Properties and recipes for homemade cheese

Not all people love to buy cheese in stores.This product is quite affordable for self-production, and many cooks make it right at home. Since there are many recipes for cooking at home, some of them are available even to non-professional chefs.

Each recipe implies a number of nuances when creating this dairy product and the presence of a specific set of ingredients. This article will not only describe in detail the most popular recipes, but also will be told about the basic properties of the cheese product, prepared by yourself, and its differences from the purchased products.

Homemade cheese is a unique dairy product that is prepared only from fresh milk and natural ingredients. Its unique feature in comparison with the purchase options is the complete absence of preservatives. This quality affects the shelf life, but it makes the use of such a dish for food as useful and safe as possible.

The undoubted advantage in the preparation of such a product with their own hands is control over the content of certain elements in its composition. For example, if you stick to a diet, you can make cheese, the content of fatty elements in which is small.

The basic ingredients of this product are milk and cottage cheese. A weighty plus would be if both of these products are of natural origin. Therefore, they are recommended to purchase from private owners, and not in stores. Also, cottage cheese is often made independently, based on fresh milk.

Other integral components are various spices, and also salt. More accurate composition depends on individual preferences and the selected recipe.

Although most components of home-made cheese include similar ingredients, the final products can vary significantly in taste and texture.

The composition of the product includes a number of elements necessary for the human body.

• The concentration of protein elements reaches a very high mark. Often, even in milk or meat does not contain as much protein as is present in this homemade product. With the help of such components, the body absorbs the much-needed amino acids that contribute to the improvement of various life processes.
• Fat also contained in the product in large quantities. However, in this form, they are of great benefit, not only allowing the body to get enough, but also helping to replenish the energy reserves that the body loses during the day. Also, this element in the composition of the cheese is able to normalize the metabolic process. The consistency of the product mainly depends on the content of the fat component - the bigger it is, the more tender the cheese will be.
• Phosphoric constituentsand calcium is present in large quantities in homemade cheese. They improve the condition of the bones, hair texture, strength of nails and teeth. Also, these substances are necessary for people in old age and women awaiting babies.

The list of vitamins in homemade cheese is also quite wide. It includes substances of group B, E, D, C. Among the minerals, sulfur, sodium, and iron can be additionally distinguished. All this in a complex has only a positive effect on the body.

The amount of calories in homemade cheese may vary depending on which recipe you followed.In one hundred grams of a product created according to the classic recipe, the number of calories is about 113.

You can create such a tasty and healthy cheese with your own hands at home using various ingredients, as well as kitchen devices such as a slow cooker and microwave. Each recipe implies a special step-by-step cooking instructions, which you definitely need to follow.

The basis of most recipes includes such a component as natural cottage cheese from the village. A simple recipe can include cow's milk or go without it.

The first option implies the following algorithm of actions.

• Kilogram of cottage cheese must be crushed so that there are not too large lumps.
• Then it is placed in a container with a liter of milk and put on fire. Heating should be carried out, not bringing the contents of the pan to a boil.
• After some time, the separation of the milk mixture into flakes of cottage cheese, as well as whey will be transparent. At the same time, the consistency of the sediment should be thick, soft and sticky. From now on, the pot must be removed from the stove.

• A lot of cheese should be put in a slotted spoon and squeeze out excess liquid. Remember that it is important not to digest the cottage cheese, otherwise the final product will be too hard consistency.
• Next in the pan, where the cooking was carried out, you need to put vegetable oil in the amount of 100 grams and melt it.
• After this, transfer the cottage cheese, which is free from excess moisture, into a container with butter. It should also be ground again.
• To get rid of the excess liquid, the curd must be kept on fire for a few minutes, mixing it thoroughly.
• In a separate container, you need to break a couple of eggs, put 15 grams of soda and 10 grams of salt there. Eggs need to be whipped, and then the entire contents of the container is transferred to the cottage cheese. The cottage cheese at the same time should continue to mix.

