Good day, dear friends! Today we will prepare cottage cheese from yogurt - tender, aromatic and very tasty. I have heard a lot about the benefits of this fermented milk product. But I never thought about how it differs from kefir. It turns out that there is a difference in the preparation technology, composition, and taste characteristics.
Kefir is obtained by souring whole milk using the tank method under the influence of a special starter with milk mushroom. Curdled milk sours naturally at room temperature (+26 °C).
Sometimes special yeast or lactic acid bacteria are used to speed up the process. The drink acquires a more delicate, thick consistency and a pleasant taste (not as sour as kefir). Fat content, as a rule, is not less than 3.2%, and it is absorbed much faster, literally in 1 hour.
So, if you want to pamper yourself and your household with homemade cottage cheese, grab a few recipes. The prepared delicacy will definitely be tastier and more tender than store-bought. And due to the increased fat content of sour milk, the resulting product will be the same nutritious and high-calorie product.
What is needed to make cottage cheese?
There are two ways to get the product at home: with and without heating. There is no predominance of one option over another: everything is subject to taste differences and preferences.
You will need the appropriate utensils:
- pans - of different diameters made of aluminum, stainless steel;
- colander - covered with gauze;
- a bowl where the finished cottage cheese is placed;
- glass jar.
You can prepare the product at home from fresh or store-bought milk. Store bought ones are high in fat.
Milk product:
- steamed - it will turn out fatty, delicate in taste;
- pasteurized - low-fat, fine-grained, not soft.
There are obvious nuances when making cottage cheese:
- Souring should be natural.
- Do not leave curdled milk for more than 3 days.
- Do not use enamel cookware.
- When heating sour milk, monitor the temperature.
- When heating the semi-finished product in a water bath, bring only water to a boil.
- The sludge has a green tint - the yogurt is perfectly “ripened”.
- The moisture content of the product is adjusted by the drainage time of the sludge.
The amount of cottage cheese made from homemade milk will be greater than from the same amount of store-bought milk.
Principles of cottage cheese making
The whole process is simple. Produce it after fermentation in insulated conditions at home. The duration of exposure to temperature is determined by the time of year:
- in summer - 1 day;
- in winter - 2-3 days.
After warming up the yogurt a little, folding it back, draining and settling, a curd mass is obtained. Add to milk for quick curdling:
- sourdough, rye bread;
- components: citric acid;
- lemon juice;
Recipe 2. Vanilla cheesecakes with raisins - a favorite childhood taste
Compound:
- Cream
- Cottage cheese
- Sugar
- Vanillin, crystalline
- Raisins, light
Preparation:
If the cottage cheese is fatty and moist, then it is not necessary to add cream. We moisten the dried curd grain with cream (10-15%). We choose the proportions at our discretion. We combine all the ingredients in a blender, and add the raisins at the end, into the whipped and fluffy curd mass, and mix it thoroughly.
Recipes
At first glance, making cottage cheese yourself seems difficult. There are a lot of different recipes. First, choose one (if you have no experience) that seems easiest. Then you can experiment.
From milk (fresh and pasteurized)
The algorithm for making cottage cheese from two types of milk is the same. The only difference is in the quantity of the final product obtained.
Ingredients:
- whole milk - 3 l;
- store-bought - 3 l (3.6% fat content).
Manufacturing process:
- Pour into jars.
- Leave in a warm place for 3 days.
- Place the curdled milk in a saucepan.
- Place on low heat for 10 minutes.
- Stir the contents.
- Check the mass temperature. Do not overheat the curdled milk above 40 oC, as the curd in this case will turn out to be harsh and fine-grained.
- Leave the mixture to cool and separate.
- Throw back and hang the mass so that the drain settles.
From milk without heating
You will get tasty and tender cottage cheese without heating the product. For production you will need 2 liters of fresh milk.
Manufacturing process:
- Leave the milk in a warm place for 3 days.
