Today, the choice of cheeses is huge, and many do not understand why to cook cheese at home.
But believe me, it's worth it.
First, homemade cheese is a natural product. You know what it is made of.
Secondly, homemade cheese is much cheaper than store cheese, but at the same time, the quality is no worse, and sometimes even better.
Homemade milk and kefir cheese - the basic principles of preparation
The main products for making homemade cheese are milk and kefir. You can use any milk: homemade or store milk. Kefir can be replaced with sour milk.
To make cheese, milk is poured into a pan with a thick bottom and heated almost to a boil. Then, a kefir is poured into a thin stream, stirring continuously, and kept on low heat until cottage cheese appears on the surface.
A sieve or colander is covered with gauze folded in several layers and the mixture obtained is poured into it. Gauze is tightly tied and sent under the press for several hours.
Different types of cheeses are prepared from milk and cottage cheese, ranging from hard and ending with soft creamy curd.
With the help of various additives you can experiment and create completely new tastes. Fresh vegetables, olives, herbs and spices are used as additives.
Recipe 1. Homemade cheese from milk and kefir "Tender"
Ingredients
50 g of salt;
two liters of homemade milk;
450 g sour cream;
five eggs;
200 ml of kefir.
Cooking method
1. Pour milk into a pan with a thick bottom and bring it to a boil over low heat. Add salt and mix.
2. Drive eggs into the blender bowl, add sour cream and kefir. Beat at medium speed until smooth.
3. Enter the resulting mixture in a thin stream into boiling milk. Cook, stirring continuously, until the mass begins to curd and rise up.
4. Line the colander with two layers of gauze and pour the resulting hot mixture into it. Cover the curd with the ends of the gauze and place a flat plate on top. We put a can of water on it and leave it overnight. Then wrap the finished cheese and wrap it in the refrigerator.
Recipe 2. Homemade cheese made from milk and kefir "Korotinsky home"
Ingredients
five liters of homemade milk;
100 ml of boiled water;
70 ml of kefir;
1 g rennet;
200 g of salt.
Cooking method
1. Heat the milk over low heat until warm. Pour kefir into it and add rennet, mix thoroughly and remove from heat. Cover and leave milk for forty minutes.
2. After the allotted time, the milk will turn into a smooth, fairly dense mass. Cut it with a thin knife with a thin blade into two-centimeter squares and leave for another half an hour to completely separate the serum.
3. Discard the resulting mass on a sieve, previously covering it with gauze, and leave it for a day. Every two hours, remove the cheese from the sieve, turn the cheesecloth over, and send the cheese back to the sieve.
4. In one and a half liters of water, completely dissolve the salt. After a day, send the cheese to the brine for ten hours, while turning over every half hour. Then take out the cheese, dry it with a towel, put out not a wire rack and leave for five hours. Transfer the cheese to a deep bowl, cover with cheesecloth and refrigerate.
Recipe 3. Creamy curd cheese from milk and cottage cheese
Ingredients
liter of milk;
10 g of salt;
liter of kefir;
egg;
200 g sour cream.
Cooking method
1. Pour milk into a pan with a thick bottom and bring it to a boil over low heat. Pour kefir into a boiling milk with a thin stream, stirring continuously, and twist the fire to a minimum.
2. Put sour cream in a separate bowl, combine it with an egg, salt and beat until smooth. Pour the mixture into a pan with milk and kefir, stirring gently, and simmer for another seven minutes. Turn off the fire and completely cool.
3. Lining with a gauze colander, folding it several times. Pour the contents of the pan into a colander. The edges of the gauze are collected and slightly wrung out. We install a flat plate on top, and a can of water on it. Put the cheese in the refrigerator overnight. In the morning we take out the cheese and enjoy a delicious home-made product. We store it in a tray with a lid.
Recipe 4. Homemade cheese from milk and kefir "Ricotta"
Ingredients
10 g of sugar;
liter of milk;
5 g of salt;
150 ml of kefir;
80 ml of lemon juice.
Cooking method
1. Pour milk into a pan and heat it over low heat until hot, but do not boil. Add sugar and salt to milk. Pour kefir and strained lemon juice in a thin stream. Cottage cheese will begin to separate from the whey. Turn off the fire, leave the milk in the pan for half an hour.
2. Cover the colander with gauze folded several times and pour the milk mixture into it. We collect the edges of the gauze and hang it. We are waiting for all the serum to drain. It is better to leave the cheese in this condition overnight.
3. Put the finished cheese in a tray and store in the refrigerator.
Recipe 5. Homemade cheese made from milk and kefir "Panir"
Ingredients
150 ml of kefir;
liter of milk.
Cooking method
1. Pour milk into a pan with a thick bottom and send it to the stove. Heat the milk over low heat to a boil.
2. Introduce kefir into hot milk in a thin stream, continuously mixing. After a couple of minutes, the cottage cheese separated from the serum will surface.
3. Double the gauze and cover it with a colander. Pour the contents of the pan into a colander and filter to make the cottage cheese separate from the whey. We connect the edges of the gauze and tie it tightly.
