Subtleties and methods of making homemade kefir cheese
A dairy product that is 100% digestible by the human body is cheese. It contains a sufficient amount of vitamins and minerals necessary for human life. Separately, it is worth mentioning the unique taste of the product, which instantly increases appetite.
Basic cooking principles
Cheese is the product that requires cleanliness in the manufacture. The preparation of this dairy product should be carried out exclusively in clean dishes and on a clean work table. If during the cooking process you touched something extraneous, be sure to wash your hands with soap and water.
If these recommendations are ignored, it is likely that microorganisms that can spoil the product will get into the cheese. It is also worth noting that all types of cheese (including homemade) perfectly absorb any flavors.
Therefore, before cooking, it is not advisable to use perfumes or cook any fragrant dish.
Regardless of the recipe you choose and the ingredients used to make cheese, the technology for making it will be the same. A fermented milk product (most often kefir), which is used as a starter, must be thoroughly warmed up in order to form curd mass and whey.After that, the resulting mass is carefully filtered. This is necessary to remove excess moisture and separate the whey from the cheese blank.
For a variety of tastes, various spices and spices, parsley, dill, coriander and green onions are used. To create a spicier cheese, cinnamon, cayenne, black, red or chili peppers are added to it. Adherents of a healthy lifestyle are advised to add vegetable cuts from bell peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots and even radishes. To make the product more high-calorie and nutritious, add nuts to it, previously ground in a coffee grinder.
It is quite possible to make soft cheese from frozen kefir if you follow all the recommendations. The step by step guide below will help you with this.
Recipes
A wide range of cheese products in any supermarket has long surprised no one. However, not everyone is in a hurry to buy this product. The fact is that high-quality and tasty cheese, as a rule, has a high cost. And the cheaper one is stuffed with various carcinogens and chemical additives that extend the shelf life of the product.
Luckily, you can make your own cheese at home. At the same time, the necessary ingredients are widely available and their purchase will not hit your family budget.
The preparation of this dairy product is quite simple and does not require the hostess to have special culinary skills and knowledge.
A simple version of kefir
Getting cheese from a fermented milk product like kefir is the easiest way. You can carry out this procedure yourself at home.To do this, you need to get 2 liters of fermented milk product, 50 grams of butter, one chicken egg, baking soda, one teaspoon of salt. You will also need a steamer.
In the absence of the device, it will be necessary to build it from improvised means. To do this, take two pans with different volumes. Water is poured into a large saucepan and put on a slow fire. Kefir is poured into a container with a smaller volume and placed on top of a large saucepan. Next, you need to warm the fermented milk product in such a way that whey and curd mass begin to be produced. As soon as the consistency of kefir begins to thicken, fold it into a metal strainer.
In no case do not let the fermented milk product boil. A metal sieve can be replaced by an ordinary gauze napkin, which is folded in several layers. In a sieve or in a gauze napkin, it is necessary to hold the resulting serum for 25-30 minutes, until excess moisture drains. After the time has elapsed, remove the cheese blank and place it back in the water bath. Salt it and add chicken yolk, butter and spices (optional).
On low heat, the contents of the pan must be melted. As a rule, this happens after 5 minutes. It is necessary to mix the cheese mass regularly. Otherwise, the cheese will turn out with lumps.
As soon as the mass acquires a homogeneous consistency, pour it into a glass container and put it in the refrigerator compartment until completely hardened. After that, the cheese can be seasoned with your favorite spices or nuts.
With milk
The method of obtaining homemade milk cheese is similar to the previous recipe. However, in this case, the fermented milk product is required for further mixing with milk.Not the last role is played in this recipe by spices and seasonings. It is thanks to them that the cheese acquires a unique aroma and amazing taste. This product is characterized by the presence of spiciness, which is quite easily corrected by reducing the amount of spices and spices.
So, to get this dairy product, you need to stock up: 3 liters of full-fat milk, 1 liter of fermented milk product, 2 teaspoons of salt, hot red ground pepper, granulated sugar, allspice peas (previously crushed with a coffee grinder) and ground cinnamon.
First of all, pour the fermented milk product into a double boiler and wait until curdled clots appear. Take your time, let the milk protein form well.
After that, the resulting mass of kefir is leaned back into a colander and filtered through a gauze napkin. The resulting cottage cheese can be used as an independent product or left for making pies or cheesecakes. To obtain homemade milk cheese, we need whey liquid, which was previously separated from the curd. Pour the whey into a glass jar and leave to infuse at room temperature for the next two days.
During this period, the serum will begin to sour. After two days, milk is poured into the whey liquid and placed on the stove. The power of the burner should be medium. Boil the contents of the pan until snow-white clots begin to appear. As soon as they start to float up, turn off the burner. Carefully strain the cheese blank with a gauze napkin. Season the future cheese with spices and spices, then mix thoroughly.Then re-wrap the resulting clot in a gauze napkin and hang it over the sink to drain excess liquid. It won't take more than an hour. After this time, transfer the cheese mass to any container.
Place a heavy object on top of the future cheese to create a press effect. This will help remove excess moisture. After a day, delicious milk cheese will be ready to eat.
With sour cream
This cheese has a traditional creamy taste. This product is served with all kinds of bread and richly seasoned with herbs. There are recipes in which sour cream cheese acts as a dressing for salads. If necessary, garlic cloves can be added to the cheese mass, which will make the taste of the product more pronounced and rich. The secret of the unique taste lies in sour cream, which is fermented with fermented milk products.
To prepare such cheese, you need to stock up on a liter of sour cream with a fat content of at least 20%, a liter of fermented milk product with a fat content of at least 2.5%, 1-2 teaspoons of salt, a bunch of fresh herbs (preferably parsley and dill).
Sour cream and the selected fermented milk product are thoroughly mixed. Then salt and a small amount of greens are added to the resulting mass. Use a mixer to obtain a uniform consistency.
With the help of a gauze napkin folded in several layers, the cheese blank is filtered.
After the excess liquid drains, you need to create a press, as in the previous recipe. Then the future cheese is placed in the refrigerator compartment for two days. As soon as it acquires a denser consistency, it is necessary to form several sausages from it and add finely chopped greens. Sour cream cheese is ready to eat.
Helpful Hints
Before serving, the cheese is cut into small pieces and, if necessary, dressed with spices, seasonings, nuts and spices. This type of homemade cheese goes well with black grain bread and full-fat butter. In order for homemade cheese to be tender and its texture pleasant to the taste, use dairy products with an exceptionally low fat content when cooking. For a steam bath, it is recommended to use enamel dishes with sufficiently dense and thick walls. Then milk and kefir will not burn.
In recipes where you need to add a chicken egg, mix must be done regularly. And for this, it is recommended to use a special kitchen spatula made of wood. In order for the taste to acquire interesting notes, you can add your favorite spices and spices, finely chopped greens, vegetable slices, olives and black olives to its composition (during cooking).
See the next video for another interesting recipe.