How to Make a Calcium Chloride (CaCl2) Solution for Home Cheesemaking (It's easier than you think!)

One of the ingredients home cheesemakers use is Calcium Chloride (CaCl2). Adding this ingredient to your milk results in a better gel (coagulation) when using a pasteurized and/or homogenized milk.

But did you know you don't have to purchase Calcium Chloride from a cheese supply store? You can make it yourself, at home, using just 2 ingredients (one is water!).

Mary Anne, host of GIVE CHEESE A CHANCE, shows you how to easily make a solution of Calcium Chloride at home for pennies so you can save money. If you are on a budget, it makes sense to make your own calcium chloride solution, and with only 2 ingredients, it couldn't be easier!

Mary Anne explains how to make a 33% CaCl2 solution using Steveston food grade calcium chloride beads and cold, non-chlorinated water. She explains why you need non-chlorinated water when solubilizing the CaCl beads and why it is important that you start with cold water, not hot water (you'll learn what an "exothermic reaction" is).

Further notes: Your Calcium Chloride solution may be cloudy at first. This is not an issue. Food grade calcium chloride beads/crystals are often not 100% pure and therefore can contain small quantities of other (harmless) salts such as calcium phosphate & calcium sulfate; these are not as soluble in water as calcium chloride so it appears cloudy. For cheesemaking purposes, you can ignore this initial cloudiness, but feel free to decant it after a few days of sitting around (to remove any sediment) if it really bothers you.

You can keep your calcium chloride solution in the fridge (but it can also be kept at room temperature because it is a simple inorganic solution that does not provide food for bacterial or fungal growth).

Mary Anne has used CaCl2 in many of her how-to cheesemaking videos including cheeses in the style of: Cambozola, Roquefort, Chèvre, Cheddar, Colby, Feta, Crottin, Belper Knolle, Blue cheese, Camembert, Brie, Valencay, Boursin, cream cheese, labneh and yogurt, mozzarella, ricotta, mascarpone and more. Please search for these videos on the GIVE CHEESE A CHANCE channel if you want to learn how to make these cheeses at home.

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