A SIMPLE WAY TO MAKE SMALL QUANTITIES FOR HOME USE
One gallon of skim milk will make about 1¹⁄₂ pounds of cheese. If the
milk is sweet it should be placed in a pan and allowed to remain in a
clean, warm place at a temperature of about 75° F. until it clabbers.
The clabbered milk should have a clean, sour flavor. Ordinarily this
will take about 30 hours, but when it is desirable to hasten the process
a small quantity of clean-flavored sour milk may be mixed with the sweet
milk.
As soon as the milk has thickened or firmly clabbered it should be cut
into pieces 2 inches square, after which the curd should be stirred
thoroughly with a spoon. Place the pan of broken curd in a vessel of hot
water so as to raise the temperature to 100° F. Cook at that temperature
for about 30 minutes, during which time stir gently with a spoon for 1
minute at 5-minute intervals.
At the conclusion of the heating, pour the curd and whey into a small
cheesecloth bag (a clean salt bag will do nicely) and hang the bag on a
fruit-strainer rack to drain, or the curd may be poured into a colander
or a strainer over which a piece of cheesecloth has been laid. After 5
or 10 minutes, work the curd toward the center with a spoon. Raising and
lowering the ends of the cloth helps to make the whey drain faster. To
complete the draining tie the ends of the bag together and hang it up.
Since there is some danger that the curd will become too dry, draining
should stop when the whey ceases to flow in a steady stream.
The curd is then emptied from the bag and worked with a spoon or a
butter paddle until it becomes fine in grain, smooth, and of the
consistency of mashed potatoes. Sour or sweet cream may be added to
increase the smoothness and palatability and improve the flavor. Then
the cheese is salted according to taste, about one teaspoonful to a
pound of curd.
Because of the ease with which the cheese can be made it is desirable to
make it often so that it may be eaten fresh, although if it is kept cold
it will not spoil for several days. If the cheese is not to be eaten
promptly it should be stored in an earthenware or glass vessel rather
than in one of tin or wood, and kept in a cold place.
THE USE OF STARTERS
The first step in the making of cottage cheese is to sour or ripen the
milk. If care has been used in the production and handling of milk, a
good grade of cheese may be made by allowing the milk to sour naturally.
Uncertainty of results and lack of uniformity in the cheese, however,
have caused many to resort to a more definite means of controlling
fermentation or souring by the use of starters. Some of the dangers and
disadvantages of natural souring are--