🧀 Bel Paese Cheese from Sheep Milk: An Encouraging Guide for Beginner Cheesemakers
If you’ve ever wanted to try your hand at cheesemaking but felt too intimidated, this post is for you. Today, I’m sharing not just a recipe for Bel Paese cheese made with sheep milk, but the journey that led me to making it myself—from mistakes to small wins, and everything in between.
Let’s be honest right from the start:
I am not a cheesemaking expert. I’m just a homesteader learning through trial and error, and sharing what I’ve discovered along the way. My goal isn’t to tell you how to do it perfectly, but to encourage you to try—messy, uncertain, and all.
🐄 From Milk Cow to Dairy Sheep: How I Started Making Cheese
I had a milk cow for ten years and—confession—I never made cheese. Ok that’s not true. I think I tried once or twice, messed up, then gave up!
When I started my dairy sheep flock last year, something changed. I got tired of being afraid of wasting milk or messing up a batch. I wanted to learn, even if it meant failing along the way.
And friends, I did mess up cheeses. I still do. But you know what? I’ve also been making all of our family’s cheese for a couple of years now. And with each cheese I make, I learn more and get just a little bit better.
🔥 What Is Bel Paese Cheese?
Bel Paese is a semi-soft Italian table cheese with a delicate, buttery flavor and wonderful meltability. It’s often used in sandwiches, melted on pizzas, or served with fruit and bread. While traditionally made with cow’s milk, I love it with sheep milk—the richness and yield are unmatched!
This is a thermophilic cheese, meaning it’s made with cultures that thrive at higher temperatures (above 100°F). But don’t let that scare you. Even though this cheese has a simple process, I struggled with one thing—and that’s okay.
Let’s get into it.
🧂 Ingredients & Supplies for Bel Paese
🐑 Ingredients:
Fresh sheep milk
Thermophilic culture: clabber, yogurt, or freeze dried
Rennet
18% salt brine
Equipment:
Stainless steel pot
Long-handled spoon or whisk
Thermometer
Cheese mold and cheesecloth
Container for brining
Aging container or fridge space
👩🍳 Step-by-Step: Making Bel Paese Cheese
1. Warm the Milk
Heat your milk to 105°F, stirring occasionally to prevent scorching.
2. Add Your Culture
Turn off heat. Add your culture:
If using freeze-dried: Sprinkle and let rehydrate 2 minutes before stirring.
If using clabber or yogurt: Stir well before adding, then mix into milk.
3. Add Rennet
Add rennet (dilute if that makes your heart sing, I usually don’t) and gently stir. Let the milk sit covered for 30 minutes.
Check for a clean break. If not achieved, wait another 10–15 minutes and test again.
✅ My tip: Fresh sheep milk sets quickly. You may be able to cut the rennet in half (5 drops per gallon) to avoid over-firm curds.
4. Cut the Curd
Insert a whisk vertically throughout the pot, lifting with a straight up motion, then use angled motions to cut the curds underneath. Don’t stress if it’s not perfect, you can split any curds you miss during stirring.
Let curds rest for 10 minutes to heal.
5. Stir and Cook Curds
Stir gently on and off for 20 minutes, lifting from the bottom and breaking up large pieces. Curds should knit when squeezed in your palm, then break apart cleanly. If not, stir another 5–10 minutes.
6. Drain and Mold
Let curds settle to the bottom of the pot for 5 minutes, then gather curds under the whey with cheesecloth. Transfer to your mold.
🔥 Troubleshooting:
This cheese should knit together without pressing, but my house was too cool and the curds didn’t knit well. If this happens, apply light pressure in the mold or wrap the curds under the whey before transferring to retain warmth.
Leave in the mold for 6 hours, flipping hourly. Light pressing is optional.
7. Brine and Age
Place cheese in 18% brine for 3 hours per pound, flipping halfway through.
Air dry on a mat or piece of cheesecloth for 1–2 days, flipping occasionally. Once dry, transfer to a container and refrigerate to age.
Bel Paese is ready in 3 weeks—if your family can wait that long! Flip every few days or as you remember.
🧽 If the rind gets slimy, just wipe with brine solution.
💬 Final Thoughts: Embrace the Learning
If you’re afraid of making mistakes, hear this: you will mess up—and it will still be worth it. I struggled with this “simple” cheese. But I kept going, and finally had success. Don’t be afraid to change things as needed to make things work for you!
Give yourself grace. Use what you have. Start where you are.
And most of all—just try.