Such a delicious, tasty and healthy product! And, by the way, of the most ancient origin. Even in ancient Greece, according to historians, they knew how to make homemade cheese from milk.

A bit of history

Of course, there was no talk of the industrial production of this product yet. But in every family they cooked homemade cheese from milk. In the beginning - for the purpose of a longer storage of food (after all, milk "lives" not so long, and cheese can be stored much longer). After - already with the aim of feasting on cheese. This product is becoming an indispensable component of many culinary dishes. Especially in countries where animal husbandry and milk collection were initially developed: cow, sheep, goat, mare and even camel milk.

State of the art

Now, in view of the extensive industrial production, only a few are at risk of making this product at home. Either because of the lack of confidence in their culinary skills, or because of a lack of time and energy. But recently, interest in a natural product has grown significantly, because some of those who monitor their own health prefer to cook homemade cheese from milk with their own hands, in order to be as sure as possible that there are no unwanted ingredients in the product, as a rule, added at the factory. production.

Important information for the cheese maker

In (some) recipes you can find such a component as renin. This is a special rennet that has been used for the manufacture of cheeses from time immemorial. In its pure form, it is quite difficult to get it, but it is impossible to replace it with something - a specific ingredient allows rapid fermentation without much heating of the product. How to cook cheese if this component is found in the recipe, but you do not have it at hand? It is known that rennet is a part of some medicinal preparations (for example, "Abomin" and the like), so in this case, medications can be used. Animal renin can also be replaced with vegetable renin derived from fungi.

Homemade milk cheese

The most common cheese is good to use both fresh and as part of many famous dishes: pizza, pies, sandwiches, pastries. There are two popular cooking methods: fast and long. Let's consider them one by one.

Fast option number 1

If you don't have time to wait until they ripen, you can try using an express recipe that allows you to cook the product almost instantly.

We will need: cottage cheese of moderate fat content - a kilogram, whole milk - a liter, cow's butter - 50 grams, half a spoonful of soda, a spoonful of salt, add seasonings of your choice in a small amount (so as not to spoil the taste).

Boil the milk and immediately reduce the heat to the very minimum. We grind the cottage cheese thoroughly, until there are no grains in it. Pour a little into the milk, stirring occasionally. We wait a bit and turn off the fire. We decant the resulting mass through double gauze until the serum stops dripping. Melt the butter in a prepared frying pan over very low heat and add the mixture. Stir the mass constantly, not allowing it to burn, until it is completely homogeneous (it should begin to stretch when prying with a fork). Finally, add the selected spices. Then we put the soft cheese in a special mold and put it under oppression in the cold (from 6 hours or more). It turns out quite competitive food, very tasty.

Fast option number 2

Soft cheese can also be made quickly with eggs and sour cream if you like very fatty foods.

We will need: a liter of whole milk, a glass of medium fat sour cream, three eggs, a small spoonful of salt.

Pour the milk into a saucepan and bring it to a temperature of 70 degrees. Salt. The fire should be very small. Beat eggs with sour cream in a separate bowl. Pour this mixture into hot milk. Do not forget to constantly stir the brew with a wooden spatula. Do not bring to a boil, but just heat for 5-7 minutes. During this time, the milk usually curdles completely, and specific flakes appear. Pour the mixture from the pan into a colander with a fine mesh and let it drain. You can put it under pressure right in a colander so that the whey continues to drain. We leave in this position for six hours. Then we put it in the refrigerator, continuing to hold it under oppression for some time.

This is another way to cook cheese pretty quickly.

Long option

To implement the plan, you will need: five liters of whole milk, yogurt without additives - a few spoons (or dry, 1 capsule), renin - 0.5 grams, salt at the tip of a knife, purified water.

Into the milk warmed up to a temperature slightly above 30 degrees, add yogurt and stir. We make rennet solution: renin, salt, a little water. We add it to the total mass. We maintain in this state for more than an hour. Then we decant through double gauze until the serum stops dripping. Then we mix and put under oppression (for about 12 hours).

Finale: We wash the product in a weak saline solution and put it under a press for longer storage. Homemade cheese will be ready in about three weeks. And it will turn out much tastier than the store one. So it's worth tinkering!

Adyghe homemade cheese

We need: two liters of store milk 2.5% fat, a small spoonful of citric acid.

How to make a cheese that looks like a store-bought Adyghe cheese without much effort? In a saucepan, bring the milk to a boil, stirring with a slotted spoon, but do not boil! Remove milk from heat and add citric acid while stirring. The curdling process begins immediately. We continue to stir for a few more minutes. When the characteristic flakes stop forming, we end the process. Strain the mixture through double gauze. We put it under the load for 6 hours. All the whey should drain well, and the resulting cheese should take a round shape. We take it out and put it in a plastic container with a lid. We take a glass of serum left over from expression and add some salt to it. Pour the whey into a container with the product, close the lid and put it in the refrigerator overnight. After the specified time, the Adyghe cheese is ready. At the exit from 2 liters of milk, more than two hundred grams of cheese and one and a half liters of whey are obtained, which can be drunk or used, for example, for making okroshka.

Nostalgic option: processed cheese

How to make processed cheese at home? After all, this type of product does not cease to enjoy steady popularity among our people since the days of the USSR! And homemade cheeses from cottage cheese are not so difficult to prepare, even without some experience.

