Homemade cheese from cottage cheese step by step. Homemade processed cheese recipe with photos

Homemade processed cheese is very easy to prepare, the main thing is to prepare it from high-quality (real) cottage cheese. Delicious, beautiful, healthy, real processed cheese made from cottage cheese.

To make processed cheese, I buy homemade cottage cheese at the market.

Cottage cheese should not be sour, of any fat content. Cottage cheese that has been frozen will also work. Making processed cheese is also a good way to process some stale cottage cheese.


INGREDIENTS
cottage cheese - 0.5 kg;
soda - 0.5 teaspoon;
salt - 1 teaspoon;

chicken egg - 1 pc.

COOKING METHOD
Pour water into the pan (about 1/3) and put it on fire. You also need to choose a smaller metal bowl or saucepan; we will cook the melted cheese in a water bath.

Grind the cottage cheese, salt, soda and egg well in a blender.

You will get a pleasant, “fluffy”, homogeneous curd mass without lumps.

Next, transfer the curd mass into a metal bowl and remove the pan of boiling water from the heat. Place the bowl on the pan and return the pan with the bowl to the heat. Water should not touch the bowl. We built a water bath.

We constantly stir our curd mass and it melts before our eyes and turns into melted cheese, the consistency of hot custard. It will take about 7 minutes for the cottage cheese to melt completely.

If the cottage cheese is very watery, keep the cheese in a water bath a little longer to let the excess liquid evaporate. Then everything is simple, remove the pan from the heat, you can cool a little cheese in a spoon and taste, add salt if necessary. Pour the cheese into a bowl or container and cool slightly. As it cools, a film forms on the surface of the cheese, which easily disappears when stirred. Stir the cheese at room temperature, cover with a lid or cling film. Place in the refrigerator until completely cooled.

It’s convenient to make melted cheese in the evening, and in the morning you will have delicious cheese sandwiches with a cup of coffee.

Cheese can be made at home, and it is not as difficult as it seems at first glance. The advantages of homemade cheese are that it is not only very tasty, but also healthy, since only high-quality natural products are used in the preparation process without preservatives and other chemicals. In addition, you can make a dietary product if you use low-fat ingredients when making homemade cheese. Homemade curd cheese is a real delicacy that will delight both children and adults. In addition, you can prepare many interesting dishes from it, recipes for which are published on our website.

Basics of making homemade cheese

Many types of cheese are prepared at home - hard, processed, Adyghe, Philadelphia, Suluguni, ricotta, mozzarella or cream cheese, which is spread on bread. The classic recipe for homemade cheese includes very fresh milk with a fat content of at least 2.5% (store-bought or country milk, cow or goat), kefir, butter, sour cream, cottage cheese, aromatic herbs and savory spices. The taste of cottage cheese can be varied with interesting additions - fried mushrooms, nuts, olives, vegetables, ham and herbs. You can experiment with products and invent your own cheeses while sticking to the basic technology. More experienced chefs cook cheeses with rennet, but you can do without it, at least at the initial stage.

The essence of all recipes is that milk is brought to a boil in a large and necessarily non-stick pan, the rest of the dairy products are added and heated for some time until the curd mass separates from the whey. After this, the cheese is suspended in several layers of gauze or the cheesecloth and cottage cheese are placed in a colander, and a weight is placed on top, which helps the cheese to finally get rid of the whey. The cooled cheese is placed in the refrigerator for several hours, although cheese experts say that the cheese should ripen and gain strength within 24 hours.

Homemade cottage cheese

This delicious cheese takes time and a little inspiration to make, but your family is sure to love the results. Mix 1 kg of village cottage cheese with 1 liter of milk in a three-liter saucepan and, stirring, bring to a boil. At this time, in a small saucepan on a nearby burner, melt 200 g of butter in a water bath, and in a bowl mix 2 yolks with ¾ tbsp. l. salt and 1 tsp. soda As soon as the liquid in the pan begins to boil, we carefully strain it through cheesecloth and hang it. Let the cheese hang in the cheesecloth until the whey stops flowing and just starts dripping.