• First you will notice a foam rising in copious amounts. Then it settles, and the consistency of the mixture changes - it becomes more viscous, as well as homogeneous.
• Pre-prepared forms for cheese fill the finished product. After the cheese has cooled, these forms can be sealed.
• Further, the composition is removed in the refrigerator for at least 12 hours. The most convenient way to put it there at night.

The classic version without milk can be prepared in the following way.

• In a saucepan, you must put a couple of liters of water.
• With the help of tolkushki or manually need to grind the cottage cheese pellets.
• After that, the cottage cheese component is added to the water, and cooked over low heat for twenty minutes. In this case, the mixture should not boil.
• After this time, you will see that whey has formed in the water.
• Then the mass from the curd should be moved to the skimmer, then covered with gauze cloth and rid of excess liquid. The result should be a lump with a dense, sticky consistency.

• Next, you need to warm the water bath and melt the butter on it in the amount of 100 grams.
• Then put the cottage cheese in the same container, again grind it.
• After that, you need to put soda and salt, taken in the same amount as in the previous version. Also add one beaten egg to the curd.
• When the curd mass reacts with these ingredients, it becomes fluffy, becomes light in color.
• Then for about 7 minutes should stir the entire mixture. It should become even more homogeneous. Also, it should not stick to the walls of the pan.

• Next, the prepared composition should be placed in molds.Fill them without voids and to the top, so that the storage of the product is as tight as possible.
• When the mixture has cooled, it must be closed and left in the refrigerator for 5 to 10 hours.

Some prefer to make cheese directly from milk. For this you need to take only natural dairy product. In this case, it is necessary to add vinegar to it and then drain the liquid.

Some people are fans of cheese products, which have a soft texture and literally "melt in your mouth." If you cook such a cheese at home, it will look like Cheese - have a slightly grainy texture. As a rule, various spices, herbs and seasonings are added to this dish depending on individual preferences.

In order to make such a product, you must perform the following steps.

• A pound of natural cottage cheese is melted in 0.5 l of milk until the whey separates.
• After draining the liquid, the excess is squeezed through a colander. Next, you need to add the remaining ingredients, among which may be garlic, dill or even sweet ingredients. A more specific choice depends on the purpose of cooking, but adding greens is considered the classic option. A more active squeeze is worth doing using gauze fabric.
• You can finally get rid of the liquid by placing a curd ball under the press. To do this, they put it in a colander, press it with a plate, and a load is placed on top of it. For this procedure, a couple of hours is enough.
• Then such a product should be placed in a hermetically sealed container and stored in the refrigerator.

Fans of cream cheese can also cook it right in their kitchen. To create this product should take 500 grams of cottage cheese, a couple of egg yolks, 10 grams of drinking soda, butter in the amount of 50 grams, as well as 5 grams of salt.

Preparation is carried out in several stages using a steam bath.

• First you need to melt the butter. After that, put cottage cheese and yolks in the same container. Remember that eggs should be broken carefully, because the presence of proteins in the mixture can significantly change the consistency of the product.
• After that you need to add soda and salt.
• About half an hour you need to melt the ingredients, stirring them. Make sure there are no lumps left.
• The forms in which the cheese product will be placed must be oiled. Then you should pour in the resulting composition, cool it, cover it with a film and put it in the cold.

Fans of melted cheese sandwiches can also make a similar product with their own hands. The main ingredient is used cottage cheese in the amount of 0.5 kg. You still need 100 grams of butter or 50 grams of sour cream, as well as one egg, if you want the mixture to thicken faster.

It is necessary to mix all the ingredients using a blender. Next, with the help of a water bath, you need to melt the curd so that its consistency looks like thick cream. Typically, this process takes a quarter of an hour or even less. To make the whole mixture homogeneous, it must be stirred throughout this time, using the same blender for maximum convenience.

Fans of Italian cuisine will surely love to indulge in a cheese called Mascarpone. Its main component is considered to be buffalo milk. But for the home equivalent fit and cow.

The following ingredients will also be needed:

• cottage cheese, taken in an amount of 0.4 kg;
• butter in the amount of 20 grams;
• high fat cream - 200 ml.

