Recipe(tried): Cottage Cheese Homemade

Cottage Cheese

Also known as pot cheese or farmer's cheese, this type of cheese derived its name from the cottages it was produced in. This cheese tastes great by itself or with fruit added to it right before it is served. Rennet is sold usually beside the junket tablets. Don't use Junket brand rennet for hard cheese; it makes great desserts and passable cottage cheese, but it is not of sufficient strength.

1 Gallon Fresh Milk
4 oz. Mesophilic Starter Culture
1/4 tab Rennet Mix 1 gallon fresh milk with 4 oz. of mesophilic starter.

Mix 1/4 tab Rennet into two tablespoons of COOL water. Mix this into the milk thoroughly using a whisk and stirring for at least 5 minutes.

Cover and set aside to ripen for about 20 hours at room temp (70 F / 21 C).

The milk should be a firm curd within 20 hours, however the full 20 hours is needed to develop the correct flavor.

After 20 hours cut the curd into 1/2 inch cubes.

Allow the curds to firm up for 15 minutes.

Over the next 30 minutes slowly raise the temperature of the curds to 110 F (43.5 C).

Cook for an additional 45 minutes at 110 F (43.5 C).

Stir the curds often to prevent them from matting.

The curds should have greatly shrunken and sunk to the bottom of the pot.

Line a colander with a cheesecloth and drain the curds.

Allow the curds to drain for 5 minutes.

Lift the curd filled cheese cloth from the colander and repeatedly dunk into a bowl of ICE COLD water for at least three minutes.

Drain the curds and place in a bowl.

Season the curds with a teaspoon of salt, herbs, etc. Use more or less to taste.

Place the cheese into a sealable container into a refrigerator. A few tablespoons of cream may be added if desired.

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Mesophilic Starter Culture

Cheese cultures are necessary to inoculate the milk with friendly bacteria. These bacteria serve two functions. First, they cause the milk to become more acidic aiding its coagulation. Second, the bacteria help develop the flavor of the cheese.

Cheese cultures are divided into two basic types mesophilic and thermophilic. These terms describes at the temperature the culture thrives at. Mesophilic (from the Greek words meso - meaning intermediate and philic - which means loving) cultures thrive around room temperatures. Thermophilic (from the Greek words thermo - meaning heat and philic - which means loving)cultures require a higher temperature. Professional quality cultures can be bought from a cheesemaking supply company. They are usually available in a freeze dried form. A home-spun method is to use cultured buttermilk as a mesophilic starter or fresh yogurt as a thermophilic starter.

This simplest of cultures can generally be used for all recipes requiring a Mesophilic Starter. The taste of the final product will vary slightly from that of a true cheese culture.

Start with 2 cups of FRESH store bought Cultured Buttermilk.

Let the 2 Cups of buttermilk reach room temp. (70 F/ 21 C).

Then allow the buttermilk to ripen for about 6-8 hrs. (Store bought buttermilk does not have a high enough concentration of bacteria to serve as a starter culture without ripening.)

The resulting buttermilk will be much thicker and sour then what you started with. It should have the consistency of fresh yogurt, if it doesn't let it sit a few more hours.

Pour this culture into a full sized CLEAN ice cube tray and put into your FREEZER. As with all steps of cheesemaking, cleanliness is next to godliness.

Once frozen, remove the cubes and put into a CLEAN sealed container or plastic freezer bags. It is a good idea to label the container to distinguish it from your thermophilic culture.

The resulting ice cubes are each 1 oz of mesophilic starter.

Add these cubes (thawed) to your recipes as required. The cubes will keep for about one month.

To make more starter simply thaw one cube and add into 2 cups of fresh milk. Mix thoroughly with a fork or a whisk. Allow the milk/culture to stand at room temperature (70 F/ 21 C) for 16-24 hours or until the consistency of fresh yogurt. Then follow from step 5.