Due to the well-known events with cheese, there is tension in our country. Our cheese is either very expensive or very tasteless in stores. I had to get down to business myself and make Ossetian rennet cheese at home. This is quite possible, nothing that cannot be obtained will not be required.
The main thing in cheese making is good milk. Sterilized or ultra-pasteurized will not work. Only pasteurized. And by no means powder. Ideally, village milk from a familiar cow. If there is none, buy milk with “undetermined” fat content. Such milk is not “normalized” to a certain fat content; it is practically “from the cow.” The shelf life of such milk is three, well, five days. This milk costs from 60 rubles per liter. It always makes cheese. Many manufacturers produce such milk; it is not difficult to find it in big cities. Not in Russia, this is probably the kind of milk that is “organic”.
Here's what I prepared: 4 liters of milk, half a liter of normal-fat kefir (you can use sour milk or yogurt), and, most importantly, rennet starter. The easiest way to start is with acidin-pepsin. It can be bought at a pharmacy. It is not sold in every pharmacy, but it is not difficult to find. Further, the “advanced” can buy special cheese starters via the Internet. This is also simple and easy, available all over the world. I also bought myself a thermometer and a cheese mold, they are convenient, but you can do without them.
She poured the milk into a large saucepan and set it to heat. You need either a stainless steel or enameled pan, no aluminum!
Kefir was warmed to room temperature under running hot water.
For 4 liters of milk you need 8 pepsin tablets. If you are using sourdough starter, read the packaging to see how much you need.
I crushed the tablets.
Dissolved in 30 ml warm water
The milk was heated to 30 degrees (a range from 28 to 32 degrees is suitable). If you don’t have a thermometer, it doesn’t matter; it’s easy to tell by touch. The milk should be slightly cooler than your body temperature. But warmer than “room” temperature
Pour in warm kefir (the milk should not cool) and stir
5 minutes after adding kefir, add dissolved pepsin to the milk.
The milk begins to curdle very quickly
It is clear that its structure is changing
To keep the milk warm, I turn on the gas on all burners. You can put the pan next to the radiator. In general, you need to keep the milk warm for an hour.
After 40-60 minutes you will see that the milk has separated into whey and cheese curd
The curd needs to be cut into large pieces with a knife.
And put it back on the stove to heat up.
Up to 40 degrees (your fingers will be a little hot, a thermometer is not necessary). If the curd is not dense, you can heat it a little longer/stronger
Let the heated milk sit for 15 minutes, no more.
The clot has become denser
Well, it's time to transfer the cheese into a strainer, sieve or cheese mold
Cover with a saucer and place under pressure
After 1-2 hours the cheese needs to be turned over
And again under pressure
After another hour, I transfer the cheese into the mold (or you can leave it in a sieve). I got 800 g of cheese.
And I send it to the refrigerator (the press is needed until tomorrow)
But this is daily cheese. It's already quite tasty. Now you can salt it (for 800 g of cheese, try taking 2 teaspoons of salt, rub them into the cheese on all sides, and then decide how you like it), you can sprinkle it with pepper, oregano, whatever you want. I like cheese best on days 5-7. The pies with it are excellent. Delicious with tomatoes or beet slices.
You can store this cheese for ten days. If you need to store it longer, then put it in a brine made from whey, then you will get feta cheese, which can last in the refrigerator for months.
Bon appetit!
Many people love light oriental dishes and snacks, especially when it comes to dairy products, but they are not always available in stores of adequate quality. Today we will tell you how to make Ossetian cheese at home so that it is not only the same as store-bought cheese, but even tastier! After all, we have the power to add only the necessary healthy ingredients, and preparing this wonderful product will not be difficult even for a novice cheese maker.
Ossetian cheese is an excellent national dish, widely known outside its country due to its excellent taste. Salty, with a piquant sourness, it makes the cheese indispensable in fillings for pies and other baked goods.
He is good on his own. Its dense but brittle consistency makes it a little like homemade cottage cheese. In addition, Ossetian cheese is healthy due to its mineral composition.
What you need to make cheese
Let's take care of purchasing everything you need in advance, because not all products and equipment can be found in a regular kitchen.
Milk
If we take raw, unpasteurized milk to get a richer, deeper taste, then we should focus only on trusted suppliers.
