Making Cottage Cheese at Home

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U S DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE • HOME AND GAFÍJEN BULLETIN NO 129 Making Cottage Cheese at Home

You can count on cottage cheese— forms from breaking up easily. it's a tasty, nutritious, easily digest- Adding rennet shortens the cheese- ed, and surprisingly low-calorie making process, results in a less- food. Eat it plain. Add a little salt acid and larger-curd cheese, and re- and pepper or a dash of some other duces the amount of curd poured seasoning. Combine it with fruits or off with leftover liquid. vegetables in a refreshing salad that's a main dish or a dessert. Keep With cream a supply in your refrigerator for a Cottage cheese made either with snack. or without rennet can be creamed. Cottage cheese—a soft, unripened Adding cream to cheese increases its cheese—can easily be made at home smoothness and improves its flavor from skim milk or I'econstituted in- and texture. Creaming cottage stant nonfat dry milk. The freshly cheese also adds calories and slight- made curd has a mild acid flavor ly lowers protein content. and a smooth texture. Cottage cheese Fruits, vegetables, or other flavor- contains about 20 percent milk sol- ful foods are often added to cottage ids, and many of the same nutrients cheese, to make a variety of side found in fresh milk. dishes and salads. Most homemakers who make their own cottage cheese like having a INGREDIENTS steady supply of cheese with home- Milk made flavor. Families that have Use pasteurized skim milk or re- large quantities of surplus skim constituted nonfat dry milk. One milk for making into cheese may gallon (835 pounds) of Tnilk will save money, too. yield about 1 found of cottage cheese. The equipment specified in TYPES OF COTTAGE this bulletin will conveniently han- CHEESE dle about 11/^ gallons of milk. The milk should be fresh, because With and without rennet you cannot make high-quality cheese The two major types of cottage from poor-quality milk. Even if cheese are small-curd, high-acid milk is stored for only a few days at cheese made without rennet, and a temperature as low as 40° F., un- popular large-curd, low-acid cheese desirable bacteria can develop and made with rennet. cause ofl'-flavors or odors in cheese Rennet is a substance that speeds made from the milk. curdling and keeps the curd that You can make cottage cheese from unhomogenized whole milk if you Rennet first let it stand a few hours, and Use rennet if you plan to make a then skim off the cream that rises to large-curd cheese. Kennet is avail- the surface. able either in tablet form (junket Note: You cannot skim cream tablets), or as an extract. You can from whole milk that has been ho- sometimes buy tablets in drug or mogenized. grocery stores; the extract is avail- You can make satisfactory cot- able only from rennet companies. tage cheese from reconstituted in- Laboratories selling lactic cul- stant skim milk. The noninstant tures may also supply rennet. Those type of skim milk often used by laboratories marked with an aster- commercial bakers will not make isk (*) in the list above will sell you good cottage cheese. the small quantities of rennet you need for making cottage cheese at Starter liome. You must use a starter to get the cheese-forming process underway. Salt The starter may be either a commer- Salt improves the flavor and keep- cially produced lactic culture (a ing quality of cottage cheese. partial list of sources appears be- low) ^ or fresh cultured buttermilk. Cream *Dairy Laboratories Adding cream to cottage cheese 2300 Locust Street makes a smoother and more flavor- Philadelphia, Pa. 19103 ful product. *Chr. Hansen's Laboratory 9015 West Maple Street EQUIPMENT Milwaukee, Wis. 53214 You probably already have most *Marschall Division of the necessary equipment for mak- Miles Laboratories, Inc. ing cottage cheese. You'll need— P.O. Box 592 An 8-quart container for the Madison, Wis. 53701 milk. One made of stainless steel is best, but you can use any acid- New Jersey Dairy Laboratories resistant enamelware or heavily P.O. Box 748 tinned container. A milk pail or New Brunswick, N.J. 08903 water-bath canner would be satisfactory. But do not use any kind ' Dairy laboratories are listed merely of galvanized metal or aluminum to provide specific information as to where to obtain lactic culture and rennet container. for making cottage cheese. Mention of a A somewhat larger container, to laboratory does not constitute a U.S. De- serve as the bottom part of an im- partment of Agriculture guarantee or provised double boiler for heating warranty of either the laboratory or the products from it. Neither is this an water. A large galvanized pail, tin endorsement over laboratories not men- lard can, or dishpan will do. tioned. A thermometer that measures temperatures between 75° and 175° spoon, add a teaspoon of the curdled F. The floating, dairy type is best, milk to the pint of pasteurized milk thougli a candy or jelly thermometer is acceptable. A long-handled êpoon or stirrer How To Pasteurize Milk that reaches to the bottom of the 8- All the milk you use in mak- quart container. ing cottage cheese should be A measuring cup. pasteurized. Pasteurization will Measuring spoons. kill harmful bacteria and most A knife with a blade long enough of the organisms that may pro- to reach to the bottom of the 8-quart duce oflF-flavors in cottage container. cheese. A piece of cheesecloth, 18 inches square. Almost all fluid skim milk A colander, and a pan big enough and nonfat dry milk that you to hold the colander. buy has already been pasteur- A mixing bowl made of anything ized. If the milk you are going but aluminum or galvanized metal. to use has not been pasteurized, A covered container for storing you can pasteurize it yourself. cheese in refrigerator. Use an electric, commercially made pasteurizer if you have MAKING SMALL-CURD one. Follow the manufacturer's directions. CHEESE Otherwise, improvise a large Preparing starter culture double boiler (fig. 1) and follow Starter culture should be pre- this method : pared a day or two before you in- • Heat water in outer con- tend to make cottage cheese. If the tainer until the temperature of skim milk you are using is not al- the milk in the inner container ready pasteurized, pasteurize 2 reaches 145° F. pints. Use directions at right. • Keep milk at this tempera- Refrigerate 1 pint of the pasteur- ture for 30 minutes. (You'll ized milk. To the other pint, add a probably have to adjust the lactic culture (either liquid or pow- heat to maintain the tempera- der) according to manufacturer's ture of the milk at 145° F. directions. Or add 1 tablespoon of throughout the half hour.) buttermilk, if you can be sure it's • Cool the milk to 72° F. fresh. Either procedure will "inocu- You can do this simply by late" your milk with the micro-or- emptying the outer container ganisms that cause milk to curdle and refilling it with cold water. into cottage cheese. • Either start making cot- Hold the inoculated milk at 70° tage cheese immediately, or cool to 75° F. for 16 to 24 hours, or until the milk to at least 50° F. and it curdles. refrigerate for later use. With a scalded and cooled tea- placing it and its container inside a larger container filled with water. Heat the water until milk reaches room temperature. Add Yg to 1/4 cup of starter, prepared according to directions on page 4, for each gallon of milk. If you are using fresh buttermilk as a starter, instead of a special lactic culture, add i^ cup or more. Cover the container of milk with a clean, loose-fitting cover, or with a clean cloth.

