Queso Llanero
How to Make Venezuelan Queso Blanco Llanero (with Pasteurized Milk)
Queso blanco llanero — the firm, salty white cheese most eaten in Venezuela — is made from milk pasteurized at 63°C for 30 minutes and cooled to 37°C, set with calcium chloride and rennet, cut to 2 cm cubes, cooked to 40°C, brined in 20% salted whey and pressed for 16 hours.
- Yield
- Around 3 kg of wet curd and 16.5 litres of whey per 20 litres of pasteurized cow's milk.
- Time
- About 2 hours of active work, then 16 hours under press.
- Difficulty
- Intermediate
Ingredients
- Fresh whole cow's milk (pasteurized in-process; buffalo milk or a blend of cow and buffalo also works)
- Calcium chloride (CaCl2) — 20 g per 100 litres of milk, diluted in 10 times its volume of water
- Liquid rennet at 660 IMCU/ml — 7 ml per 100 litres of milk, diluted in 5 times its volume of water (animal or microbial)
- Or powder rennet at 1250 IMCU/g — 2 to 3 g per 100 litres of milk, diluted in 10 times its volume of water
- Salt — 600 g per 3 litres of reserved whey, for a 20% salted-whey brine
Equipment
- Digital thermometer
- Pots sized to the volume of milk you are working with
- Stove or heat source
- Wooden paddles
- Long knife for cutting the curd
- Colander
- Draining cloth
- Tray
- Mould of your preferred format, plus a clean wooden or food-safe plastic lid cut to the mould
- Weights or a press
- Syringe or graduated measure for dosing
Method
01Filter and pasteurize the milk
After confirming the basic GMP conditions for milk quality, filter the milk, then bring it to 63°C and hold that temperature for 30 minutes. Cool it rapidly in an inverted water bath down to 37°C.
02Add calcium chloride
Dose calcium chloride at 20 g per 100 litres of milk, scaling by simple proportion: for 30 litres, 20 g × 30 L ÷ 100 L = 6 g. Always dilute it in 10 times its volume of water, add it to the milk and stir well for 1 minute.
03Add the rennet
For liquid rennet at 660 IMCU/ml use 7 ml per 100 litres of milk; for powder rennet at 1250 IMCU/g use 2 to 3 g per 100 litres. Scale by proportion — for 30 litres of milk, 30 L × 7 ml ÷ 100 L = 2.1 ml. Always dilute the coagulant in 5 times its volume of water for liquids, or 10 times for solids. Add the diluted dose and mix well for 1 minute without creating swirls, then cover and leave at rest for approximately 35 to 40 minutes while coagulation completes.
04Check the set
Once the milk has set, the surface should be moist. Touch it with the palm of your hand: if nothing sticks to your palm, the curd is ready to cut.
05Cut to 2 cm cubes
Cut the curd vertically with a knife in opposing directions to obtain 2 cm × 2 cm cuts, and let it rest for about 15 minutes. Then cut transversally to the initial cut to obtain 2 cm × 2 cm cubes, and rest for another 10 minutes.
06Cook to 40°C
Heat the curd, stirring gently, until it reaches 40°C. Keep stirring for 5 minutes. Then cut the curd again to a size similar to a grain of corn, and let it rest for 15 minutes.
07Drain and reserve the whey
Bring the curd together by hand and lift it out of the whey using a cloth. Let it rest for about 10 minutes, then remove the cloth and cut the curd into cubes of roughly 2 cm × 2 cm. Reserve the whey — you need it for the brine.
08Brine in 20% salted whey
Submerge the curd cubes in a 20% salted-whey solution made from the reserved whey. For example, 20 litres of processed milk yields about 3 kg of wet curd and 16.5 litres of whey; take 3 litres of that whey and dissolve 600 g of salt in it, which is 20% salt. Leave the curd resting in the brine for approximately 30 to 40 minutes.
09Mould and press
Lift the curd out of the salted whey, pour it into the mould and press for 2 hours with 3 kg of weight per kg of curd. Then turn the cheese over and press again for 2 hours with 5 to 6 kg of weight per kg of cheese. Place a mesh in the bottom of the mould before pouring in the curd, and put a clean wooden or food-safe plastic lid, cut to the size of the mould, on top so the weight never touches the cheese directly.
10Turn and finish the press
After the first four hours of pressing, turn the cheese over again with the same final weight and leave it under press until 16 hours have passed in total.
11Wash, pack and refrigerate
Take the cheese out of the mould, wash it with clean water, dry it, pack it and refrigerate until it is consumed or sold.
Storage
Pack and refrigerate after pressing. The higher salt and lower moisture of llanero give it more keeping ability than a moist fresh cheese, but it is still a fresh-style cheese and depends on hygiene and cold chain.
Scaling up
Every dose here is per 100 litres, so scale by simple proportion (rule of three) — 20 g CaCl2 and 7 ml of 660 IMCU/ml rennet per 100 L. At larger volumes plan for the time cutting takes, for temperature gradients in the vat during the 63°C hold and the 40°C cook, and for a documented brine and press routine. Press weights are always expressed per kilogram of curd or cheese, so they scale with the batch.
Where to Buy
Ready to buy Bixa?
Buying for a cheese business? Talk to Bixa about commercial orders instead of ordering single bottles.