Since we will not boil the milk, any pathogenic microorganisms will remain in it, so if you are not completely sure, it is better to use pasteurized store-bought milk. The main thing is to take a product with a fat content of at least 3.5, and preferably 4%.
Yogurt
We use only natural ingredients without sweet additives. Yogurt is needed instead of sourdough. Kefir, yogurt or sour cream are also suitable. Add starter at a ratio of 5-10% of the total volume of milk.
Pepsin
This enzyme will allow the milk to acquire the desired consistency. May be of animal or plant origin. You can easily buy it at a pharmacy or on specialized websites.
If you take it in tablets, add it at the rate of 1 piece. for 1 liter of milk.
Thermometer
It is necessary so that we know exactly at what point to add this or that ingredient. It is this precision that will allow you to make high-quality cheese.
Well, now that everything is at hand, let's try to cook it at home using a proven, simple recipe?
Ossetian cheese at home
Ingredients
- — 3 l + -
- - 2 tsp. + -
- Pepsin – 3 tablets + -
- Kefir – 50 ml + -
How to make cheese at home
- Place the milk in a water bath in another pan or use a fire divider to ensure even heating.
- Place a thermometer and heat to 32°C.
- Add kefir and mix.
- Leave for half an hour for the ripening process to begin. Turn off the fire.
- In boiled water at room temperature, dilute pepsin until dissolved, and after a while, pour it into the milk. Mix again to ensure even distribution and leave for 1-2 hours.
- The milk must be fermented.
It’s easy to determine whether it worked - we try the surface: if it springs when pressed, then you can move on to the next stage.
If not yet, then let it sit for another 15-20 minutes. - When everything is ready, cut the resulting mass into cubes with a long knife. We do this in all directions so that the pieces float freely in the serum - this will help it move away better.
- Leave for 10-15 minutes for final separation, but no longer so that the cheese does not overcook.
- Next, put the pan back in the water bath and heat the contents to 35-38°C so that the cheese mass becomes denser and heavier. You should not raise the temperature higher, otherwise the cheese will become rubbery.
Then, using a slotted spoon or directly with your hands, place the cheese grains in a colander or a special mold with holes. We compact it properly and leave it for 2 hours, placing something underneath, as the whey will continue to come off.
After time, salt the cheese from the surface - to do this, rub the barrel with fine salt. Turn over and grind the salt again. Let it sit in the refrigerator for another 1-1.5 hours.
And that’s it - amazing Ossetian cheese is ready at home! Bon appetit! You can eat it right there, or you can let it ripen. The real depth of flavor is achieved after 3-5 days.
Secrets of spicy Ossetian cheese
As you can see, there is nothing complicated in cooking, but how can you make it more piquant and interesting?
Herbs
We can use a mixture of dry herbs at our discretion. Provençal, chopped parsley, dill, cilantro, basil, cumin, coriander and paprika are suitable.
Thickly sprinkle the head with salt on both sides.
Then, when the cheese is completely dry, after 1-2 hours, wrap it in paper and store for at least 3 days. This time is enough for the head to be properly soaked.
Brine
We prepare it at the rate of 1 tbsp. salt per 1 liter of liquid. You can use the whey left over from making cheese. It will add additional piquancy and aroma.
We filter it through several layers of gauze, heat it to 40°C, add salt until completely dissolved and, when the cheese has dried and rested, about 4-5 hours after cooking, put it in it.
How to store homemade Ossetian cheese
You can store Ossetian cheese in the refrigerator for several weeks, wrapped in parchment paper, but it is unlikely to last that long! But you can enjoy them in 2-3 days.
During this time, the taste will become salty, and the consistency will become denser and more elastic.
Now, friends, you know how to make Ossetian cheese at home so that it is no worse than what is made in its homeland, in sunny Ossetia. We add it to pies, khachapuri, or enjoy it directly, placing it on a crispy crust in the morning.
Ossetian cheese is a traditional fermented milk product of the Republic of Ossetia. This type of cheese is very popular and loved in the Caucasus region. Since ancient times, highlanders have used Ossetian cheese as the basis for many dishes.
The cheese has a pronounced aroma and unsurpassed taste (slightly salty taste), a whole range of useful qualities and a unique appearance - curd consistency.