Now combine the melted butter with the yolks and cottage cheese in a bowl and heat the mass in a water bath, stirring vigorously with a spatula. Before our eyes, miracles will happen to the cheese mass - it will begin to foam, increase in size and thicken. And then, as soon as the foam subsides, we will finally see real cheese, and from that moment we need to boil it for another 10 minutes until it lags behind the walls of the dish.

Pour the cheese into a regular cake pan, greased with vegetable oil, and leave in the refrigerator for 4 hours. If we want to get a denser and harder cheese, we wrap it in parchment paper and place it under pressure for half a day. After this, you can serve the appetizer on the table and use the cheese to make sandwiches or other dishes.

How to make homemade cheese very quickly

If you don’t have time to stand at the stove for a long time, you can use a simple recipe for milk cheese. To do this, bring 1 liter of 3.2% fat milk to a boil, add 30 ml of apple cider vinegar, 2 tbsp. l. butter, 1 tsp. dry herbs and 1 tsp. salt. Stirring the mixture, bring it to a boil again, remove from heat and, as usual, strain through cheesecloth. Lightly squeeze the curd lump, place the cheese under a weight - usually for this purpose they take a round wooden cutting board, on which they place a stone and bricks. Many housewives use a special press for salting lard or a regular saucepan in which they place something heavy, such as a jar of homemade ingredients. It is believed that the load should weigh 10 kg or more. Homemade five-minute cheese is not kept under pressure for very long - until it cools down, and then it is cut into appetizing pieces and served.

How to make cream cheese at home

This simple and easy-to-prepare cheese will surprise you with its delicate and soft taste. It cooks very quickly. We leave a liter of natural cream for 2 days in a warm place, when it sours, strain it through cheesecloth, let the excess whey drain off, or squeeze it out lightly. We place the cream under a press weighing about 3 kg, and after half an hour we enjoy the delicious treat.

There is another recipe for making cream cheese, which we know as Philadelphia. To do this, we dilute in 1 tsp. water ¼ tsp. citric acid and a pinch of salt, pour it all into a liter of 25% cream and cook over heat for about 10 minutes, stirring constantly, until the creamy mass separates from the liquid.

Pour the cream into a colander lined with gauze and leave for 2 hours, stirring occasionally so that not a drop of liquid remains. Next, transfer the cheese to a closed container and let it ripen in the refrigerator for 24 hours. Soft cream cheese is used to make desserts, spread it on white bread, or simply eat it with a spoon as a dessert.

Homemade mascarpone cheese

Gourmet Italian cheese can also be prepared at home. To do this, mix 200 ml of milk with 800 ml of sour cream and grind until smooth. Then put the sour cream and milk mixture on the fire, heat it, stir, but do not boil, otherwise the cheese will be hopelessly spoiled. Add 2 tsp. lemon juice, turn the heat to minimum and continue heating until the sour cream turns into cottage cheese. Turn off the heat, leave the cottage cheese in the whey for another 5 minutes, and then put it in a colander in cheesecloth and forget about it for an hour. After a while, carefully squeeze the cheese to check if there is any whey left in it, put it in a beautiful bowl, close the lid tightly and cool. You can taste it right away! By the way, mascarpone is used to make the most delicate tiramisu cake, Easter cake, soufflé, cream and many other delicious dishes.

Homemade cheese

Fermented milk with a pleasant salty taste is indispensable in salads, and you can prepare it yourself. To do this, we bring 1 liter of milk to a boil, and then, without turning down the heat, add 2 tbsp. l. salt. By this point, we should have 3 eggs prepared, beaten with 200 g of sour cream, which we pour into boiling milk.

Stirring, cook the cheese mixture, continuing to do this even after boiling - perhaps 5 minutes will be enough. When the whey begins to separate from the thickened cheese, pour the contents of the pan into a colander with gauze and hang for 3 hours. Without removing the finished cheese from the fabric, place it under a press until it becomes denser. Bryndza is added not only to salads, but also to snacks, pies and soups. During the cooking process, you can add a little greenery to the cheese. In general, this is a very good product, without which it is difficult to imagine home cooking.