Such Italian delicacy is prepared as follows.

• It is necessary to place the cream in a cold place so that they cool down to a temperature of 5 degrees.
• Soft butter together with cottage cheese whip using a blender. Then this dense homogeneous mass is cooled for half an hour.
• After that, you need to whip the mixture again. At the same time cream is gradually poured into it. It is important to do this without haste, because this component affects the texture of different types of cottage cheese differently. The mixture should have an even more uniform, cream-like consistency. It should be quite dense, but not too thick.

The most healthy option is homemade cottage cheese, as the main ingredient for which goat milk is used. This milk has a rather specific flavor, which not everyone loves, but the products from it do not cause allergic reactions.

Preparing such a product as follows.

• A kilogram of goat cheese should be melted in a liter of goat milk until the whey separates.
• Pressed cottage cheese, soda, salt and 0.1 kg of oil should be put in one container. If you want to give the cheese product a firmer consistency, you can also add one beaten egg. For 20 minutes, all components are kept in a water bath, stirring until the mixture becomes homogeneous.
• The resulting product is placed in a mold and cooled.

The secret to creating cheese with holes is the use of milk and cottage cheese in proportions of 2 to 1. At the same time, goat cheese will acquire a more tender texture.

It is quite possible to cook delicious soft cheese using shop ryazhenka as a basis.

To do this, follow a specific algorithm of actions.

• On the water bath should be heated ryazhenku. It should be at a temperature of about 45 degrees. Then you need to cool it.
• Pour this component into a container that is made of food grade plastic and place it in the freezer.
• When ryazhenka freezes, it must be removed and carefully split into small pieces.
• Slices of ryazhenka ice should be placed in a bag made of cotton.
• Hang it over a container into which the serum will drip.
• When, after 3 or 4 hours, the ice is finally thawed out, and all the whey is drained into the pan, you will receive the final product - delicious cheese with a soft texture.

This variant of the cheese product is one of the most delicious and multifunctional. It is used not only as a snack or to create sandwiches, but also for stuffing vegetables and even meat.

To prepare the product, you must observe the following sequence.

• First yogurt is created. This is done by mixing natural sourdough with milk in proportions of 1 to 1. For a couple of minutes, the components are mixed and then poured into a yogurt maker for 6 hours.
• On the container you need to put gauze, folded in three layers, and then pour it yogurt.
• Tie up gauze and hang over the serum vial. Store so yogurt for two days in the refrigerator.
• Take the product out of gauze. It will have the appearance of a yoghurt mass. Salt is added to it, as well as lemon zest.
• Then you need to form balls of the same size.
• Next you need to make a marinade of butter, lemon and garlic. Cheese is left in it for several hours.
• Then it is placed in a jar and poured oil.

Even methods such as placing cheese in a pickle before it is fully ripe can also be used. Such a technique, for example, is used to create homemade Parmesan.

There are a number of errors that occur in the process of making cheese.

Some of them significantly affect the taste and texture of the product.

• Sometimes the milk does not curdle, even though it is on fire for the right amount of time. In this case, most likely the reason is that you use UHT or rennet milk for cooking.
• If the finished product is bitter, it means that the cottage cheese, taken as its basis, was stored a little longer than the allotted time and progork.
• Due to the use of low-quality raw materials, cheese sometimes creaks on the teeth, crumbles, or acquires an unpleasant taste. If you do not save on the original ingredients and comply with all storage conditions, these problems can be avoided.

In order for cheese made with your own hands to retain in itself the benefits and excellent tastes for a certain time, you need to properly store it. Usually, natural products without preservatives are not stored for a long time. Tara with homemade cheese product kept in the refrigerator for no more than 5-7 days.

Soft and processed cheeses are stored for a maximum of 5 days. At the same time, if you add additional components, the shelf life is halved. Therefore, it is sometimes impractical to prepare homemade cheese in large quantities.

Cheese recipe from Ilya Lazerson - in the next video.