Post by lew92 on Apr 30, 2014 16:19:29 GMT -5
I've used a few different recipes for making cottage cheese in the past and haven't been too pleased with them. Some, made from simply clabbered milk, tend to have too much tang to them. Some turn out too cooked.
Well, this week I made some cheese for our new momma cat...and thought it was very close to what I'd like cottage cheese to be. So I worked with it a bit more and came up with a very nice batch of cottage cheese. Here's the recipe:
Mrs K’s Cottage Cheese
1 gallon skimmed raw milk
2 Tbsp buttermilk or mesophilic culture per package directions (see notes below)
Pinch of powdered calf rennet or 1-2 drops liquid rennet
Salt to taste
Note: I use gallon jars to store my milk and just use that as my container for making this cheese.
Blend milk and culture, put lid on container and place in a pail of hot tap water. Allow to set for 1 hour, no need to change out the tap water if/when it cools.
Dissolve rennet in 2 tablespoons cool non-chlorinated water (see note below). Drizzle into milk while stirring gently. Stir only 15-20 seconds; stop motion of milk by turning flat of spoon across the motion of the milk.
Place covered jar/container in pail refilled with hot tap water; allow to set up for one hour. Using a ladle, scoop large pieces of curd into cloth-lined colander. Tie corners of cloth, suspend bag and allow to drip 6-8 hours.
Break up curd into pea sized pieces into heat-safe bowl or kettle. Prepare fine wire sieve over another kettle. Warm 1-2 quarts of water to just under a simmer, then pour water over curd, just enough to cover. Stir while pouring in water. Rapidly pour curd and water into the wire sieve, break up curd (it may melt together from the heat of the water), then rinse under cold water until no heat remains.
Allow to drip until curd is fairly dry. Salt to taste and store, covered, in refrigerator up to a week. May be used dry in recipes, on pizza, etc. or pour cream over individual servings as used.
Culture: For mesophilic culture, I frequently use buttermilk. I have also used a “mother” culture created by pasteurizing a half gallon of milk, with lid on jar, then allowing it to cool to room temperature. Add ½ cup cultured buttermilk, then replace the lid firmly. Place jar in a cooler full of hot tap water and culture overnight. Freeze about half of the culture in an ice cube tray and use two cubes to make future batches of culture. Or use 1-2 cubes per gallon of milk when culturing to make cheese.
Water: Chlorine will counteract culture, so use non-chlorinated water for cheesemaking purposes. If you have city water or are using bottled, leave a container open to the air (can cover with a tea towel) to dissipate the chlorine – usually takes overnight. Or boil the water and allow to cool to room temperature.
Well, this week I made some cheese for our new momma cat...and thought it was very close to what I'd like cottage cheese to be. So I worked with it a bit more and came up with a very nice batch of cottage cheese. Here's the recipe:
Mrs K’s Cottage Cheese
1 gallon skimmed raw milk
2 Tbsp buttermilk or mesophilic culture per package directions (see notes below)
Pinch of powdered calf rennet or 1-2 drops liquid rennet
Salt to taste
Note: I use gallon jars to store my milk and just use that as my container for making this cheese.
Blend milk and culture, put lid on container and place in a pail of hot tap water. Allow to set for 1 hour, no need to change out the tap water if/when it cools.
Dissolve rennet in 2 tablespoons cool non-chlorinated water (see note below). Drizzle into milk while stirring gently. Stir only 15-20 seconds; stop motion of milk by turning flat of spoon across the motion of the milk.
Place covered jar/container in pail refilled with hot tap water; allow to set up for one hour. Using a ladle, scoop large pieces of curd into cloth-lined colander. Tie corners of cloth, suspend bag and allow to drip 6-8 hours.
Break up curd into pea sized pieces into heat-safe bowl or kettle. Prepare fine wire sieve over another kettle. Warm 1-2 quarts of water to just under a simmer, then pour water over curd, just enough to cover. Stir while pouring in water. Rapidly pour curd and water into the wire sieve, break up curd (it may melt together from the heat of the water), then rinse under cold water until no heat remains.
Allow to drip until curd is fairly dry. Salt to taste and store, covered, in refrigerator up to a week. May be used dry in recipes, on pizza, etc. or pour cream over individual servings as used.
Culture: For mesophilic culture, I frequently use buttermilk. I have also used a “mother” culture created by pasteurizing a half gallon of milk, with lid on jar, then allowing it to cool to room temperature. Add ½ cup cultured buttermilk, then replace the lid firmly. Place jar in a cooler full of hot tap water and culture overnight. Freeze about half of the culture in an ice cube tray and use two cubes to make future batches of culture. Or use 1-2 cubes per gallon of milk when culturing to make cheese.
Water: Chlorine will counteract culture, so use non-chlorinated water for cheesemaking purposes. If you have city water or are using bottled, leave a container open to the air (can cover with a tea towel) to dissipate the chlorine – usually takes overnight. Or boil the water and allow to cool to room temperature.