Homemade ricotta with kefir

Let's try to make amazingly delicious Italian cheese, especially since it is not at all difficult. So, we heat 1 liter of milk, but under no circumstances boil it - it is better to immediately remove the pan from the heat. Add 1 tsp to hot milk. salt, 2 tsp. sugar, 150 ml kefir and 4 tbsp. l. lemon juice, and then leave it for half an hour until it curdles. Then we put the resulting cottage cheese on a cheesecloth in a colander and hang it - all the liquid should drain. This delicate curd cheese is used to make pizza, salads, sauces, fillings for dumplings and desserts.

Processed homemade cheese

This one cooks very quickly, and is eaten even faster, because it is very tasty, aromatic and healthy. Grind 400 g of cottage cheese until smooth, mix with 2 eggs and 1 tsp. baking soda and place the pan on very low heat. Melt the cheese for 15 minutes, stirring constantly, and then add any toppings: herbs, garlic, mushrooms, ham - whatever your heart desires. The cheese is ready - all you have to do is cool it and serve it with fresh bread or pasta. The cheese can also be placed in silicone molds and stored in the refrigerator.

Homemade curd cheese is the most delicious delicacy in the world, and if you have never tried making it, don’t put it off. And although there is a proverb: “It takes talent to make cheese,” every housewife can develop this talent. The main thing is to try, experiment and share your finds and discoveries with us!

Processed cheese is rightfully considered a universal dish. It is often added to salads and used as an independent snack. Store-bought products are full of artificial additives and flavor enhancers. After reading the composition of processed cheese, the consumer will often lose the desire to consume it. Having decided to make such a product themselves, many housewives clutch their heads, not knowing where to start. However, in practice, everything is not as complicated as it might seem at first glance.

Processed cheese from cottage cheese: a classic of the genre

  • butter - 95-110 gr.
  • soda - 20 gr.
  • Quail eggs - 4 pcs.
  • salt - to taste
  • cottage cheese - 500-600 gr.
  • seasonings - at your discretion
  • dried or fresh herbs - to taste
  1. To prepare the base for cooking cheese, place a pan on the stove and fill it halfway with water. Take a container of a smaller diameter in advance, which will be placed in the main pan when using a water bath. Place cottage cheese in it. The cream cheese mixture is made quickly.
  2. Add lightly melted butter to the cottage cheese, then mix eggs and soda into the total mass (can be replaced with baking powder). Do not add oil to the ice cream, otherwise you will not be able to avoid the unevenness of the product.
  3. Take a meat grinder or food processor and pass the curd granular mass through the device. If you have a blender in your kitchen, it is best suited for this process. Turn the mixture into a homogeneous mass, eliminating lumps and graininess. If you wish, you can use a fork or a whisk, depending on the circumstances.
  4. When the water in a large saucepan boils, reduce the burner to medium power and place the curd mixture in a water bath. Do not forget to stir the composition, do not allow the first container to touch the bottom of a large pan. After 4-5 minutes, the curd mass will look like processed cheese (sticky paste).
  5. Stir the mixture until smooth so that the curd eventually disintegrates into grains no larger in size than grains of table salt. Remove the cheese mass from the steam bath, add spices and salt to taste.
  6. You can make a unique cheese by adding various flavoring spices and additives to the prepared composition. To improve the taste, add finely chopped champignons, as well as herbs and garlic. Processed cheese can be supplemented not only with a side dish, but also with sweeteners, such as jam or grated berries.
  7. Before use, stir the prepared mass and package it in containers for long-term storage. Leave the cheese in the refrigerator for several hours to thicken and finally set. The shelf life of the finished product usually does not exceed 5 days.

Cottage cheese does not melt: what to do

Don't be upset if the cheese doesn't turn out right the first time. You may encounter a difficulty in which the cottage cheese does not want to melt under any pretext. Let's consider possible solutions to the problem.

