The Story of Milk

by Johan Ditlev Frederiksen

CHEESE MADE WITHOUT RENNET

Mono-service jar

Cottage Cheese.—Of the sour milk types the common Cottage Cheese is the best known. It is made from skim milk which in a warm room will curdle when sour, whether rennet and a starter are used or not. The thick sour milk is heated to anywhere between 100° and 120° and dipped into bags of cheese-cloth hung up for draining. The next day light pressure is applied for 12 to 24 hours, when the curd is kneaded, slightly salted, formed into balls and wrapped in parchment paper or packed into jars. For this purpose paraffined paper jars are very practical.

The more the curd is heated in the whey the drier will be the cheese. Often it is improved by allowing the curd to become rather dry and then working new milk or a little cream into it, according to the use to which it is to be put—whether it is for bakers’ stock or for the table.

Simple directions for making Cottage cheese are given in Farmers’ Bulletin 850 and A. I. 17, issued by the United States Department of Agriculture from which we reprint the following and copy the accompanying illustrations:

Pouring the curdled milk on cloth to drain

“One gallon of skim milk will make about 1½ 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.

Lifting the cloth back and forth to facilitate draining

“At the conclusion of the heating, pour the curd and whey into a small cheese-cloth bag (a clean salt bag will do nicely) and hang the bag in a fruit-strainer rack to drain, or the curd may be poured into a colander or a strainer over which a piece of cheese-cloth 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 end 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.

Pressing the curd

“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.”

Apparatus needed in making cottage cheese

Making Cottage Cheese with Rennet.—In the bulletin mentioned a method is also given for making the cheese with rennet or pepsin. Junket Tablets make a convenient form of rennet to be used for this purpose.

The advantages claimed for this method are:

1. A finer textured and more uniform cheese.

2. The making requires less time and attention.

3. Losses of fat in the whey are reduced.

The process is the same as described above except that a solution of Junket Tablets is added to the milk at the rate of one tablet to 100 lbs. of milk. For less milk use a fraction of a tablet, or dissolve one tablet in ten tablespoonfuls of water and use one spoonful of the solution for each 10 lbs. of milk.

If a starter is used the rennet solution is added immediately after the starter is put in; if no starter is used the milk is left for five or six hours at 80° F. to ripen before adding the rennet. The milk will curdle overnight.

After draining for thirty minutes on cotton sheeting the ends of the cloth are tied together and a weight is placed on top to press the curd gently until the desired consistency is attained.

Salt may be worked in at the rate of 2½ ounces to 10 lbs. of curd. If desired, add sweet or sour cream at the rate of ½ pint to 10 lbs. of curd or ¼ pint of cream to the product from 30 lbs. of milk.

It will be seen that Cottage cheese made with rennet is really the same as Neufchatel cheese, the only difference being in the form and packing or wrapping of the finished cheese.

Snappy Cheese.—By allowing the sour skim milk curd to ferment under careful regulation, a variety of sharp, snappy, more or less hard cheese can be made. Though there is no general demand for them, some kinds are quite popular in their own restricted localities. The Danish Appetite cheese is only one of the many varieties which have as many names.

Club Cheese and similar varieties are made by grinding up old dry cheese with a little butter and packing the product in jars or other attractive packages. American, Roquefort, or any other well-known type may be used as the stock for these cheeses. Everywhere they are favorites in dining cars and lunch rooms.

Milking the goat in Norway

Whey Cheese.—In Switzerland the so-called Zieger cheese is made from sour whey, the albumin being coagulated by heat and, with whatever butter-fat there may be left in the whey, skimmed off the top. In Norway Myseost (“Ost” is Norwegian for cheese) is made by boiling down whey almost to dryness. If goat milk is available to mix in, it improves the cheese. The main substance is sugar of milk and the cheese has a sweet, syrupy flavor.