The history of Ossetian cheese dates back to ancient times, when Alans, mainly cattle breeders, used it as one of the main components of their food.
Ossetian cheese with its characteristic taste is close to cheese of Greek origin. Ossetians initially used sheep, goat or cow cheese to make cheese.
Today, most people make it using cow's milk. To obtain a dairy product, dry and salted cow or sheep rennet is used. Ossetians have a lot of dry rennet, because traditionally they kill sheep for every holiday (kuvd), wedding, as well as funerals and wakes. To make cheese, they put a piece of rennet in a cup (0.5 liters) of whey. It takes several days to obtain the finished rennet mixture.
Ossetian cheese can be used both fresh (as a cheese product) and for making famous Ossetian pies. To keep it longer without refrigeration, the Ossetians put it in brine several times until the brine dried out and soaked all the cheese. With this salting technology, the shelf life of cheeses increases to two years.
Ossetian cheese recipe
To prepare Ossetian cheese at home, you need to take eight liters of fresh milk (not skimmed), one hundred fifty grams, one hundred grams of whey solution. How to prepare Ossetian cheese? The milk needs to be poured into a metal container and put on fire. The milk needs to be heated to thirty degrees. Remove from heat and add kefir.
It is important to mix everything until smooth so that the fermented milk product is distributed as evenly as possible through the milk. Leave the milk mixture for two hours - during this time the cheese ripening process occurs. Prepare rennet (whey solution). Slowly pour the rennet into the milk, stirring constantly with a whisk. Stir for at least five minutes. Allow the milk to sit for 3-5 hours until the curds become firm and you can get a clean break when cutting out the curds. Gently stir the cottage cheese, leaving large pieces. Let the cheese sit for thirty minutes, stirring occasionally.
Ossetians carefully and slowly collect pieces of cottage cheese with their hands at the bottom of the pan (a bucket can also be used), and then take the cheese from. For the first few days they keep it in a 10-12″ cup once a day, pouring out the accumulation serum.
The Greeks prepare cheese using the same technology, only the last step is different. Using gauze, the whey will separate from, tie the gauze with a bag and hang for five hours so that all the whey completely escapes. Place the dry cottage cheese in a rectangular shape and place under pressure for at least one day.
Ossetian cheese can be used fresh for traditional pies, as well as as a salty and unique snack. To preserve cheese for a longer time, preserving its taste and quality, Ossetians prepared a little brine (khanda) in a special barrel (migan). They put about 30-50 pieces of cheese in a barrel.
To determine the desired consistency of the brine, an ordinary raw egg was used. When the egg floats freely on the surface of the brine, there is enough salt.
In Ossetia there are traditional pies filled with Ossetian cheese. There are many recipes for preparing Ossetian pie; below are recipes for the most popular ones.
Useful properties and calorie content
This fermented milk product is able to saturate the body with a whole group of vitamins such as,. In addition, Ossetian cheese is rich in minerals, including:
Ossetian cheese has a high calorie content, therefore, those who want to lose weight should consume it carefully and preferably in the first half of the day.
Ossetian traditional pie
We will need ankhi jan, this is a mixture that you can make yourself. Also flour, butter, milk, salt, etc. To prepare a cup of anhi jan, mix one teaspoon of flour, one teaspoon, one teaspoon and 3/4 cup of warm water.
Use it after about ten minutes. About six cups of whole wheat flour is enough to make three medium-sized balls. Add salt. Pour the ankhi jan into a large bowl with flour. Add warm water or 1/2 cup milk and start kneading the dough. Important: mix by hand.
When it stops sticking to your hands, you have added enough consistency. Optionally, add an egg for richness. You can add one hundred grams of milk to the dough. The dough is ready. If you add 30g of vegetable oil, it will not be as sticky. Now cover the dough with a towel and let it rise (2-3 hours). It's time to prepare the filling.
This time we'll make tsakharajyn - an Ossetian pie with cheese and. We can also use onions, although some Ossetians make tsakharadzhin without them. Cut the beet leaves into very small pieces. Do the same with other ingredients. The dough has risen. It's time to form an Ossetian pie with cheese and herbs.