  1. The curd mass may not melt completely and leave noticeable lumps among the homogeneous paste, in this case you should add a little more soda. If the mixture particles are small, leave the cheese to cool at the end of cooking; they will dissolve on their own.
  2. The melting of cottage cheese directly depends on its quality. It doesn't matter how much fat it contains. The main thing is that the product should not be diluted or frozen; only completely natural composition is welcome. If the cottage cheese is of good quality, its melting will begin in the first minutes. In cases where, after a quarter of an hour, the consistency of the composition remains unchanged, we can assume that everything is lost. It is impossible to make cheese from cottage cheese that cannot be processed.

Important!
Some housewives are faced with a problem when all the cottage cheese, with the exception of small grains, has melted. Even an extra dose of baking soda doesn't help. In this case, do not suffer, remove the composition from the heat and proceed to further manipulations. Otherwise, you risk irreversibly damaging the product.

  • butter - 120 gr.
  • milk with fat content from 3.2% - 1 l.
  • salt - 20 gr.
  • soda - 20 gr.
  • cottage cheese - 0.9-1 kg.
  1. Place the pan on the stove, pour milk into it and leave over medium heat until the first bubbles appear. At this time, pass the cottage cheese through a kitchen sieve so that it breaks down into small grains.
  2. As soon as the milk reaches the required boiling temperature, reduce the burner to low power. Pour in the curd product and knead the mixture with a wooden spatula.
  3. After 3-5 minutes, you will notice that the composition begins to disintegrate. You will end up with two sections that consist of whey (a liquid with a yellowish tint) and individual curds.
  4. Continue stirring the product until the whey becomes almost clear. As practice shows, these manipulations will take about 5 minutes. Next, remove the container from the heat and proceed to the next step.
  5. Prepare a wide container and a sieve; utensils will be needed to separate the whey and curd mass. Some housewives prefer to place the mixture in a colander, having previously lined it with gauze.
  6. Pour the product into the filter and wait until all the liquid has drained. Press the curd a little with your hands and tie the gauze edges, making a bag. Hang it over the basin and leave for 1 hour.
  7. Chop the butter into cubes and place in a deep glass or ceramic bowl. Place in the microwave on the edge of a turntable. Melt the product completely and add to the cottage cheese.
  8. Add salt, soda, beat the finished mixture with a mixer or use a blender. The main thing is to bring the mass to complete homogeneity. There should be no lumps in it, otherwise the cottage cheese will turn out to be of poor quality.
  9. Next, melt the composition in a convenient way. You can pour it into a thick-bottomed pan and then put it on the stove. Or make a water/steam bath, with the help of which the simmering will take place safely.
  10. When the mixture dissolves, it will resemble a sticky paste. It’s easy to check if it’s done: put a fork in and remove it. If you see threads extending from the total mass, the cheese is ready.
  11. Remove the product from the stove and pour into heat-resistant containers. Cool to room temperature, then refrigerate for storage. The holding period should not exceed one week.
  12. If you follow the instructions, you will get 750 g at the end. processed homemade cheese. Grease a crispy bun with it, prepare a salad, after mixing the product with paprika, herbs, ham or pickles.

Sweet processed cheese based on cocoa

  • soda - 8 gr.
  • cottage cheese - 175 gr.
  • cocoa powder - 10 gr.
  • honey (can be replaced with cane sugar) - 25 gr.
  1. Sift cocoa powder through a fine kitchen sieve and grind the curd. Mix the listed components, add soda to them. Bring the mixture as smooth as possible. Leave the composition for a quarter of an hour to partially infuse.
  2. Choose 2 pans of different sizes (large and medium). Mark the infused mixture into the smaller diameter one, and pour water into the larger one. Place one container in another, bring the liquid to a boil over medium heat.
  3. As a result, you will have a water bath in which the cottage cheese will begin to melt. Simmer the mixture for 8 minutes, stirring constantly with a wooden spatula. As soon as the granules dissolve, pour in the melted honey and soak for another 2 minutes.
  4. Pour the mixture into a heat-resistant mold; a food container with a lid will do. Some housewives prefer to pour the cheese into ice cells and then leave the mixture to harden. Before serving, the cheese is pricked with toothpicks and sprinkled with grated chocolate.

