Sourdough for cottage cheese: a few simple options

Cottage cheese is a useful and popular food product. It is used in its original form, and as an ingredient for all sorts of salads, baked goods. There are categories of people for whom cottage cheese is an extreme necessity as a source of protein and trace elements.

This sour-milk product is abundantly offered on the shelves of any supermarket. You can make it at home, but then you will need a leaven for cottage cheese. From what to prepare it and how to use it, we will discuss later in the article.

Without interference

By the way, the majority of rural residents in the past and before last centuries made cottage cheese from milk without introducing any sourdough. The whole process took place in a natural, natural way: by prokisaniya initial product (milk) in the heat (for example, exhibited pitchers in the sun in the summer, and in winter - near the stove). However, this method was quite lengthy in time and required sometimes several days for cooking. Therefore, in modern conditions, a special leaven for cottage cheese is actively used.

Pharmacy Option

One of the simplest options for getting a good starter is buying it at the pharmacy. They sell pepsin, renin, lactobacterin, bifidobacterin (it is desirable - in ampoules, but it is possible and in powders). With the help of these substances to get cottage cheese is quite simple. Milk is injected with the pharmacy for cottage cheese (the doses are usually indicated in the instructions), as a result of which the heated milk is rapidly curtailed. The thick must then be thrown back on the cheesecloth and wait until the whey dries. Cottage cheese is ready. By the way, you can use for cooking the product and "veal" rennet leaven (or her vegetable analog). This is the way cottage cheese is made on an industrial scale in dairies.

For the preparation of the product, it is necessary to heat the sour milk in a water bath before it is fully folded. At the same time, you can not mix raw materials, but try to get it to flake.

Lemon

"Quick" cottage cheese can be obtained and with the help of ordinary lemon juice (enough and half of the fruit). So:

1. We heat milk on a water bath to about 70 degrees.
2. Then we enter the leaven for cottage cheese - lemon juice, and stir.
3. Leave the saucepan cool.
4. Very carefully pour the resulting mass into gauze.

The main thing here is not to go too far with lemon juice, so that the final product does not have a characteristic after-taste. And heat the milk best for a couple and do not boil (but if you cook for the baby, it's better not to risk and boil it). If you do not bring the mass to a steep boil, then it turns out to be more gentle and with a more intense taste.

The yield of cottage cheese is up to 400 grams per liter (but much depends on the fat content of the starting product and the season: in the heat, there is less yield).

Kefir and sour cream

As a starter for home-made cottage cheese you can use yogurt. Take it at least in the store, the main thing is that it should be as fresh as possible. Half a glass is enough, and a good, effective starter for cottage cheese is ready!

Milk calcium also contributes to the souring of milk. It is enough to add a few grams to a liter of raw materials.

But sour cream is better not to take. In many cases, there is also a stabilizer, which can turn the mass into a real kissel. If you decide to make sour cream cheese, add a large spoonful of market sour cream to a liter of fatty milk: there are no excess substances.

Vinegar as a leaven for the preparation of cottage cheese

Here is the recipe for cooking cottage cheese with vinegar:

1. For five liters of daily milk (in the original recipe - goat) you need to take 50 grams of 9% vinegar.
2. Milk bring to 80 degrees.
3. Remove from the stove and pour vinegar, stirring constantly. The starting product is very quickly rolled up and falls out in flakes.
4. The pan should be cooled, and the mass should be thrown back on the gauze.

Output of the final product - more than a kilogram (of fatty cow's milk can get a little more).

How to use leaven of cottage cheese: instruction

In this case, you will get an excellent grain cottage cheese:

1. Milk degrease and pasteurize at 70 degrees.
2. Cool to 30 ° C.
3. Add milk to the milk (in our case - kefir or sour milk): 5% of its quantity.
4. We withstand at the same temperature for about 2 hours (do not mix).
5. Add 1 ml of abomasum to the liter of the mixture (you can even less). We knead thoroughly to obtain a uniform consistency.
6. For even better effect, you can add a little calcium chloride to the mass.
7. Clot mass cut (cubes 10-15 mm) - if overexposed, it can become acid and become very soft. Then the separation of serum is difficult.
8. We start heating up to 40 ° C. If the clot still turns sour, then drain the serum by half and add warm boiled water, after which we continue heating the mixture.
9. We merge the whey and rinse the grain. We cool to 10-15 ° C.
10. Mix with lightly salted cream 10% (salt take 1% of the total mass). The yield of granular cottage cheese is 1 kg from 5-7 liters of skim milk.