Cottage cheese is a very useful and delicious sour-milk product, which contains proteins, fats and mineral elements. You can not only buy it in a store or in the market, but also cook it yourself. How to make cottage cheese at home? It turns out that this is a very simple procedure, which will require milk or kefir. About 800 grams of cottage cheese is obtained from a three-liter can of milk, but in general the weight of the finished product depends on its moisture content. Home-made cottage cheese is often tastier than that purchased at the store, but cheaper for the price.
How to make cottage cheese from milk
In order for the cottage cheese to turn out delicious, it is better to take milk not in stores, but to buy whole, fresh and unboiled milk on the market. Fresh milk is best suited without any additives. A jar of milk must be placed in a warm enough place to sour at room temperature. You can put it in the kitchen next to the battery. To speed up the process, put in a milk a spoonful of sour cream or a crust of black bread as a sourdough. While the milk is sour, it must not be disturbed. The product will be ready in 1-3 days, depending on the air temperature and the presence of sourdough in the milk. Readiness is determined by the appearance of bubbles and the appearance of thick lumps. The resulting curled mass will resemble a jelly that can be easily detached from the surface. It is important to ensure that the milk does not ferment, otherwise the cottage cheese will turn out to be too acidic.
Carefully pour the skim milk into the pan. Put the pot on low heat and keep on the stove until the whey is separated. Milk should not be kept on fire for too long and boiled, otherwise the cottage cheese will turn out rubbery and tasteless. Skim milk can be placed in the oven for one hour at a temperature of 120 degrees.
Then remove the cottage cheese from the stove or remove from the oven and let it cool. At this time, take a large piece of gauze, folded in several layers and put in a colander. The edges of the gauze should hang from the colander. Put the cooled mass for the cottage cheese in a colander, lift the edges of the gauze up, tie it up and hang it over the container where the whey will drain. Cottage cheese cannot be squeezed out by hands, as it will turn out dry. It is necessary to wait until the serum itself drains, which takes about five to six hours. When the gauze stops dripping, the finished curd can be removed. Cooking cottage cheese is over.
The remaining serum can be used to prepare the dough. Homemade cottage cheese will be stored in the refrigerator for about a week.
How to make cottage cheese without heating
You can cook cottage cheese without heating sour milk. To do this, it is necessary to throw the resulting mass onto gauze folded in several layers immediately after ripening, tie the ends of the gauze, hang and let it drain. Curd is ready.
How to make cottage cheese from kefir
The cooking technology is almost the same as from milk, except for the fermentation process. To do this, pour kefir into a saucepan and put on a slow fire. Neither overheat, nor bring kefir to a boil is necessary, so that the cottage cheese does not turn out solid and tasteless. When the kefir is ready, cool the mass, pour it into cheesecloth and hang it over the container. When the liquid drains, the curd is ready.
From kefir, you can cook a quick cottage cheese for baby food.
How to make cottage cheese for children
To do this, put milk on the fire and bring to a boil. Pour kefir into milk, which take less than half the milk. Make a minimum fire and keep on fire for about 10 minutes. When the milk is curdled, remove from heat, cool and recline on cheesecloth. Cottage cheese for the baby needs to be combined with pieces of fruit and beat in a blender. From fruits, you can take grated apple, peach, banana, pear. Such a curd is much more suitable for a child than a purchased one.
Homemade cottage cheese can be eaten as an independent product (with yogurt, sour cream, sugar, fruit) or cook cottage cheese, casserole, filling for flour products.