It's not difficult to make processed cheese at home if you have an idea about basic technologies. Consider a traditional recipe based on cottage cheese, try making a viscous product from full-fat (preferably cow's) milk. Pamper your ancestors with sweet cheese made from cocoa powder. Add additional ingredients as desired (paprika, horseradish, mushrooms, ham, smoked sausages, etc.).

Video: homemade processed cheese

Modern people increasingly value everything natural. It is not surprising, because there are so many products on sale that contain flavor enhancers, flavors and colorings, as well as preservatives that extend their shelf life. And if the product is natural, then it costs an order of magnitude more. Take cheeses, for example. Increasingly, they contain palm oil, which is harmful to health. To get a clean product, many people make hard cheese at home. We invite you to learn how to make hard cheese and recipes for making it at home.

Cottage cheese - recipes

Hard cheese made from cottage cheese with added milk - recipe No. 1

If you love cheeses, but do not yet have experience in preparing this product, then you can try making delicious homemade cheese according to the classic recipe. It is simple, so the result will certainly please you, even if you are new to cheese making.

Ingredients: dry cottage cheese – 1 kg; milk – 1 l; salt, soda - 1 tsp each; butter – 100 g; chicken eggs – 2 pcs.

First, it is worth noting that it is better to choose low-fat cottage cheese and milk with a short shelf life. If you use ultra pasteurized, the cheese may not turn out.

So, prepare a thick-bottomed pan or cauldron. Pour milk into it and bring to a boil. Place cottage cheese in hot milk. Reduce the heat to low, stir the mixture thoroughly for 5-7 minutes, until the separation of the whey from the cheese curds becomes obvious. The next step is to separate the clots from the liquid. This can be done using a sieve or regular gauze. Squeeze the curd to remove any remaining whey. The mass should be almost dry.

We transfer the future cheese into a cauldron, add softened butter, salt, soda and eggs to it. Continuously stir the contents over medium heat. Do not leave the product unattended, otherwise it will burn. Gradually the cheese curds will melt and become viscous. At first it may seem that the curd grains have not completely melted, and besides, the mass looks quite liquid. Just continue to boil it for some more time, the cheese will gradually become thicker and soon it will become impossible to stir it, as it will stick to the spatula or slotted spoon in a large clot.

After about 20 minutes, you can turn off the heat and transfer the viscous mass to a plastic container. Place the cooled cheese in the refrigerator for several hours. The degree of its hardness depends on the cooking time of the cheese at the final stage. The more you boil it, the harder the product will be. Adjust the degree of salinity to your taste. Someone likes saltier cheeses, then it’s worth putting not 1 spoon of salt, but, for example, one and a half. If you treat children with this product, it is not advisable to add a lot of salt.

If you like savory cheese, you can add spices to it to suit your taste. An excellent option is paprika, cumin, herbes de Provence, and basil. Some even add chopped dry sausage and garlic to the cheese mass. Cheeses are often flavored with herbs. If you would like to add any of the listed additives to your cheese, do it at the stage when the curd melts, that is, boils down, turning into a viscous mass. This is the best time to add additional ingredients.

Homemade cottage cheese without milk - recipe No. 2

Homemade soft cottage cheese without milk according to this recipe is similar to the previous one, the only difference is that milk is not used here. The cheese will be tender with a pleasant consistency. Let's try to cook it?

Ingredients: fresh crumbly cottage cheese – 1 kg; salt and soda - 1 tsp each; butter – 100 g; 2 eggs.

Advice! The drier the cottage cheese, the harder the cheese will end up. Pay attention to this when purchasing. If you only have soft, wet cottage cheese, simply increase the boiling time by a third.

Pour the cottage cheese into a bowl and sprinkle the surface with baking soda. Now you need to mix everything so that the soda grains are evenly distributed in the cottage cheese.