You need to take fatty cottage cheese - a pound, a glass of milk, a spoonful of cow's butter, salt and soda on the tip of a knife. To obtain an exquisite taste, you can use additives: cinnamon, ginger, cocoa, nuts. We do this at will.

Further preparation of the cheese is quite simple. Add salt to the slightly warmed milk and mix with grated cottage cheese. We put the mixture on a very low heat, stir constantly so that it does not burn. Then we add oil, follow the process, stirring constantly. The curd starts to melt. We do not allow to stick to the bottom and sides of the dishes. As soon as the boiling process begins, remove from heat. Additives can be added at this stage. Leave it to drain onto a fine mesh. We put it for storage in a container (keep it at the bottom of the refrigerator). Such cheese at home can be used for making sandwiches, pizza, soup, oriental pastries. It is perfectly stored in the refrigerator for at least a week (but, as a rule, during this time they already have time to eat it).

With greens

Homemade cheese, low in calories and nutritious, can be prepared with herbs. It is full of vitamins and minerals. It is good to use a similar product in the spring, when vitamin deficiency is planned. In addition, for people who follow their figure, it is extremely relevant.

We will need: 3 liters of milk, 1.5 liters of low-fat kefir, fresh herbs, salt.

"Green" vitamin cheese is easy and simple to prepare at home. We start by heating the milk (but not boiling it)! Then pour in kefir in a thin stream, stirring constantly. Characteristic cheese flakes are formed. We still do not boil the mixture! Remove the pan from the heat and add a couple of pinches of salt. Throw the resulting mass onto cheesecloth folded in several layers. Let the serum drain and form the heads. At this stage, we introduce greens into our cheese. As ingredients, you can use fresh cilantro, dill, parsley, basil, onions. Here, be guided by your own taste - who loves what more. We tie the formed heads in cheesecloth and put them under a press overnight in order to additionally “dry” the product.

What is a press: useful information

What is this device? After all, not every housewife has a branded kitchen in the kitchen. Making it yourself is very simple. Fill a glass jar with water (half a liter or a liter, depending on the size of the cheese head). Close the jar tightly with a lid. Place the jar on top of the prepared head, wrapped in cheesecloth and placed in a colander so that the whey can drain off while maintaining balance. So much for the primitive press. But he must act, fulfilling his functions.

How to salt?

How to cook cheese at home so that the finished product has a salty taste (as sometimes cheese is too sweet from cottage cheese)? We do the following procedure. Dissolve a spoonful of salt in a glass of whey. Place the head of cheese in a container to size. Pour salted whey on top so that it completely covers the cheese. Cover with a lid and put down the refrigerator overnight. When the finished cheese is thoroughly salted, we take it out and store it without whey (although it is possible not to take it out and keep it in the same form).

In a multicooker

This device has long gained popularity in many kitchens. Therefore, here is a recipe for how to make cheese in a slow cooker. We will cook with spices and herbs, but if you like pure cheese, you can simply exclude these ingredients without doubting the final result.

So, we need: 2 liters of milk, two large tablespoons of rock salt, half a liter of low-fat sour cream, 5 fresh eggs, a bunch of dill, dry sweet paprika - a couple of tablespoons.

Eggs, sour cream, paprika, dill, chopped finely, mix in a separate bowl until smooth. Pour milk into the multicooker bowl and add salt, stirring occasionally. Turn on the steam cooking mode (10 minutes). Cook with the lid open, stirring constantly with a silicone spatula. The milk is already ready to boil. Pour the prepared mixture into it, stirring constantly. We extend the timer by five minutes. Then pour the mass into a colander covered with gauze in several layers. Let it drain and put it under the press for 6 hours. The cheese in a slow cooker turns out to be soft and tender: with the specified amount of ingredients, the output turns out to be about 400 grams of the product, ready to eat.

We use the oven

In the oven, the product turns out to be a little baked and browned. Cheese in the oven is fairly easy to make using the previous skills.

We need: milk - three liters, kefir - a liter, 3 fresh eggs, two small spoons of salt, two small spoons of sugar. If we want to do it with herbs, then - a bunch of fresh herbs if desired.

Beat eggs and mix with kefir. We put the milk on the fire, but do not bring it to a boil. Add the prepared mixture, sugar, salt to the milk. Stir constantly so as not to burn. With the appearance of stratification (flakes), remove the pan with the cheese mass from the heat. Next, you need to drain and put under a press, as in the previous recipes. The difference is the process of baking cheese in the oven. Put the finished head in a baking dish, coat with yolk, slightly beaten. Preheat the oven to 220 degrees and bake our cheese for 10-14 minutes, until golden brown.

Outcomes

As you can see, making cheese at home is not difficult. Having a sufficient supply of food and a desire to experiment, you can not buy cheese in the store at all, since the cooking process itself will result in an interesting culinary action, and it will be difficult for you to stop.

Homemade cheeses made with dried fruits are very popular. Prunes, dried apricots, dried apples and berries are used. To prepare the product, dried fruits must be thoroughly washed and poured over with boiling water. After that, cut into small pieces and mix with the cheese mass at the stage of head formation. And after that - under the press. Such cheeses have a delicate fruity-cheese aroma, exquisite taste.

Try using basic recipes for cheeses with all kinds of nuts. The most available are walnuts. They must be peeled and veined, doused with boiling water and finely chopped or ground in a mortar. Then mix the nuts with the base and form a head.

In general, in the preparation of homemade cheeses, you can really show a flight of culinary imagination. After all, there are a lot of recipe variations. And I want to try everything, everything, everything!