Equipment for Making Cottage Cheese
Little equipment is needed for making cottage cheese, and for the most part it may be found in any home. When the cheese is made in large quantities a small outlay for equipment is warranted as a matter of convenience and satisfaction. In most homes, however, satisfactory substitutes may be found for some of the utensils mentioned here.
Fig. 6.—Equipment used in first stages of making cottage cheese.
Starter bottles.—Quart milk bottles and tumblers are needed for holding the starter. Quart fruit jars will serve the purpose very well.
Cans or pails.—A “shotgun” can which may vary in size and material is very convenient; usually it is straight sided, 8 inches in diameter, 20 inches high, and holds about 4 gallons of milk. If such a can is not available, an ordinary 10-quart milk pail will be satisfactory.
Fig. 7.—Wire-covered draining rack.
Milk agitator.—A stirrer of the kind shown in [figure 6] is desirable for causing a uniform distribution of the starter and rennet prior to setting and for stirring the curd, but for making small quantities of cheese a spoon is entirely satisfactory.
Floating dairy thermometer.—The use of a reliable and accurate thermometer is absolutely necessary to obtain uniformity in results from day to day. Because of the danger of breaking, it should be kept in a case when not in use.
Rennet or pepsin.—Either commercial liquid rennet or junket tablets are desirable when cottage cheese is to be made quickly. Powdered pepsin also may be used. Rennet always should be kept cold and in a dark place.
Draining racks.—An ordinary fruit-straining rack is very useful for small quantities of cheese. A colander also will answer the purpose. When larger quantities are made a special rack will be found to be very convenient. Such a rack is described below.
A wire-covered rack ([fig. 7]) consists of a rectangular frame, 20 by 52 inches and 6 inches high, upon the bottom of which is tacked one-half inch mesh woven wire. The rack should be made of hard wood and dovetailed at the corners. If it is placed upon a table slightly inclined, the whey is directed to a common point and collected in a jar or pail by the use of strips nailed to the bottom of the frame. The materials required for making the rack are two boards 7⁄8 by 6 by 52 inches, two boards 7⁄8 by 6 by 26 inches, and woven wire 26 by 52 inches.
Another kind of rack is rectangular, 13 inches wide, 36 inches long, and 10 inches deep. The corner posts extend 11⁄2 inches beyond the strips and top and bottom, with the top rounded, so that a ring may fit over them. The bottom slats fit loosely into notches and are removable for washing. The materials required are four corner posts 11⁄2 by 11⁄2 inches, nine strips 1 by 3⁄8 by 36 inches, and six strips 1 by 3⁄8 by 121⁄4 inches, notched to receive bottom slats, all made of pine. A cloth is fastened upon each frame and the contents of one can poured into each cloth.
Draining cloths.—When the cheese is made without rennet, common cheesecloth is most satisfactory, but for cheese made with rennet, unbleached cotton sheeting is recommended. The quantity depends upon the size of the draining rack, enough being required to supply a single thickness, with an allowance for hems. All draining cloths should be hemmed.
Cartons.—Round, paraffined, sanitary, single-service containers are desirable for marketing the cheese.