At the same time, knead the lumps with your hands; there shouldn’t be any. Leave the bowl alone for about 3-4 hours. This time is necessary for the soda to react with the lactic acid contained in the cottage cheese. After waiting the designated time, pay attention to the color of the cottage cheese - it will turn yellow, this indicates that you can proceed to further actions.

Add eggs, melted butter and salt to our mixture. Mix the contents of the bowl thoroughly until all ingredients are combined. Now you need to prepare a water bath. Transfer the curd mass into a small saucepan, and place a larger diameter container on the stove, pouring a little water into it. When it boils, lower a small pan of cottage cheese into it.

The mass will begin to gradually heat up, and your task is to stir it constantly. Do this for 20-30 minutes, the consistency of the contents will change, turning into a viscous and sticky mass. When the curd grains are completely melted, the cheese can be transferred to any form. This can be a small bowl, plastic container or silicone mold. After the cheese has cooled at room temperature, it is recommended to put it in the refrigerator for 6-10 hours. Now you can taste the product. Bon appetit!

Here were presented the simplest recipes for homemade hard cheese, which can be prepared even by people who have never set foot at the stove before. And you can eat such cheese without fear for the health of your children.

It happens that there is cottage cheese in the refrigerator - it didn’t go right away, you changed your mind about making dessert or something else, and the next day you wanted processed cheese for sandwiches or pizza.

Don't rush into a new purchase.

A thrifty housewife does not throw anything away; all her products must be used and recycled.

Prepare processed cheese from cottage cheese.

This is quite easy to do at home.

In addition, it is possible to diversify the taste with the help of different additives, and at the same time find a worthy use for the cottage cheese purchased yesterday, without waiting for it to completely deteriorate.

Processed cheese from cottage cheese at home - basic technological principles

Each industrial technology, when applied at home, changes depending on the existing conditions. This is similar to the principle of operation of technical conditions, when any manufacturer can deviate from existing state standards and develop their own technology, for example, making processed cheese from cottage cheese at home. But general technological principles for creating a product identical in appearance and taste to processed cheese certainly exist, and they must be followed in order to obtain exactly processed cheese and not something else.

What are these general principles of product preparation, and in what cases can we deviate from the standards, and what will remain unchanged in technology?

Processed cheese at dairy processing plants is obtained from cheese grains (cottage cheese). The stages of milk processing preceding the production of cottage cheese (cleaning, pasteurization, ripening, etc.) are ignored for now, because we are interested in the original product - cottage cheese.

Here it should be especially emphasized that in production for processed cheeses cottage cheese of any fat content, feta cheese, cheese mass, whole and powdered milk or cream, sour cream, hard cheeses (pre-peeled and crushed) can be used - any dairy products are used. They are ground into crumbs to produce cheese dough.

Let's return for a second to the question of making processed cheese from cottage cheese at home. If by the time you select the raw materials for melting the cheese, there is some of the products listed above in the refrigerator, then you can safely grind it together with the cottage cheese into crumbs, and create your own composition from the available raw materials. But if you add, for example, a piece of blue cheese lying around to the cheese mass, you need to understand that this will affect the taste and consistency of the future processed cheese. That is, the selection of raw materials must be a thoughtful action, at least with a presumably planned result.

Let's look at the production process further. After selecting the raw material, its processing begins: stripping the crust layer, grinding and preparing a mixture of crumbs. Stripping and removal of paraffin is carried out in cases where hard cheese is added to the cheese grain. Next, all components are individually ground into the smallest fractions and then a composition for cheese dough is made from them.

Pay attention to the sequence and choose which of the described production stages may be useful in preparing processed cheese from cottage cheese at home. The process of grinding hard cheeses, if necessary, will not take much time and will not require special equipment. It may be enough to use a fine grater. A blender or meat grinder will also be very helpful at this stage.