Place the dough on a wooden board with flour. Divide the dough into three even balls. Now we can salt the filling. It is not recommended to do this before. Add 0.5-0.7 kg of fresh Ossetian cheese. If the filling is too wet, you can add flour. The filling is ready. Preheat the oven. Roll out the dough with your hands. Place some filling in the center. Bring the edges together in the center. Roll out the flatbread so that the filling can be seen through it.
Transfer to a baking tray. Bake the pie until the top is browned, but do not overbake. After you remove the pie from the oven, use a skewer to soften the top and sides.
Ossetian pie with potatoes and cheese
To prepare Ossetian pie with and cheese you will need: 7-9 Rosset potatoes (depending on size), cut into pieces; 2 cups or, chopped; 2 cups Ossetian cheese or Greek feta, grated; milk; salt; whole or bread flour; melted butter.
The first thing to do is to put the potatoes to boil. While the potatoes are cooking, you need to chop all the other ingredients; for this we use a grater. First mozzarella, then feta. All pieces of cheese should be small so that they do not tear the dough during baking. The potatoes are cooked, drain off the excess water and puree them.
Let the puree cool a little and only then add cheese to it (so that the cheese does not immediately dissolve). You can use milk to adjust the consistency. Spices are added to taste. The previously prepared dough according to the standard recipe should already increase several times. Divide the dough into even pieces and form pies, filling them with potato and cheese filling. Bake the pie in a preheated oven until golden brown.
The calorie content of Ossetian pies with cheese depends directly on the chosen filling. For example, the calorie content of an Ossetian pie with cheese is one hundred and eighty-three kilocalories per hundred grams of product, and a pie with meat is one hundred and seventy-three kilocalories. The average caloric value of pies with Ossetian cheese per hundred grams of product is one hundred eighty-two kilocalories.
Do not deny yourself such a tasty and incredibly healthy fermented milk product - like Ossetian cheese, especially since it is so easy to prepare at home.
Homemade Ossetian cheese
When I saw the topic of homemade cheese in the group, I really wanted to present a recipe for the famous Ossetian cheese, which is prepared from fresh milk (not from yogurt) using rennet
Homemade rennet cheese is very tasty and varied in taste, and the taste, of course, depends on the milk and the method of fermentation. This is how Ossetian cheese is prepared, which can be used to make Ossetian pies or just for tea.
If you use rennet (part of the stomach of animals, salted and dried in a special way) and natural homemade milk, the cheese turns out to be especially tasty.
In urban environments, you can also make rennet cheese from pasteurized milk and enzymes that replace rennet. You can buy them at the pharmacy - these are acidin-pepsin tablets or pepsin powder. Pasteurized milk must first be fermented with sour cream or natural yogurt.
Ingredients:
- raw milk - 6 liters
- sour cream or yogurt (for pasteurized milk) - 2 cups
- Acedin-pepsin 2 tablets (per 1 liter) or pepsin powder - on the tip of a knife for 6 liters of milk
- salt - 1 teaspoon
Preparation:
Step 1. The milk must be heated to 32-37 degrees and if it is pasteurized, then ferment it with sour cream or yogurt. Let stand for 20 minutes.
Step 2. Dissolve the tablets or powder separately in a small amount of milk (it will immediately curdle) and pour into heated milk. Stir everything, cover the dish with a lid and leave in a warm place for 1 hour. During this time, the serum should separate, but if the room is cool, it may take a little longer, 2 hours.
Step 3. When the whey has separated, cut the curd into 2-3 cm pieces with a knife and leave for another 20 minutes to sink to the bottom.
Step 4. Prepare a colander, line it with 3-4 layers of gauze and carefully place the curds with a slotted spoon, strain the remaining ones.
Step 5. Shape the future cheese and tie the cheesecloth, place a weight on top, and let the remaining whey drain. Immediately refrigerate or refrigerate the cheese for 2 hours.
Step 6. After 2 hours, homemade Ossetian rennet cheese is ready. Lightly salt the sides on top. This cheese can be stored for 1-2 days.
If you need to store it longer, you can place it in strong brine.
Once the cheese is cut, it is best to store it in a cool place, open, without wrapping it in film or a bag.
From 6 liters of milk, approximately 1.2 - 1.4 kg of homemade cheese comes out, this depends on the quality of the milk.
Source website Cooking for young housewives - read more articles
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Ossetian cheese is an important part of the national culture of Ossetia.
