Making Cottage Cheese recipe

Rennet is used in making Cottage cheese, Rennet is an enzyme harvested from stomach of young sheep or cow.

Majority of India is a vegetarian, therefore Cottage cheese is seldom used in India.

Ingredients

1. Milk: 1 Gallon

2. Yogurt with live culture: 6 to 7 Tablespoons

3. Rennet tablet: ¼

4. Water at room temperature: 2 Tablespoon

5. Ice water

6. Salt

Method

1. Warm milk to 70ºF. Add yogurt to milk and stir well. The culture in the yogurt will start converting lactose into lactic acid, changing the ph factor.

2. Dissolve Rennet in water. Add to milk. Mix well about 5 minutes. The Rennet enzyme will start making the gel.

3. Cover and let it rest for about 10 hours at room temperature (70ºF). Do NOT place it in hot place like making yogurt. High temperature will increase acid rapidly and clabber milk.

4. The milk has been formed in to a gel. Insert a knife in the gel and pull it out. If the gel cuts clean, it is ready to be cut, otherwise, wait longer. Cut the gel by knife to ½" cubes of curd.

5. Let it stand for 15 minutes.

6. Put the pan on a very low heat. Heat it to 95ºF to 102ºF. Higher the temperature, firmer will be the curd. 

7. Cook about 30 minutes at this temperature. Monitor the temperature carefully. Stir occasionally to prevent the curds from matting. Cooking will shrink the curds and settle on the bottom of the pot.

8. Line a colander with cheese cloth and drain the curds. You may collect the whey and use it to make Ricotta cheese . It will take about 20 minutes.

9. After the curd has been drained, tie the four corners of the cheese cloth.

10. Dunk the cheese cloth with cheese in ice cold water for about five minutes. This allows the curd to harden.

11. Stir in salt to taste and refrigerate.