what did I just make?

[Ryan Mazzocco]

Hello everyone. I am brand new to cheese making and this is my first question posted to the forum. I just got into cheese making after listening to a podcast about cheese. I decided to try my hand at it and I was instantly hooked. I feel like this is something I’m going to be doing for a very long time. But I’ve already run into a problem on my first attempt. Not with the cheese itself; It was a great success and tastes delicious. But what did I actually make? I’m asking this because I was looking for the easiest cheese to make for my first attempt and came up with a page long list of google search results recommending Queso Fresco. But the “Queso Fresco” that I made is not the same as the recipe that I found on this site, and some further digging made it even more unclear just what I had made, even suggesting that I actually made a “Queso Blanco” (?) instead. Of course, since I don’t have any cultures yet I knew I needed to make an acid break cheese, which is why I chose this recipe. I used milk, lemon juice and salt, ladled out the curds, drained the whey and pressed lightly. So, my first stupid, newby question: What did I make?
Thanks and what a great resource!
Ryan

[Curd Nerd]

Hi Ryan,

Welcome to the Curd Nerd forum! It is great to hear of your instant love for cheese making, and even better that you made a fantastic cheese on your first attempt…well done 🙂
Making your own cheese can very quickly become a life long hobby.

To put it simply, Queso Fresco and Queso Blanco are pretty much the same cheese when it comes to appearance, texture and taste.
The difference – Fresco is made with either rennet or a starter, and Blanco is made with an acid.
So from your description it sounds like you made Queso Blanco.

The other difference between the two is that Fresco melts very easily. Blanco doesn’t, which makes it a great cheese for frying so I’m told, though I haven’t tried frying mine before. Maybe something to try in the future.

Ps. there are no stupid questions when it comes to cheese making, there are so many variables and all sorts of questions pop up all the time
Keep going with the cheese making and keep the community updated, we love hearing what people are up to

Alexa

[Ryan Mazzocco]

thanks for the reply and the clarification. I’m a firm believer that everything is better when you fry it, so I’ll try frying up some queso blanco.
though I haven’t made any other cheeses yet, I would highly recommend this cheeses for any first timer. it’s super easy, tastes great and really raised my confidence level and my excitement to try more challenging cheeses.

[PanamaMike]

Hi Ryan and welcome to the art of cheese making. Yes you made Queso Blanco.
I make a lot of quest blanco and quest fresca for our Panamanian friends.
You don’t have to buy cultures to make cheese. I have seen a lot of people
that us yogart and buttermilk as there cultures.

Mike

[Author]

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