- Throw away the sour milk and hang it up - this is the process of removing sludge.
- The cottage cheese is ready.
From milk and lemon
Cottage cheese made according to this recipe is reminiscent of peasant cottage cheese in its taste. Prepared from milk with a high percentage of fat content.
Ingredients:
- milk - 2 l (3.2 >%);
- citric acid - 0.3 teaspoons.
Manufacturing process:
- Heat the milk to 37 °C.
- Discard the mass.
- Wait 1 hour. After this, you can start using the product.
From milk and kefir
In this case, kefir will assist in the rapid fermentation of milk and thereby help you save time. This mixing produces a product that is in no way inferior in quality to those listed above.
Ingredients:
- store-bought milk – 5 l (3.2%);
- kefir – 750 ml (3%);
- salt - to taste.
Manufacturing process:
- Pour milk into a saucepan, add salt.
- Heat over low heat, stirring.
- Add kefir.
- Continue heating, stirring, until large clumps form.
- Discard the resulting mass and drain the whey.
The algorithm of actions is presented in more detail in the video:
Only from kefir
Using this simple recipe, you can also make cottage cheese yourself, which will only delight you and your household with its taste and quality.
Ingredients:
- kefir - 1 l;
- greens - optional;
- sea salt - to taste.
Manufacturing process:
- Pour kefir into a saucepan and heat over low heat.
- Bring the mixture to a boil - 70°C.
- Cool.
- Separate the mass from the sludge.
A more detailed algorithm of actions is presented in the video:
From frozen kefir
The cottage cheese turns out much more tender than the one that can be made according to the above recipes. It tastes more like cream. At the same time, the manufacturing process is also simple.
To make it you will need 900 ml of kefir with a fat content of 3.2%.
Manufacturing process:
- Place kefir in the freezer for a day.
- Remove, cut into pieces and leave to defrost for 4 hours.
- Squeeze.
A more detailed algorithm of actions is presented in the video:
From sour milk
Appetizing and moderately crumbling nutritious cottage cheese. To make it you will need 2 liters of naturally sour milk. Make sure that the milk has been in this state for no more than a day.
Preparation:
- Pour milk into a saucepan, heat to 56 °C.
- Throw away the resulting mass and hang it up.
- When the whey has drained (after about an hour), the product is ready for use.
From baked milk
Appetizing, creamy cottage cheese is an excellent idea for a morning or evening meal. Ingredients:
- Baked milk - 2 l;
- Sour cream - 200 g.
Making baked milk (if ready-made milk is not available):
- Boil fresh milk.
- Pour into a ceramic bowl.
- Place in an oven heated to 100°C.
- Leave to simmer for 3-4 hours.
- Dip (or collect) the foam.
- Cool the baked milk to 35°C.
The process of making cottage cheese:
- Add sour cream to baked milk, stir, leave to ferment for 3-4 hours.
- Heat until the whey separates. Make sure that the temperature does not rise above 40 °C.
- Remove from the stove and discard the contents.
- After waiting for the sludge to separate, hang the mass.
From goat's milk
Goat milk products strengthen the immune system and have a beneficial effect on the body. Cottage cheese does not provoke allergies and is easier to process by the body. Ideal for people with lactose intolerance.
Ingredients:
- goat milk - 1 l;
- salt - 3 pinches.
Manufacturing process:
- Boil milk, add salt, pour into a jar.
- Cover the jar with gauze and place in a warm place for a day.
- Drain the fermented milk, place the mixture on low heat, and heat slightly.
- Discard the resulting mass.
- After an hour, squeeze out the mass.
Do-it-yourself cottage cheese for a one-year-old child (without heating or cooking)
Feeding a baby can be quite difficult, because the dish should not only please the child, but also be healthy. A homemade product prepared according to this recipe is the ideal combination of benefits, taste and delicate consistency. The recipe is interesting in itself, because it is prepared without heating from any amount of sour milk.