Curdling the milk Do not stir the milk. Let it stand (BN-29313) at room temperature for 16 to 24 Figure 1.—Warming skim milk in an hours. (You may have to occasion- improvised double boiler. all}' reheat the water in the outer container, to maintain the tempera- you've been keeping in the refrig- ture at 72° F. in the inner one.) erator. For the best cheese, your milk should curdle during this 16- to 24- When this second culture has also hour standing period. If your milk curdled (in 12 to 18 hours at 70° curdles before this, use less starter to 75° F.) it is ready for use as a the next time you make cheese. If it starter to ripen milk for making does not curdle satisfactorily dur- into cottage cheese. ing this time, use more starter next Preparing the milk time. When curdling occurs, a jelly- Like the milk you use for prepar- like, firm substance (curd) forms, ing the starter culture, the milk you and a small amount of watery liq- plan to make into cottage cheese uid (whey) usually appears on the should be pasteurized. See direc- surface. To determine if the curd tions above. is ready for cutting, insert a knife or spatula into the curd at the side Warming the milk of the container and gently pull the Milk to be made into cottage curd away from the container side cheese should be at room tempera- (fig. 2). If the curd breaks quickly ture (about 72° F.). You should und smoothly, it is ready to be cut. maintain this temperature throughout the cheese-forming process until Cutting the curd curd is formed, cut, and ready for Cutting the curd into i/^-inch final heating. pieces requires the four steps in fig- Warm the milk indirectly, by ure 3. • Again turn the container a quarter-turn and repeat the cutting, as shown in step 4. When the curd is cut roughly into 1/4-inch pieces, let it stand for 10 minutes. During this time, whey separates from the curd and the curd begins to become slightly firm (though it is still much too soft to bestirred).

Heating the cut curd (BN-29315) Figure 2.—Curd is ready to be cut when This is a critical step in making it pulls quickly and smoothly away cottage cheese. from the side of the container. Add water (72° F.) to the outer container until it is slightly above • Insert knife blade through the the level of curd and whey in the curd to the bottom of the container inner container (fig. 4). on the side opposite you. Then pull Heat the water slowly and as uni- the knife, held vertically, toward formly as possible, to raise the tem- you as shown in step 1. Withdraw perature of the curd and whey to the knife and repeat the cutting, 100° F. in 30 to 40 minutes—a tem- every 1/4 inch. perature increase of about 1° per • Turn the container a quarter- minute. turn, to step 2. Repeat the first step, During heating, stir the curd again cutting the curd every 14 gently with a large spoon—about a inch. minute at a time, every 4 or 5 min- • Turn the container to its orig- utes. This helps heat the curd uni- inal position and cut the curd at the formly and prevents curd particles angle shown in step 3. from sticking together.

