You can make cottage cheese or cottage cheese from whole farm milk at home. It cooks quite quickly - about 10 minutes. It takes about two more hours to shape the product. Afterwards it can be offered to the table or placed in brine to preserve longer.
- Amount of finished product: 400 g.
- Cooking time: from 10 minutes.
Required ingredients and equipment
To prepare a small wheel of cheese, you will need the following products:
- homemade milk – 3 liters;
- sour cream – 7 level tablespoons;
- juice of one lemon;
- table salt - 1 tablespoon for cheese and 2 tablespoons for brine.
During the preparation process you will need the following equipment:
- 4 liter saucepan;
- sieve and container for obtaining lemon juice;
- teaspoon and tablespoon;
- gauze – 1 sq. m.;
- saucer;
- board;
- colander and bowl to collect whey;
- knife;
- wooden spatula;
- liter jar with screw cap.
Step-by-step process for making cheese
1. Pour the milk into a saucepan and heat it.
2. Squeeze the juice from a whole lemon. For three liters of milk you will need 5 - 6 tablespoons of lemon juice.
Cut the citrus in half and squeeze, holding it over a sieve so that the seeds do not fall into the cup of juice.
3. Add sour cream to hot milk and mix well. This ingredient will make the mixture thicker and start the milk curdling process.
To prevent the hot mass from burning, it must be stirred periodically by running a wooden spatula along the bottom.
5. When the sour cream is evenly distributed in the milk, add lemon juice. It helps the curd mass separate from the whey.
6. Bring the milk to a boil, stirring constantly. When foam appears on the surface, reduce the heat. After boiling, cook the curd mass for 1 minute.
7. We fold the gauze into 4 layers. I do not recommend using the material in 1 or 2 layers. When squeezing the whey, the curd will seep through the cells. Place a bowl (at least 3 liters in volume) in the sink. Place a colander lined with gauze in it. Using oven mitts, take the pan and pour the contents into a container with gauze.
8. Remove the colander from the bowl with the whey and place it on a plate. We don’t pour out the serum, it will come in handy later. Let the liquid drain and the cottage cheese cool slightly.
9. When the homemade cottage cheese has cooled, add salt to taste. Gather the edges of the gauze together and twist tightly, removing any remaining liquid.
10. Place the cottage cheese tightly formed into a hemisphere on a board, cover it with a saucer on top and place it under pressure (any container of water that is suitable in size). It takes 2 to 4 hours to form soft curds into homemade cheese.
11. Having removed the oppression, carefully unfold the edges of the gauze. We take out the resulting product and place it on the board.
12. If the cheese is planned to be served on the day of preparation, then it can be cut into plates or cubes.It is great for making salads and pizza.
13. If you want to try young cheese like mozzarella, then cut the head into cubes and place them in brine.
To prepare it, pour the whey into a liter jar, add 2 tablespoons of salt and stir. After 2 hours, the product acquires a characteristic salty taste. This cheese can be stored for no more than three days.