This cheese is one of the most famous national dishes outside Ossetia, prepared on the basis of whole milk - cow, goat or sheep.
Ossetian cheese belongs to the pickled varieties.
The characteristic features of this product include a sour taste with a salty and pungent, even sometimes bitter note.
This cheese has a fairly dense, but brittle consistency.
If you cut off a piece of Ossetian cheese, you will notice eyes of different shapes on the cut.
This product does not have a crust and is characterized by a white color with a yellow tint.
Most often, Ossetian cheese is used to prepare national pastries -.
In addition, it is included in recipes for salads, casseroles, snacks, etc.
This cheese can also serve as an excellent breakfast along with bread.
To make Ossetian cheese at home, you don’t need much skill, you just need to follow this recipe.
Ossetian cheese recipe
Ingredients:
- good quality milk at least 3.5 liters - more possible (fat content - 3.2, protein - at least 2.6)
- Acidin-pepsin or Abomin tablets at the rate of 1.5-2 pcs. Acidin-pepsin tablets per 1 liter of milk or 1-2 tablets. Abomina per 1 liter of milk, taking into account the starter.
- rennet tablets - according to instructions.
- refir or yogurt without filling or curdled milk or sour whey for fermentation - 5-10% of milk
How to make Ossetian cheese at home:
It is better to choose milk from a manufacturer you trust. Those. so that it is not powder.
Sour-milk starter is not added to homemade Ossetian cheese (only rennet), because milk from under the cow.
Pasteurized milk is more difficult to curdle. For these purposes, sour milk starter is used.
Pour milk into a saucepan, heat it on the stove to 28-32 ºС, i.e. your hand should be a little cool.
We add the starter at room temperature (kefir or yogurt or homemade curdled yogurt or sour whey or natural yogurt without additives), I did it with everything one by one, 10% - 1-1.5 cups, it is important that the starter is not from the refrigerator! Stir thoroughly and leave for 5 minutes.
Pound the tablets into powder and add 50 ml of water until they completely dissolve. Pour the liquid into the milk. Stir thoroughly
Cover with a lid and place in a warm place. If it’s cold in the kitchen, you can cover it with a terry towel or place it near the radiator, or put it in a bowl with warm water so that the milk is about 30ºC when inhaling.
Do not touch the pan, do not stir, do not stir with a spoon until a clot forms - this may take from 1 to 2 hours
After an hour, you can carefully open and check - shake the pan a little.
If we do a test with 2 tablets/liter, we can check after 30-40 minutes. The clot should look like milk jelly.
You can also check by pressing a spoon - it is difficult to enter and yellow serum is released.
If the milk is not long enough or the whey is milky in color, leave it for a while.
10.
As soon as the curd has become jelly-like, carefully use a long-handled spoon or a long knife and then stir it to pieces of 2-3-4 cm, it is important to break the curd especially well at the bottom. Break into small pieces, but not into porridge.
Leave for 15-20 minutes, it may take 30 minutes, wait for the cheese mass to settle.
During this time, the cheese pieces will shrink, settle to the bottom, and the whey will be yellow-green on top.
Place the pan in a water bath or in a sink with hot water, or on gas, if the cheese mass is in a plastic bowl - in the microwave for a couple of minutes, so that the temperature of the cheese and whey is 38-40ºC, hold for a while, stirring with a slotted spoon. The cheese mixture will be sticky and heavy.
With this gentle heating, the cheese will be a little denser and less crumbly. Do not overheat above 40 degrees! Because it may become rubbery.
Using a slotted spoon, carefully catch the cheese pieces from the bottom and place in a colander. They almost instantly stick to each other. Collect the remaining cheese by pouring the whey through a fine sieve.
The cheese yield is 1/5 or a little less of the initial weight, i.e. if I take 3.5 liters of milk + 300 ml of yogurt, then 700 g of fresh cheese comes out.
Let the cheese drain in a colander, helping with a slotted spoon.
Tamp down a little and compact with your hands. After a while, carefully turn it over.
Place the cheese in the refrigerator, covered with something.
After 2-4 hours (when the main whey has left), you can add salt - to do this, lightly rub the barrel of cheese with coarse salt.
Fresh Ossetian cheese, prepared at home, is ready.