Making cheese from powdered milk can be a tricky task.
It's not impossible but will take some trial and error in fine-tuning the process and finding a suitable supply of whole milk powder. Therefore, we wouldn't recommend this format for inexperienced cheesemakers.
Low heat-treated whole milk powder is best under this application, but this type of milk powder is not commonly available in supermarkets. The reason why most commercial whole milk powders (high heat-treated) don't work under this application is that the amount of heat the milk is subjected to during spray drying, damages the proteins which ultimately prevents good curd formation.
The taste and texture of the final cheese made using whole milk powder can be very similar to whole liquid milk cheese but also has a higher chance of failure ie crumbly, grainy or pasty in texture.
Based on the trials we've conducted, we found that the following cheeses worked best when using milk powder;
- feta
- cream cheese
- ricotta
- Hard cheeses may also work as feta tends to be the starting point for these types of cheeses
It is also imperative that the milk is dissolved in water and is free from any clumps before carrying on with the recipe. Warm water works best here.
As mentioned above, using milk powder will require some trial and error until you find the suitable whole milk powder type and find a process that works for you.