Kefir cheese at home can be prepared in many ways. Today we will present you the simplest and most affordable options that do not require a large number of ingredients.
Soft Kefir Cheese: Home Recipe
Everyone can learn how to cook such a product on their own. After all, there is nothing complicated in creating homemade cheese. As a rule, such a product is very similar to Adyghe. Its taste and hardness largely depend on the feedstock, that is, on the sour-milk drink.
It should also be noted that kefir cheese at home is less caloric than a similar solid or processed product. In this regard, it is very useful for diet and baby food.
So how to make homemade kefir cheese? The recipe for the preparation of this product requires the use of the following components:
- homemade or kefir not very greasy - 2 bottles or 2 liters;
- natural butter - about 50 g;
- large fresh egg - 1 pc.;
- table soda - ½ small spoon;
- table salt - a dessert spoon (less or more can be used to taste);
- sweet paprika - 1/3 of a small spoon.
Cooking Curd
Before making cheese from kefir, you should cook homemade cottage cheese. To do this, we need to pour the milk drink into a large bowl, and then install it in a water bath and gradually heat it. As a result of the heat treatment, your whey should separate. The main thing in this case is not to overdo kefir and in no case bring it to a boil.
After the kefir becomes dense and large white flakes form in it, it should be discarded in a colander previously lined with gauze. Next, you need to squeeze all the excess liquid from the product, tie the contents into a bag and hang over a bowl for 16-22 minutes. During this time, moisture will go away, and kefir is converted into cottage cheese.
Cheese making
As you can see, it is not possible to make kefir cheese directly. Curd should be made from a sour-milk drink, and only then proceed to create the desired product.
After the granular ingredient is ready and all excess moisture is removed, it needs to be put in a deep bowl, and then add the chicken egg, table soda, sweet paprika, butter and table salt. The named ingredients must be strongly kneaded with a fork, and then put everything back in a water bath. At the same time, the milk mass must be constantly monitored. As soon as it begins to melt (after about three minutes), it should be intensively mixed with a wooden spatula. This process is recommended to be carried out until the whole mass does not remind you of the consistency of processed cheese. In other words, you should have a viscous yellowish product of a homogeneous state, that is, without a single lump. As a rule, such a process takes about ¼ hour.
We form soft cheese
As you can see, it is not very difficult to make kefir cheese at home. After the milk mass is completely ready, it should be laid out in tins. In this case, the dishes must be prepared in advance. It needs to be washed well, dried and greased generously with butter. Ideally, any plastic container or bamboo bowl should be used.
Thus, the finished cheese mass must be firmly laid out in a mold, and then sent to the refrigerator. In this condition, the product is desirable to withstand about 2 hours.
How to use?
Kefir cheese, the home recipe of which was presented above, is considered suitable after it hardens well. It should be cut into thin slices and presented to the table with bread and butter.
If you want to get spiced cheese from kefir at home, then in the cottage cheese made from a sour-milk drink, you need to add any spices, seasonings, nuts and other ingredients. As a result, you get a natural dairy product that will appeal to absolutely all your family members.
Homemade kefir cheese: a simple recipe
As mentioned above, you can make homemade cheese in various ways. In this section of the article, we decided to present you the simplest and fastest recipe, thanks to which you can get the most delicious dairy product, as close as possible to the Adyghe one.
So, to make kefir cheese at home, we need:
- homemade or kefir not very greasy - 2 bottles or 2 liters;
- table salt - a dessert spoon (less or more can be used to taste);
- garlic - a pair of cloves;
- sugar - apply to taste;
- fresh greens - use to taste.
Cooking kefir
Milk, kefir, cheese are the most popular dairy products that do not need advertising. It should also be noted that the last two ingredients can be easily obtained by processing the first. How exactly, we will tell right now.
If you do not want to make homemade cheese from purchased kefir, we suggest you cook it yourself. To do this, the village milk needs to be slightly warmed up, and then add 2 large spoons of the fermented milk drink to it, mix thoroughly, close with a plastic cover, wrap in a blanket and leave warm for exactly one day. As a result, you should get a natural home-made kefir of high fat content.
Heat treatment of kefir
How to make homemade cheese on your own? Kefir (sour milk) is the basis of the mentioned product. After the fermented milk drink is ready, it should be poured into a bowl and put in a water bath. It is recommended to warm it up very slowly, until the serum is separated. As a rule, this process takes about 20-28 minutes of free time.
Spin process
As in the previous recipe, the heat treatment of the fermented milk drink should be carried out until it thickens. In the future, the contents of the bowl must be discarded on a colander, which must be pre-lined with large multi-layer gauze.
When all excess moisture drains, to the resulting mass it is necessary to add table salt, granulated sugar, grated cloves of garlic and finely chopped greens to taste. All of these ingredients must be thoroughly kneaded with a fork so that the spices are evenly distributed over the dairy product.
At the end, the granular mass should again be placed in a dense gauze and tied well. The resulting bundle must be put on a colander or any other dishes with holes, and then pressed with a load. A three-liter glass jar filled to the brim with water is perfect as oppression.
In this condition, the product is recommended to withstand for 1-2 days. During this time, all moisture must leave the cheese mass, making it more elastic and tasty.
If you need to get harder cheese, then squeeze it with the help of oppression should be a little longer. But in this case, it must be placed in a refrigerator, otherwise it will grow moldy and sour.
How to present to the table?
After the home-made cheese is infused under the load and loses all moisture as much as possible, it should be removed from gauze and placed in a container with a lid. In this form, the product is recommended to be stored in the cold for no more than two days. Serve it to the table with bread and butter. In addition, various salads, pizza, as well as main dishes and casseroles are often made from homemade cheese.
To summarize
Almost all self-made cheeses from kefir and cottage cheese resemble processed or soft (Adyghe) dairy products. As for the solid, to obtain it requires a special technology, which is very difficult to organize at home.
It should also be noted that you can noticeably change the taste of homemade cheeses by adding certain ingredients to them. By the way, during the preparation of such a product, whey that has separated from kefir is not recommended to be poured. After all, it can make very tasty pancakes or okroshka.