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Making Cottage Cheese
Step 1 After skimming the cream to make butter, put the skimmed milk in a stainless steel pot and set it on the kitchen counter. I put a glass lid on the pot so I can see it progress. It will take a couple of days for the milk to thicken into curds. |
Step 2
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Step 3
 As the curds thicken, you will see the top begin to look lumpy. Now they are ready to be separated from the whey. |
Step 4 With a knife long enough to reach to the bottom of the pot, score the curds from side to side in both directions. You will have lots of cubes floating in the pot. Now put the pot on the stove on medium to low heat. |
Step 5 Gently stir as the curds and whey are heated. They will begin to separate and the whey will come to the top. Don't overheat. That will make your cottage cheese rubbery. When the comes to the top, it's time to remove it from the heat. |
Step 6 Place a colander in the sink and line it with cheese cloth. |
Step 7 Dip the curds out of the pot with a cheese ladle. You can pour the curds into the colander directly from the pot, but I have found that the whey splatters and makes a mess. The ladle has holes in it so you can drain the whey as you dip the curds out. |
Step 8 As you dip the curds with a ladle, the whey drains gradually and you don't overflow the colander and wash some of the curds out into the sink. |
Step 9 When all the curds are in the colander and the whey has drained as much as possible, use the spray attachment to rinse the curds. The more whey you can rinse out of the curds, the better your cottage cheese will taste. |
Step 10 After rinsing the curds, tie them up in the cheese cloth and gently squeeze out excess liquid. |
Step 11 I tie the cheese cloth to a cabinet knob and place a pot under it and let it drain as long as necessary for the liquid to stop dripping. It's ok to leave it overnight if you want. |
Step 12 When no more liquid drips from the cheese cloth, take it down and open it. You will see a ball of cottage cheese. |
Step 13 Put the ball of cottage cheese in a boul and use your fingers or a fork to crumble the cottage cheese. You can make large or small curds depending on what you like. |
Step 14 Now it's time to season the cottage cheese to your liking. I put equal amounts of sugar and salt (1 tsp of each per quart of cottage cheese). Some people prefer salt and pepper. You can also add a little cream if you like your cottage cheese creamy. |