your friends.

Fun Fact: Feta was the first cheese that Gavin ever made whey back in 2009 😉