You will need:
- 1 liter of curdled milk.
Step-by-step instruction:
1. Mix the curdled milk well. Prepare plastic forms in which the product will “reach”.
2. Pour the mixed mixture into molds and place in the freezer to freeze.
3. To get the curd, prepare a bowl and colander with cheesecloth. Turn the mixture frozen in the mold upside down directly onto the gauze and leave to defrost. As it thaws, the whey will drain and a curd mass will remain on the gauze.
You can leave the mixture in the molds in the freezer for long-term storage.
As needed, remove the product and defrost it. It takes about 5 hours to defrost one mold at room temperature.
Is it possible to make grainy cottage cheese?
The result is cottage cheese with a soft, slightly salty taste and a low fat content.
Ingredients:
- whole milk - 1 l;
- rennet - 4 drops or in powder form (see instructions on the package);
- salt - 0.5 teaspoon;
- cream - 6 tbsp. spoons
Manufacturing process:
- Heat the milk to 30°C.
- Add rennet.
- Stir.
- Leave the mixture for 4 hours.
- Chop the mixture.
- Add salt.
- Heat slightly over low heat, stirring constantly.
- As soon as the sludge turns yellowish, turn off the heat.
- Throw back the mixture and refrigerate for 2 hours.
- Transfer the cottage cheese, add cream, stir.
Recipe 3. Curd snack, spicy
Compound:
- Cherry 10 pieces
- Cottage cheese 200 g
- Garlic 10 g
- Basil, red
- Parsley
- Salt
- Ground hot pepper
Preparation:
Wash the tomatoes, cut off the part with the stem. You can do this beautifully with a zigzag line. Remove the core and seeds with a spoon. Finely chop the greens, grate the garlic on the finest grater. Place cottage cheese in a blender bowl (it is better to use full-fat cottage cheese), add prepared herbs and spices. Grind into a paste and stuff the tomatoes. Place caps with tails on top of the stuffed vegetables.
How to make cottage cheese in a slow cooker?
Using a multicooker, you can get a high-quality dietary product. You can make cottage cheese from sour milk or kefir.
It is advisable to pasteurize fresh milk before use.
For fermentation of milk, for example:
- special starter (60 ml per 1 l);
- kefir;
- sour cream;
- fermented baked milk;
- cream;
- yogurt.
Recipe for making cottage cheese from milk in a slow cooker
Ingredients:
- milk - 3 l;
- sourdough - 12 tbsp. spoons
Manufacturing process:
- Pour milk into the multicooker bowl.
- Specify in the settings:
- position - “cooking”;
- temperature - 80°C;
- duration - 30 minutes.
- Add the starter, stirring.
- After 30 minutes have passed, change the settings on the multicooker:
- temperature - 85°C;
- duration - 2 hours;
- press “start”.
- As soon as the cottage cheese is cooked in the slow cooker, discard the mixture.
- Hang it up to remove the sediment.
Cottage cheese is light, has a sour taste, and is suitable for a healthy diet.
Recipe for making cottage cheese from kefir in a slow cooker
Ingredients:
- kefir - 1 l;
- salt - to taste.
Manufacturing process:
- Pour kefir into the bowl.
- Specify in the multicooker settings:
- position - “cooking”;
- variety - “milk porridge”;
- duration - 30 min.
- After 30 minutes, open the bowl and stir the mixture.
- Drain off the whey.
The cooking process is presented in more detail in the video:
Homemade cottage cheese made from milk and lemon
Thanks to lemon juice, milk will turn sour much faster.
Ingredients
- 2 liters of milk;
- 1 lemon.
From the specified amount you will get about 350 g of cottage cheese.
Preparation
Pour the milk into the pan. If you use country milk, then you need to bring it to a boil and reduce the heat. If the milk is already pasteurized, then simply heat it, but do not boil.