When preparing the cheese mixture for melting, you need to pay attention not only to the introduction of additives (paprika, bacon, herbs, etc.) to create the necessary taste, but also to regulating the acidity, which determines the melting mode of the cheese and its ripening. If the mixture contains hard cheeses, then the melting temperature and duration are reduced. To reduce the acidity of the raw material, fresh, non-acidic cottage cheese is added. For processed cottage cheese at home, you can reduce the acidity and create the necessary consistency by adding fresh or powdered milk or cream.

To make processed cheese from cottage cheese at home, you must add melting salts.

What is it and what is it for? During the melting process, milk protein becomes soluble. In the raw curd mass, casein (milk protein) has not been subjected to long-term and high temperature treatment, and, therefore, the melting ability of the cottage cheese is very low, which, in turn, during the melting process will make it difficult to obtain a homogeneous mass, without grains of cheese grains. To improve the melting of cottage cheese, the addition of sodium citric salts, sodium pyrophosphate, and dibasic sodium phosphate is used. Lemon sodium is considered the best melting salt in cheese production.

The following quite reasonable question arises: where can I get such salt for making processed cheese from cottage cheese at home? This is a food additive with a wide range of uses. It is used as an anticoagulant in the food industry and medicine, for the production of processed cheeses, infant formula, jellies, yogurts, marshmallows, seasonings, carbonated drinks with lemon or lime flavor. Based on sodium citrate, medicines are made to relieve hangovers, heartburn, as a laxative, for the treatment of cystitis and diseases of the genitourinary system. You can purchase sour salt at specialized sales points: after all, it can be useful not only for making processed cheese from cottage cheese at home.

Well, if there is no desire or opportunity to purchase a food additive, then there are other means that partially replace its use in home cheese making.

By adding a significant volume (at least 30%) of cheese crumbs from hard cheeses to the cottage cheese, it is possible to achieve the required consistency without the use of sodium citrate. In this case, the cottage cheese should have a moist, soft consistency.

Baking soda and citric acid will help partially slow down the curdling when melting cheese, despite the fact that the chemical formula of these compounds is different and has only some similar elements.

When adding sour salt, you need to be guided by taste, just as when adding citric acid and table salt to the cheese mass.

After adding the acidic salt, you need to give the mass time to mature, from one hour to 3 hours, depending on the composition of the raw materials.

The next stage of preparation is melting the cheese mass. The duration of melting is from 15 to 30 minutes, which is determined by the volume of the cheese mass, as well as the quality of the raw materials: if it is necessary to preserve the taste, the melting time is reduced; To eliminate defects in cheese dough, the duration of temperature treatment, on the contrary, increases. The finished mass is transferred into molds at a temperature of 80-85°C and cooled.

Recipe 1. “Homemade amber”

Composition of the product:

    Cottage cheese (36%) 750 g

    Yolks, raw 3 pcs.

    Butter 150 g

    Sodium citrate 10 g

Cooking method:

Grind the cottage cheese with egg yolks, add sour salt, mix and leave for 1.5 hours for the mass to mature.

Boil water in a large saucepan and lower the container with the cheese mixture into it. Cook the cheese dough until thickened, stirring continuously. When the mixture begins to pull away from the sides of the bowl, add melted butter and stir until smooth.

Continue whisking until the fat stops separating. When it cools down to 80°C, beat and pack into cups or molds.

Place the completely cooled processed cheese in the refrigerator, sealed. To seal the cups, cut lids from foil to fit the diameter of the mold and glue them to the edges with egg white.

Recipe 2. Processed cheese with mushrooms

Composition of the product:

    Cottage cheese 1.0 kg

    Homemade sour cream 400 g

    Mushroom seasoning 25 g

    Fresh champignons 600 g

    Vegetable oil 100 ml

Preparation procedure:

Soak small champignons with “closed” caps in acidified water for about half an hour, rinse, peel and cut into slices. Fry in vegetable oil and cool.

Beat cottage cheese and sour cream into a creamy mass, add mushroom seasoning. Let the cheese dough stand for a couple of hours and cook in a steam bath until the mass begins to thicken. Add the fried mushrooms, mix thoroughly again and remove from the stove. Keep stirring the cream cheese to form a head. The mass should easily separate from the spatula and the walls of the pan.

