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Cheese Curds
Cheese curds are a starting point for cheese making. They can be used fresh as a food in there own right. This is a simple cheese curd recipe that can be made in about 45 minutes. How to Make Cheese Curds Most everyone knows the old nursery rhyme about Little Miss Muffet, but few know that the curds and whey she was eating was an old fashioned form of cottage cheese, known as pot cheese. Simple to make, most households used excess milk to make cheese curds for eating.
Ingredients
1 Gallon - whole milk
3-4 cups yogurt, or 4-6 tablespoons lemon juice or white vinegar, or 2 teaspoons citric acid dissolved in ¾ cup water
Salt
Equipment
Large stainless steel pot with cover
Wire mesh colander
1 yard - Cheesecloth
Directions
Pour the milk into a heavy-bottomed pan that allows plenty of room for boiling.
Set it over high heat and bring the milk to a full foaming boil, stirring often to prevent scorching and sticking.
Reduce the heat to low, and, before the foam subsides, drizzle in the lemon juice, vinegar, citric acid solution, or spoon in the yogurt. Very gently and slowly move the spoon through the milk in one direction. After 10 or 15 seconds, remove the pan from the heat and continue to gently agitate the milk until large lumps of soft curd form. If the cheese has not formed after 1 minute place the pan over the heat momentarily until the casein (milk protein) coagulates and leaves pale yellow-greenish whey. If necessary, add a little more acid agent. The greenish colour of the whey is due to the presence of whey-soluble proteins Riboflavin and Lactoglobulin.
As soon as the cheese has formed, remove the pan from the heat, cover it and set it aside for 10 minutes. If you want a very soft cheese, gently pour in 1 or 2 cups of hot water. When the cheese has settled under the surface of the whey it is ready to drain.
Line a colander with 2 or 3 thicknesses of cheesecloth or some clean white cloth that has been dipped in water and wrung dry. Drape the corners and edges of the cloth over the sides of the colander. If you want to collect the whey, set the colander over another pan; otherwise place it in a sink. Many sweet-makers in Bengal use this soured whey to make further batches of cheese, but you need a significant amount more than lemon juice to do the job - you need one part whey to four parts milk.
Remove the large lumps of cheese with a slotted spoon and place them in a colander. Gently pour the smaller pieces and remaining whey into the colander.
Gather up the corners of the cloth and twist it around. Hold the bag of cheese under a gentle stream of cold running water for 5 to 10 seconds. Gently twist the cloth to squeeze out the excess whey. Add salt slowly and sample. Salt to taste. Mix the salt in by hand (spoon).
Drain the whey slowly, allowing the curd to compact under its own weight, by hanging the bag over a bowl to drain. Otherwise, for a quicker result, you can place the bag of cheese under a weight until firm. Save the whey for other cooking
Unwrap the cheese and seperate into curds and use as directed, or wrap in paper-towel-lined plastic wrap and save. You could go on to make cheese with it but as curd it should be used while fresh for things such as fried cheese or Poutine.
History
I researched how to make cheese curds by way of wanting to try making Poutine.
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