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.
At the conclusion of the heating, pour the curd and whey into a small cheesecloth bag (a clean salt bag will do nicely) and hang the bag on a fruit-strainer rack to drain, or the curd may be poured into a colander or a strainer over which a piece of cheesecloth 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 ends 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.
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.
The Use of Starters
The first step in the making of cottage cheese is to sour or ripen the milk. If care has been used in the production and handling of milk, a good grade of cheese may be made by allowing the milk to sour naturally. Uncertainty of results and lack of uniformity in the cheese, however, have caused many to resort to a more definite means of controlling fermentation or souring by the use of starters. Some of the dangers and disadvantages of natural souring are—
1. Slow coagulation or curdling.
2. Glassy and undesirable fermentations, causing loss of curd in whey.
3. Bitter and other undesirable flavors.
4. Lack of uniformity in the cheese.