Can cheese be made without rennet?

Question

As a vegetarian I was surprised to find that cheese was made with rennet (cow's stomach). Is there any other way to make real cheese - I mean without a dead animal.

Answer 1

Basic forms are very easy, I have listed 2 recipes below.

But just in case you decide not to go homemade, here are some links to a list of store bought cheeses that do not contain animal rennet:

http://cheese.joyousliving.com/
http://www.natural-connection.com/resource/tnc_reference_library/cheese.html

There are many recipes online for homemade cheese, here 2 from from my files:

Home made fresh cheese

1 liter of pasteurized milk (a little more than 4 cups). You want the milk to be a little fat.
5 to 10 centiliters of white wine vinegar or lemon juice (about 2 oz.)
1 table spoon of rock salt
Optionally: finely chopped fresh herbs (e.g. chives) and/or garlic (about 1 table spoon total).

Slowly bring the milk to a boil, wait a few seconds then turn off the heat.
Add the vinegar (or lemon) and salt and stir well. You'll see the milk turning almost instantly into a white, grainy paste (the curd) and a pale yellow, limpid liquid (the whey).
Add the fresh herbs and garlic and stir some more.
Let the coagulation be complete (let stand for 5 minutes).
Filter the curd through a colander lined with a cheese cloth. Let it drain for about 5 minutes. You can keep the whey if you have a use for it... which we don't at the moment although we're sure there's one ;-)
Press the curd in the cheese cloth and shape it into a ball.
It's ready to eat! Or you can keep it a few more days... As you wish.

(http://myfrenchcuisine.blogspot.com/2005/05/home-made-fresh-cheese.html)

This one is very good. It's from George Duran of Food Network:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_34318,00.html

Answer 2

Cheese Without Rennet

Answer 3

Homemade Mozzarella Without Rennet

Answer 4

Two ways to get veg cheese:

1. You can make cottage cheese (paneer) at home. Boil full fat milk and put juice of half a lemon/citric acid and let it seperate; strain the solids in a cloth and keep it on an iclined surface so the liquids can drain out; press with a plate by putting a 4-5kg weight and leave in this position for 3-5 hrs; cut into cubes.
2. Check the labels while buying, some cheese is made of vegetable rennet. Drop anything that mentions calf rennet. One veg cheese brand that I know of is 'Amul' (from India).

Answer 5

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
Can cheese be made without rennet?
As a vegetarian I was surprised to find that cheese was made with rennet (cow's stomach). Is there any other way to make real cheese - I mean without a dead animal.

Answer 6

There are plenty of cheeses that don't contain animal rennet and they are not that hard to find. Most of the applegate farms & Horizon Brand don't use rennet and Cabot has several rennet free cheeses. Even brands like Sargento and Sorrento have some types of cheese that are rennet free. Check out the FAQ's at their websites.

Answer 7

yes, there are lots of cheese made with vegetable rennet. you either need to find it on the label or ask the manufacture

In the UK its about 30%, other countries less.

Eating animal-rennet based cheeses is not vegetarian.

Unfortunatley I think Bronte's teacher is wrong. virtually all canadian cheese is non veggie and about 90% of US cheese. 'tis the truth - check the industry figures.

This page has all you need to know about the process adn how vegetarian alternatives can be used:
http://www.vegsoc.org/info/cheese.html

Answer 8

Sure there are ways to enjoy cheese without rennet. FIrst, you can purchase vegetarian rennet, which comes from a weed, not an animal. I make all of my hard cheeses homemade with it, or a culture such as mesophilic. For soft cheeses, such as queso blanco (considered a bag cheese for the way you hang it in cheesecloth to drain the whey) is made from just milk and vinegar. Lemon cheese is curdled with lemon juice only. Both are super easy to make, and are tasty and nutritious. You can watch the curdles form instantly, and its a fun hobby. You must time your milk heating and holding carefully to get a successful cheese. Many storebought cheeses use vegetarian rennet, such as Cabot brand and some found a specialty and whole food markets. Cabot has a nice selection of cheddars that are totally free of animal rennet.

Answer 9

Well, you can make something _similar to_ mozzarella using wheat "rennet" - but technically its' not mozarella (which IMHO to be that authentic 'oily' pizza cheese should be made with buffalo milk - not cow's milk anyway...) . It'll be quite a bit softer - more like a ricotta than "stretchy" . I'm not an expert in cheese - you can probably fool around with your formula/recipe and come up with something you like. Cheesemaking is a science - of trial and error.

Answer 10

Rennet is actually that fat the lines the stomach not the stomach it self. But to answer your question, yes there are plenty of vegetarian cheeses out there usually found in your local grocery shop. Good Luck