How to make Halloumi

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Last updated 23 March 2020

Making halloumi at home

Knowing how to make halloumi at home is not as hard as you might think. When we eat food that we love when we are travelling, we always try where we can to make it back home. We love cooking and trying new things but we also love to keep sharing in the memories of those special travel moments.

We recommend starting off small when you are making halloumi for the first time, otherwise, you run the risk of wasting a lot of milk if you just don’t get it right.

The great thing about this though is that once you master the technique (which isn’t hard by the way), you can upscale it for any amount. The process and the time taken to make the halloumi doesn’t change at all.

Note: This recipe does take some time to make as there are a number of processes where you need to wait, rest and cook. It is recommended that you undertake to make this recipe only when you have time to hang around the kitchen and watch over every move.

Ingredients for halloumi

• 2 litres non-homogenised milk
• 0.5 ml liquid rennet
• 15 ml distilled (non-chlorinated) water
• Non-iodised salt

Note: If you don’t have access to distilled water you can boil it. Just make sure it is completely cooled before using in this recipe.

Utensils

• Double boiler. If you don’t have a specific double boiler, just place one saucepan inside another. Unlike melting chocolate or making custard where you can use a glass dish over a saucepan, this won’t work for making halloumi. You need heavy-based saucepans for this to work properly.
• Thermometer
• Spoon
• Ladle
• Muslin
• Colander
• Bowl
• Baking tray and wire rack
• 2 heavy boards (eg cutting boards)
• Weights

Method

Put some water in the bottom of the double boiler and heat. Pour the milk into the top of the double boiler. Stir occasionally whilst bringing the temperature up to 32°C (89.6°F)

Whilst the milk is coming up to temperature, put the 0.5ml of liquid rennet into 15ml of distilled water.

When the milk reaches 32°C add the combined rennet and water into the milk.

Start stirring the milk before adding the rennet and then stir it through thoroughly to distribute the rennet. Don’t stir ferociously and only stir for one minute.

Turn the heat off and put the lid on the saucepan. Leave to rest for 40 minutes. Do not stir the milk during this period.

Once the 40 minutes is over, the milk should have set into curds. You can put a knife into it gently and raise it up to see if this has worked.

Note: This is a critical point in the process. If your milk has not set perfectly, you will just need to give it some more time. Do not, under any circumstances, add more rennet as it will destroy the curds already made.

If the curd has set, cut it into 1″ cubes. Using a sharp knife, cut up and down, left to right and then diagonally under the surface of the curd.

Cover and rest for 5 minutes.

Stir the curds gently then bring the heat back up to 40°C (104°F). This will take around 20 minutes.

During this process, the curds will shrink. Keep stirring during this time. At around the 20-minute mark, leave it to rest with the lid on for about 10 minutes. During this time, the curds should sink to the bottom.

Line a colander with muslin and place it over the top of another bowl that will be used to capture and retain the whey. Empty the curds and whey into the colander. Let sit for several minutes to drain. Pull the muslin out of the colander.

Place the muslin with curds onto a board, lightly shape and flatten and wrap it up. Place another heavy board on top of the wrapped curd and then place weights on top, ensuring that the cheese underneath is kept flat at all times. For this amount of cheese, use about a 2kg (4.4lb) weight.

Press for 10 minutes and then take the board off and turn the curd over. Repeat weight process and leave for 20 minutes.

Remove the muslin and cut the cheese. With this amount of cheese we simply cut it in half.

Place the cheese on top of a baking tray.

Meanwhile, heat the whey back up to 90°C (194°F). Any remaining curd will rise to the surface. If it does, skim it all off and discard.

Bring the whey up to 97°C (206°F). Lower the halloumi gently into the hot whey. This process makes the halloumi heat-resistant.

Turn the heat off once again and leave the halloumi in the whey for 45 minutes, with the lid on. (The heat of the whey at the end was approximately 60°C (140°F)

Remove from whey and drain once again on wire rack.

Mix together salt and mint leaves (chopped fresh or dried) and roll the halloumi in this mix on all sides. Fold in half (on top of itself) and press down.

Store in brine or vacuum seal and keep in the fridge.

This recipe produced approximately 250g of halloumi. Making a small amount also means that the halloumi is much thinner than you are probably used to seeing. Once it is folded in half however, it forms a good thickness.

How to cook Halloumi

There are many recipes that include the use of halloumi. We love to eat it by simply putting it into a hot pan, without the addition of any oil, and lightly cook it on both sides until golden brown. A squeeze of lime at the end before serving is always delicious.

Is Halloumi healthy?

We are no nutrition experts but will say this. If you are using non-homogenised milk from local farmers that is as fresh as possible, then that’s all there really is to it. Halloumi is made from fresh milk, with no additives other than water and rennet and they are in very small quantities. It will contain some cholesterol and it is rolled in salt. I’m sure it’s probably not good to eat all the time given the fat content but you’d be better asking the Cypriots about this fact.

Where does Halloumi come from?

Halloumi hails from Cyprus where it has been made for many centuries. Traditionally it is made from a combination of goat’s milk and sheep’s milk. Most industrially made halloumi is now made from cow’s milk.