Traditional Clabber Cheese

This crumbly soft fresh cheese is similar texture to a cottage cheese but higher in fat. It can be pressed in a mould to create a firmer round cheese which can be sliced or which can apparently be aged as white rind cheese like a camembert, but I have not tried this yet.

Ingredients

1 litre Fresh Raw milk (I have used four litres of raw milk in the photos)

1 teaspoon sea salt (or other good salt free from additives such as iodine and anticaking agents)

Method

Put raw milk into a glass jar or non-reactive bowl/pot (or food safe bucket if making a large batch)

Cover with a cloth and leave in a warm place to sour and thicken. It should take one to two days depending on temperature, check it every 12 hours or so. Fresh milk may take longer but is better to use as older milk can taste bitter due to the psychotropic bacteria’s which thrive in the cold of the fridge.  Once the milk has become a thick mass (Clabber) and started to separate it is ready to hang.

Line a colander with a cheesecloth and place it in a large bowl. Pour the clabber into the cheesecloth and gather the cloth up around the clabber. Tie off the top and hang from a hook or a wooden spoon over a large pot. Use a fine woven cloth but if you find the clabber is too runny to hang it needs longer to ferment before hanging. The clabber needs to drain its whey for about 24 hours.

After 24 hours place the cheesecloth in a bowl, open the cloth and mix the salt into the cheese. The added salt will help to remove any leftover whey.

Hang again for another 4 hours or place in a mould and put a weight on top (glass jar of water etc) to press out any extra whey.

The cheese is now ready to eat and will be fine in the fridge for up to two weeks.

Seasonings can be added with the salt, fresh or dried herbs like chives or spices like paprika can give you very different tasty cheeses, perhaps even dried fruit and nuts…