Squeeze the juice out of the lemon - you should have about 60 ml. Then pour lemon juice into the milk in a thin stream and stir. Almost immediately the whey will begin to separate and curd clots will appear. Once this happens, remove the pan from the heat.
Leave it for a few minutes to allow the mixture to cool slightly. Place the curd in a colander and let the whey drain.
Adding calcium chloride
Pasteurized milk has a low calcium content. There is a regression in the ability to coagulate, its duration increases, and the output is a weak grain. To compensate for losses, calcium chloride is administered.
The amount of calcium chloride added is indicated in the manufacturer's instructions.
Cottage cheese made in this way, with a reduced acidity level, is ideal for the diet. It has a positive effect:
- on the functioning of the nervous system;
- participates in the process of blood clotting;
- activates enzymatic and metabolic processes;
- strengthens teeth and nails;
- indicated for anemia.
The nuances of making cottage cheese using sourdough
The method of preparing sourdough is troublesome, but if you approach the manufacturing process, taking into account all the nuances, you get a high-quality product.
It tastes delicate, characterized by the absence of typical sourness. The structure is the same and not so granular.
Manufacturing nuances:
- The optimal temperature for introducing the starter is 30°C - lactic acid bacteria enter the medium for reproduction.
- At low temperatures, longer settling time will be required.
- To dissolve the starter (ampoule), use boiled water.
- The better you mix the starter in milk, the more successful the ripening will be.
- The larger the amount of milk, the longer it will take to ferment.
- After fermenting the milk, heat the curd to 55–60 °C. This is the limit level for the life of lactic acid bacteria. Once it reaches the desired temperature, turn it off.
- It is not advisable to move the dishes with sourdough.
Recipe 1. Curd mass, fruit
Compound:
- Wild berries (assorted) 300 g
- Low-fat cottage cheese 700 g
- Fructose 250 g
- Water 100 ml
Cooking method:
Cover strawberries, raspberries or other berries of your choice with fructose and wait for the juice to separate. Mash them, add water and boil for 5-10 minutes. After the fruit mixture has cooled, rub it through a sieve to remove grains and skins. Beat the cottage cheese with a blender, gradually pouring in the fruit syrup.
What if you try to make cottage cheese in a water bath?
This method produces soft, nutritious homemade cottage cheese. The recipe is simple.
Prepared from:
- milk with a high percentage of fat content;
- kefir from 3.2%;
- curdled milk.
If you follow these recommendations, you get a quality product:
- To speed up ripening, pour 2 tbsp into whole milk. spoons of kefir.
- To make the whey separate better, add 1 tbsp. spoon of sugar syrup.
- Do not bring the curdled milk to a boil.
- After the water boils, turn off the heat and keep warm.
- Repeat the procedure.
- The serum takes on a yellowish-green tint.
Terms and conditions of storage
Cottage cheese spoils quickly. You need to know the acceptable storage periods for:
- by weight - suitable for consumption within 24 hours;
- homemade cottage cheese – 48 hours;
- plain cottage cheese - 72 hours;
- pasteurized - 5 days;
- packaged cottage cheese - 15 days.
Cottage cheese is an eco-product necessary in the diet; it is the primary source of calcium and other useful substances. And the pleasure from the result of transforming milk into cottage cheese with your own hands is immeasurable by any standards or numbers.
Amino acids, phosphorus, calcium
The beneficial properties of cottage cheese are explained by the technology of its preparation, which results in the formation of two valuable components - milk fat and milk protein. Milk protein has high nutritional value and can replace animal proteins.
Cottage cheese also contains amino acids necessary for the prevention of liver diseases. Cottage cheese is rich in phosphorus and calcium, without which proper formation of bones and the skeletal system is impossible. Phosphorus and calcium are especially needed by the body during fractures; children during the period of teeth and bone growth; for hypertension and heart disease; as well as pregnant women and the elderly.
In addition, cottage cheese contains lactic acid bacteria, which improve the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract and also normalize intestinal motility.