Transfer the cooled mushroom cheese to a wooden cutting board and beat out. The finished head of cheese will be easy to separate from your hands and from the board. Transfer the cheese into the mold and leave it on the counter until it cools, and then into the refrigerator.

Recipe 3. Spicy processed cheese

Product composition:

    Hard cheese (assorted) 400 g

    Fat cottage cheese 750 g

    Eggs 4 pcs.

    Sour cream, homemade 250 g

    Garlic 50 g

    Ground pepper, black and red

    Dried paprika, sweet 100 g

  • Citric acid 5 g

    Mixture of cumin and coriander seeds 50 g

Preparation procedure:

Place cottage cheese and hard cheese into the bowl of a food processor and beat into a fluffy mass, adding eggs, sour cream, and spices. Cook the prepared cheese dough for about half an hour, placing the container with it in a large pan of water. Cook, stirring. As soon as a ball begins to form, remove from heat and place the bowl of cheese in a container of ice water, continuing to stir. Then grease the work surface and hands, form a block, sprinkle it with cumin and coriander seeds, and wrap in film. Keep the finished cheese indoors for 3-4 hours, and then put it in the cold.

Recipe 4. Processed cheese “Emerald”, with nuts

Composition of the product:

    Cottage cheese (19%) 400 g

    Cream, dry (20%) 100 g

    Lemon juice 60 ml

    Milk, whole 0.9 l

    Basil, lemon 150 g

    Hard cheese, grated 0.5 kg

    Garlic, dried 50 g

    Roasted peanuts, ground 200 g

Preparation:

Rub the cottage cheese through a sieve. Dissolve the cream in warm milk (40°C), add ground dried garlic. Finely chop the basil, add a little salt and add the herbs to the milk mixture. Combine the pureed cottage cheese with fine crumbs of hard cheese, mix and add to the prepared milk. Let the mixture cook in a water bath. After heating to 60°C, pour in lemon juice, while rotating with a spatula in a circle until the resulting fibers gather into a dense clot. Remove the bowl of green cheese from the hot water and place it in another container of ice water. Rotate again until the mixture cools down. Place the cheese in a silicone mold, greased and sprinkled with ground peanuts.

Recipe 5. Chocolate cheese, processed

Composition of the product:

    Curd mass, vanilla 0.5 kg

    Sugar - to taste

    Baking soda 5 g

    Dark chocolate 200 g

    Cream, heavy 250 ml

    Lemon juice 30 ml

Cooking technology:

Heat the cream and melt the chocolate and sugar in it. Beat the curd mass with the milk-chocolate mixture, add lemon juice and soda. Cook for 5-7 minutes over low heat, stirring the mixture continuously. Cool the cheese to 70-80°C and place in cups.

Recipe 6. Processed cheese, creamy - classic taste

Ingredients:

    Milk, whole 120 ml

    Homemade cottage cheese, full fat 500 g

    Oil 60 g

    Salt - to taste

Cooking method:

Dissolve salt in warm milk, add soda and butter. Grind the cottage cheese, adding the milk mixture. Cook the mixture until the cottage cheese melts. Cool the cheese slightly and pack into prepared forms. Once it has completely cooled down, put it in the refrigerator.

Processed cheese from cottage cheese at home - useful tips and tricks

    The readiness of processed cheese when hot corresponds to a soft, stretchy and plastic consistency. After cooling, the processed cheese becomes elastic, but not hard. It shouldn't crumble.

    There should be no grains of cottage cheese in the finished processed cheese, and to prevent this from happening, monitor the moisture content of the prepared cheese dough and rub it through a sieve. To increase the plasticity and softness of the prepared cheese mass, you can add milk if the dough has sufficient acidity, or whey or sour cream if it is necessary to increase the pH level.

    It is better to cook processed cheese from cottage cheese at home in a steam bath to avoid burning. Prepare the necessary utensils and prepare for the fact that during the cooking process the cheese dough needs to be stirred continuously and quite intensively.