DIY cheese. Have you ever thought about making your own cheese? Did you think it would be too difficult? Did you give up before even beginning? Well, stop it! I have, and am going to share this recipe I found for panir cheese.
DIY Cheese
This isn’t your typical cheese because it doesn’t melt. But, panir can be used in many different ways. And even better, it is very easy to make!
I was a little skeptical when I first saw this recipe. I wasn’t sure if I would like or use cheese that doesn’t melt. But I decided to try it anyways, and I am glad I did!
Different Ways to Use Panir Cheese
- Panir can be crumbled and used as a topping like feta cheese.
- It can also be used as a meat substitute.
- I have cut it up and put it in different pasta dishes and scrambled eggs.
- I have crumbled it and used it as a topping for frittatas and salads.
- One of my favorites is to cut it in little cubes and use it in place of chicken in chicken salad.
- You can eat it by itself, or use it to make sandwiches. It is delicious, and a great way to have vegetarian chicken salad.
There are so many ways to use this cheese, I just keep coming up with new recipes to use it in and they have all worked out great! I haven’t had any complaints yet! Which is hard to believe because some of the people I cook for refuse to drink goat milk (Hi Sleepy and Grouchy). They also did a lot of complaining when they found out we were going to start trying to eat more organic food and with less meat (oddly, Cold was the biggest culprit).
So Simple
This recipe is very easy to make and only takes 2 ingredients – milk and vinegar. You can use goat milk or cow milk. And you can use lemon juice or lime juice in place of the vinegar. When I make it, I use goat milk and vinegar, and it works great!! One gallon of milk makes about 1 1/4 pounds of this super simple DIY cheese. You can keep panir cheese refrigerated and it will stay good for a couple weeks. To make it last longer, it accepts freezing quite well.
Having panir cheese has been very useful in helping us eat more organic. Being able to have a go-to DIY cheese has also helped us in our quest to eat with less meat a whole lot easier.
I found this panir cheese recipe on a very useful website called Fias Co Farm. The website is great for people with goats. It has so much useful information. This site has been a favorite of mine for a couple of years now to find information I need on taking care of my goats. It was only recently I decided to look at the cheese recipes. I am so glad I did and that I tried making this DIY cheese. I’m looking forward to trying Fias Co Farm’s other recipes, as well! I hope you try this cheese and find it useful, too!
- Pour milk in large pot and heat to 183-185 degrees. Don't let it get any higher than this.
- Keep the milk at this temperature for 10 minutes, stirring often.
- With the pot still on the heat, stir in vinegar. The curd should separate from the whey right away. If it doesn't, add a little more vinegar.
- Pour into cheesecloth lined strainer.
- Tie the corners of the cheesecloth and hang to drain for a few hours.
- Refrigerate when done draining.
