Goat milk cheese recipes
Brynza is a white cheese made from milk. The product is widely used in cooking and is an integral part of the Caucasian national cuisine. You can cook delicious and healthy cheese at home, while it will differ from the store Brynza only for the better. Recipes for preparing a goat milk product will be discussed in more detail.
What it is?
Brynza is one of the types of pickled cheeses. This means that a mandatory step in the production of the product is soaking in brine. The average soaking period can be from twenty days to two months, on which the taste characteristics of the finished product will depend. Brynza with a richer taste with hints of spiciness is aged in brine for a longer time than delicate lightly salted cheese.
Brynza gained particular popularity in the Caucasus. Real Caucasian Brynza is made on the basis of cow, goat or sheep milk. It is also allowed to mix different types of milk with each other. Unlike most varieties of Brynza cheese, it has a more uniform texture without a hard crust and holes.
High-quality Cheese, made from natural ingredients, contains many vitamins and microelements.In addition, this cheese can be attributed to low-calorie foods, since the number of calories per 100 grams varies from 160 to 260 kcal. It is not always possible to find high quality cheese in the store. However, it is not so difficult to make it at home. By preparing the product yourself, you can fully control the production process and choose only the best ingredients, which will allow you to get high-quality and very healthy Bryndza.
Choice of Ingredients
When making cheese at home, it is important not only to fully comply with all the rules for making cheese. First of all, it is necessary to choose high-quality ingredients from which the product will be made. The main component for making Bryndza is milk and special attention should be paid to its choice.
It is best to buy goat milk in stores, as it may not be of the best quality in the markets due to violation of storage rules. In stores, it is possible to study the product label in order to familiarize yourself with the composition, production date and expiration date. High-quality milk will be pure white without yellowness and yellow coating. The presence of such may indicate that the product is not natural. If there is a bluish tint, then this may indicate improper storage of milk or the presence of water in the composition of the drink.
How to cook cheese?
Making cheese at home is not a difficult task. You just need to choose the right recipe and follow all the instructions. There are several ways to prepare Brynza from goat's milk, which differ in the ingredients used and some of the nuances of the process.
With added vinegar
The amount of ingredients will depend on the amount of Cheese you need to get. To get a kilogram of cheese at the exit, you need about nine liters of milk. From three liters, approximately 350 grams of the finished product is obtained.
For three liters of milk, one large spoonful of vinegar (9%) and table salt is used. The number of components can be changed at your discretion - the main thing is to observe the indicated proportions. Milk is recommended to be pre-filtered with gauze or a sieve to remove particles of dirt or wool that could get into the liquid from the animal. The store product does not need to be filtered.
Milk must be poured into an enamel pan and brought to a boil with constant stirring. As soon as the liquid begins to boil, vinegar and salt are introduced into it. While stirring the mixture, it is necessary to keep it on fire until it begins to curdle. The output will be curd mass and whey, which will need to be separated.
It is worth noting that you can boil milk not only on the stove, but also in a slow cooker. In this case, you need to use the “steaming” or “soup” modes. The curdled milk is transferred to gauze and the whey is allowed to drain. You can hang the product over an empty container for a while.
The separated whey can be used for various dishes or consumed ready-made, so it does not need to be poured out. The curd mass is wrapped in gauze and placed under a press for a day, after which the resulting cheese can be eaten. If you do not add salt to milk at the very beginning of the preparation of Cheese, then you will need to soak the product in a saline solution for at least three days.
With sour cream
Another way to prepare Brynza from goat's milk involves the use of fatty homemade sour cream and kefir. In this case, these ingredients will contribute to the formation of curd mass and whey. The resulting cheese will have a delicate texture and a fairly high percentage of fat. Vinegar or lemon juice is not used in the recipe.
To make cheese, you will need the following ingredients:
- five liters of milk;
- four large spoons of homemade thick sour cream;
- twelve medium-sized chicken eggs;
- four large spoons of salt;
- two glasses of kefir.
The number of components can be reduced or increased several times as you wish. It is important to maintain the correct ratio of products. Milk must be poured into an enamel bowl, salted and put on the stove. In the meantime, beat eggs with sour cream until smooth.
As soon as the milk begins to boil, kefir and egg mixture are added to it. The resulting mass is boiled over low heat with constant stirring until the formation of curd clots. After that, the mixture is wrapped in gauze and the whey is allowed to drain. As soon as the curd mass separates from the liquid, it must be placed under a press and put in the refrigerator for a couple of hours. After two hours, the cheese must be removed from the refrigerator, turned over and placed under pressure again. In this form, Bryndza is left for another couple of hours, after which the product can be eaten or sent to brine for storage.
Helpful Tips
To prepare homemade Cheese, it is recommended to take milk with a high percentage of fat content. Only in this case the product will have a uniform consistency. Various natural additives in the form of herbs or seasonings can be added to the main components in the preparation of cheese.
In the production process of the product, only glass or enameled containers should be used. It is not necessary to keep the product in brine in the room, if the room temperature is quite high, it is better to place the cheese in the refrigerator. Brynza storage also has its own characteristics. It is not recommended to keep the product in the refrigerator for a long time, so you should not prepare cheese in large quantities at once.
During storage, Bryndza must be immersed in brine, for the preparation of which whey or water and salt are required. For two liters of liquid, one glass of table salt is taken. It is also allowed to keep the cheese in a dry, clean glass or porcelain container, but in no case should the product be stored in cold boiled water or wrapped in a film, bag or foil.
How to cook Brynza from goat's milk, see the following video.