Positions of l(nife in Cutting the Curd TOP VIEW SIDE VIEW (Cross-section) First Cut Last Cut First Cut Last Cut J

STEP 1 STEP 2 STEPS STEP 4 Make perpendicular cuts from (1) back Follow cuts of step 1 as nearly as to front and (2) left to right. possible holding knife at angle shown above.

Figure 3. too long, or curd particles will stick together in large clumps.

Washing and cooling curd Gather together the comers of the cheesecloth containing the curd. Immerse both cloth and curd in a pan of clean, cool water (fig. 7). Raise and lower the "bag" of curd several times, for 2 or 3 minutes, to rinse whey from the curd and to cool the curd. Rinse the curd again, for 3 to 5 (BN-29317) Figure 4.—^Heating the cut curd. minutes, in ice water to chill the curd. Put the curd in a colander set inside a larger pan. Shake the colan- When the curd and whey reaches d'ir occasionally, until the whey a temperature of 100° F., heat it stops draining. faster and stir it more frequently. If you prefer unsalted, un- The temperature of the curd and creamed cottage cheese, you can whey should reach 115° in 10 to 15 now remove the curd from the cloth, minutes. Then hold at this tempera- pack it in a suitable container, and ture for 20 to 30 minutes, or until store it in the refrigerator. How- the pieces are firm and do not break ever, unsalted cheese will have a easily when squeezed. definite acid taste. If the curd doesn't become firm enough at this temperature, heat it to 120° F., or even to 125°. Stir the curd and whey constantly and test the curd often for firm- ness. When the curd is firm enough, stop the heating process.

Removing the whey When the curd has firmed sufficiently, dip off most of the whey (fig. 5). Pour the remaining curd and whey onto a fine-meshed cheesecloth spread over a colander that you've set into the sink or another pan. Let the curd drain for 2 or 3 minutes (fig. 6). (BN-29319) Figure 5.—Dipping off whey with a Note: Don't let the curd drain measuring cup. 6 either sweet or sour cream, or of half-and-half. Mix thoroughly.

MAKING LARGE-CURD CHEESE

Large-curd cottage cheese is made in roughly the same way as the small-curd type. However, besides using the basic ingredients, milk and a starter, you must also use rennet.

Preparing the rennet (BN-29316) Figure 6.—Draining off the last of the Follow manufacturer's directions whey. Curd is placed in a cheesecloth for using rennet. Or dissolve i/¿ ren- "bag," and set in a colander. net tablet in 2 tablespoons of clean, cool water. Add 1 tablespoon of the resulting solution for each gallon of skim milk that you're making into cheese.

Warming the milk Follow the procedure described on page 4. When the milk reaches 72° F., add diluted rennet.

Curdling the milk Let the milk stand at room temperature for 12 to 18 hours. It should curdle in this time, but the (BN-29318) rate and extent of curdling will de- Figure 7.—Rinsing the curd, in a cheese- pend on the temperature of the cloth "bag," by dipping it into cool water. milk, the activity of the starter, and the amount of rennet you use.

Salting the curd Cutting the curd After transferring the curd from Cut the curd into %-inch pieces, the cheesecloth to a mixing bowl, following the procedure on page 5. add a teaspoon of salt for each Stir the cut curd slowly for about pound of curd. Mix thoroughly. a minute, every 4 or 5 minutes.

Creaming the curd Heating the curd For each pound of curd, add 2 or Gradually heat water in the outer 3 ounces (4 to 6 tablespoons) of container, until the temperature of curd and wlicy in tlic inner con- or that the curd was not sufficiently tainer reaches 110° F. The curd washed and drained. sliould firm up satisfactorily at this Yeasty, sweet, or unclean fla- tenii)erature. If it doesn't, or if it vors—indicate that yeasts, molds, seems to be firming up too slowly, or bacteria were introduced into you can heat the curd and whey to your cheese by unclean utensils or il5°orl2n°. an impure starter : or that your milk was not completely pasteurized. Fini.sliiiig lur^e-i'urd cheese Soft wet curd—results from too Separate cheese curd from the much moisture in the cheese, the development of too much acid during whey, wash and cool the curd, add cutting of the curd, heating tlie cut salt and cream. Follow directions on pages 7 and 8. curd at too high or too low a temperature, or allowing too-large curd particles to form. REASONS I OK IIMF'EKI ECT Tough dry curd—results from in- COTTAGE CHEESE sufficient acid development in the curd before it is cut, too fine a cut- Sour acid flavor—means that too ting of the curd, too high a heating much acid developed before and temperature, or too long a holding during cooking of the curd, that too time after cooking and before dip- much whey was retained in the curd, ping olT the whey. OTHER PUBLICATIONS Single copies of these publications about food are available from the Office of Communication, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, D,C. 20250. Send your request on a post card and include your ZIP Code.

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