Homemade Cottage Cheese

Friends: cheese. So many of us love it, but it is one of the hardest things to get without plastic. So silly! Cheese has been made, bartered, sold, transported, stored, and eaten for centuries LOOONG before plastic was around. Yet in today's market it's almost impossible to find any cheese plastic-free. I believe it is possible to buy big wheels of aged cheese coated in wax, but who can use that all up before it spoils?

Usually when I have an item that I just can't find without plastic I try to make my own. However, I've heard that cheese is a very difficult, precise process that requires specific equipment. I was daunted to try making it on my own. And honestly, I don't really want to learn how to make everything I could possibly ever need. Don't get me wrong. Self-sufficiency is a wonderful thing. But there is a reason that most societies developed specialization--not everyone will be able to make their own bread, or build their own house, or fix their car, or create safe medicines, or discover the secrets of space. And we shouldn't have to. It's great to learn as much of these skills as possible, but I don't necessarily want to be a Jack of all trades and master of none. I would be happy to buy cheese from someone, but I'm not hype about that involving plastic.

So mostly I've just tried not to buy cheese. When I do feel I need it, I try to get it in bulk sizes (which cuts down on total plastic used). So I was super excited when I found this recipe for homemade cottage cheese. It's super simple and doesn't require fancy equipment. I will say it isn't an aged cheese. It's a fresh cheese and a fairly soft cheese. But I think it tastes great.

I haven't often purchased cottage cheese as an adult, but I ate it a lot as a kid. When my family went out to eat after church when my brother and I were young, we couldn't wait for our food to come, so my mom would ask the server to please bring us a side dish each of both cottage cheese and applesauce. She'd also keep cottage cheese and home-made applesauce on hand at home so that if we didn't like the meal she prepared we could eat that instead. This recipe (which is from Alton Brown at the Food Network, so we already know it's good) isn't quite like the normal store-bought cottage cheese. Mostly, it needs to be eaten fresh because otherwise it starts to clump together. If I did know more about hard cheese production it could be interesting experimenting with using this recipe as a base, but as I already said above, this isn't an area I'm interested in learning too much about at the moment.

So let's get to it! First, you start with 1 gallon of milk

Pour said milk into a large pot and bring to 120 degrees F (basically until just after it starts steaming).
 

Once there, remove from heat gently pouring in 3/4 C distilled white vinegar. Stir for 1-2 minutes. The milk will begin to curdle immediately. Cover & let stand for 30 minutes.

	Then line a colander with a clean tea towel in the sink and pour the curds and whey into it. Let sit and drain for 5 minutes.

Holding the corners of the tea towel so none of the curds can escape, massage the cheese under cool running water to rinse off all the remaining whey for 3-5 minutes or until the curds cool completely. Squeeze all liquids through the towel and transfer to a mixing bowl. 

Add 1 1/2 teaspoon of salt and break the curds appart with your hand. The salt is what gives the curds their cheesy taste. I love to eat it just like this (dry), but if you prefer you curds "wet" you can add 1/2 cup of half & half or heavy cream. If using cream/half & half, only add immediately before serving. If you add the cream and let it sit in the fridge, you'll get a big clump of cheese rather than separate curds.

Left: salted curds without cream. Right: salted curds with a splash of cream.

Please let me know if you try it out and what you think of the recipe. Also, if you know of a place where you can get a reasonable portion of cheese without plastic, please share it below :) Thanks! And until next time, take care.