4. Install a flat plate on top and put a jar filled with water on it. Leave the cheese for a day, then cut it into slices and transfer to a tray with a lid. Store cheese in the refrigerator.
Recipe 6. Homemade cheese made from milk and kefir with herbs
Ingredients
liter of 3.2% milk;
15 g of salt;
liter 3.2% kefir;
dried parsley and dill;
three eggs.
Cooking method
1. In a pan with a thick bottom, combine milk with kefir, mix and put on a slow fire. Heat the mixture until it begins to curl. To a boil, the mixture is not brought.
2. In a separate bowl, beat the whisk with eggs and salt. Introduce the egg mixture in a thin stream into hot milk with kefir. While continuously stirring. Add dried parsley and dill. Boil the mixture on a minimum fire for 20 minutes, without bringing it to a boil.
3. We put gauze in several layers and cover it with a colander. Insert the colander into a deep cup and pour the contents of the pan into it. To make glass serum faster, mix the mixture with a spoon.
4. When most of the whey drains, cover the mass with a flat plate and place the load on top. Put cheese in this condition in the refrigerator for the night. Then we take it out, transfer it to the tray and store it, covering it with a lid.
Recipe 7. Homemade milk and kefir cheese with pepper and dill
Ingredients
pasteurized milk - two liters;
fresh greens of dill;
kefir - half a liter;
sweet red pepper;
four eggs;
salt - 5 g.
Cooking method
1. Pour milk into a saucepan and put on a slow fire. Bring the milk to a boil.
2. We combine the eggs with kefir in a separate bowl and beat with a whisk until a homogeneous mass, the consistency of sour cream.
3. As soon as the milk begins to boil, twist the fire to a minimum and, continuously stirring, introduce the kefir-egg mixture. Without stopping stirring, simmer the mixture on fire until the whey separates.
4. Line the colander with twice the gauze and pour the contents of the pan into it, leave until all the whey has drained.
5. Meanwhile, rinse the sweet pepper, wipe it with a napkin, cut the stem and remove the seeds. Peel the pepper thoroughly and finely chop it. Wash the dill, slightly dry and chop.
6. Add salt, chopped dill and pepper to the cheese mass. Mix thoroughly. We spread the cheese mass tightly in the tray, press down with the load on top and leave it overnight in the refrigerator. Then we take out the cheese, rub it with salt and send it to the refrigerator for a couple more hours. Then we transfer the finished cheese into a bag and store in the refrigerator.
Recipe 8. Homemade cheese made from milk and kefir with garlic and herbs
Ingredients
two liters of milk;
garlic;
50 g of salt;
350 ml of kefir;
six eggs;
sour cream - 400 ml.
Cooking method
1. Boil milk and salt in a pan with a thick bottom.
2. In a blender bowl, combine sour cream with kefir and eggs. Beat everything until smooth at low speeds. Pour the resulting mixture in a thin stream into hot milk, stirring with a wooden spatula, and bring the mass to a boil.
3. When the mass is curdled and the whey has separated, turn off the heat and let the pan cool for a quarter of an hour.
4. Cover the colander with two layers of gauze and pour the milk mixture into it. Leave the whole glass serum.
5. Rinse a bunch of dill under running water, dry slightly and chop finely. Divide the garlic into the cloves, peel them and pass through a press. Add dill and garlic to the cheese mass.
6. Gather the ends of the cheesecloth, tie them together and lay the cheese mass in a bowl. Cover with a flat plate from above and set the weight. Leave it overnight. Then remove the cheese from the cheesecloth, cut into slices and serve.
Recipe 9. Fragrant homemade cheese made from milk and kefir
Ingredients
liter of kefir;
greens of cilantro, dill and onions - a bunch;
milk - liter;
clove of garlic;
six eggs;
cumin - a pinch;
salt - 80 g;
hot red pepper - a third of a teaspoon.
Cooking method
1. Combine milk and kefir in a saucepan. Put it on the stove and heat until hot, but do not boil.
2. Beat eggs with salt in a separate bowl. Pour into a milk in a thin stream, constantly stirring, beaten eggs. Bring the contents of the pan to a boil, and cook, stirring constantly, until the whey separates.
3. Remove the pan from the heat, cool for a couple of minutes, and add finely chopped greens, caraway seeds and hot red pepper to the mixture. Squeeze the garlic here.
4. Line the colander with doubled gauze and pour the contents of the pan into it. Twist the gauze in a knot and suspend to glass serum. Then unwind the cheesecloth, put the cheese on a plate, cover with cheesecloth and set the oppression on top.
5. Put the cheese in the refrigerator for several hours. Cut the cheese into slices and serve for breakfast or dinner.
Homemade milk and kefir cheese - tips and tricks
The higher the fat content of milk, the fatter will be homemade cheese.
Cook the cheese in a thick-walled pan so that the milk mixture does not burn.
At the moment you introduce kefir or eggs into the milk, stir it vigorously with a wooden spatula.
You can make your cheese taste special by experimenting with herbs, spices, olives or vegetables.
