Why does curd taste bitter and can it be eaten?
Cottage cheese is considered quite a popular food product, it belongs to fermented milk. It is very useful and is characterized by a high content of calcium and other macronutrients.Cottage cheese is useful for the tissues and organs of the human body, so its use in food is vital. This battery is considered universal: it can be used fresh, as well as baked, as a filling of many dishes. Cottage cheese is an important component of the diet.
But, like other products, cottage cheese is not always of high quality. Sometimes he can taste bitter. For what reason does a seemingly fresh curd have a bitter aftertaste? What to do in this case?
The reasons
If you are confident in the freshness of the product, but the curd is bitter, then There can be several reasons:
- pregnancy of a cow, from whose milk the product is made;
- ingestion of bitter grass, such as wormwood.
Other, most common reasons for the presence of bitterness in cottage cheese are the following:
- improper storage;
- expiration date;
- improper preparation of the product or a feature of the leaven;
- Pepsin overdose;
- substandard milk or flavor in it.
If the milk is of good quality, but it has a bitter taste, then there is an erroneous opinion that it will disappear during processing. It's not like that at all. From milk with a bitter aftertaste get a bitter product. Improper preparation of cottage cheese is due to the fact that it is left for spontaneous souring. But this is not worth doing, especially in the cool season. Warming up the milk of the first freshness and the subsequent addition of the leaven to it will be correct. There are also known cases of bitterness in cottage cheese, which were associated with the feed of the cow and the use of her medicine.
How to remove bitterness?
After finding out the cause of bitterness in a fermented milk product, you can try to remove it.
To do this, you can use one of the following methods.
- In order to eliminate the unpleasant taste in the curd, you can add sweet water or milk. After the mixture is boiled before separating the serum. Often, after this bitterness goes away, but, unfortunately, the product will no longer be able to please the gentle and creamy taste.
- With a slight bitter taste, the addition of cinnamon, zest, vanilla or raisins can correct the situation.
- Homemade products often taste bitter because of milk. Therefore, all the bitterness should remain in the serum. To do this, the product is wrapped in gauze and washed with warm boiled water. The procedure must be repeated several times and at the end to press the gauze.
- Cottage cheese with expired shelf life should not be tried to save, as this may adversely affect your health. Even heat treatment will not help this product. You should not try to get rid of the taste in the cottage cheese, which has an unpleasant putrid odor.
Can I eat?
If the cottage cheese has a slight bitterness, then you can eat it. However, it is better for children not to give this product raw. From this cottage cheese, you can make a casserole, cheesecakes or use as a filling. Being heat-treated, cottage cheese will not do any harm. It is also best to use it as quickly as possible and not to store for a long time.
The best option would be the independent preparation of this fermented milk product, so you can be absolutely sure of its quality and pleasant taste. To curd the bitter taste, it should be properly stored. For this, it is necessary to use enameled ware, and the temperature should not exceed eight degrees of heat.
Choosing cottage cheese, pay attention not only to its smell, but also to its appearance. Quality product can be called white with a cream shade, which is characterized by a gentle homogeneous consistency and has no grains. It is best to try what you buy, so you can be confident in their safety.
From the video below you will learn how to cook cottage cheese at home.