Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Grandma's Sweet Cream Butter

Warm fresh cream to tepid temp. (I warm it to around 86 degrees). Fill the churn to 3/4 full and churn until the tiny dots of cream gather into lumps. The butter is ready to take out of the churn. Do not over churn or the buttermilk will be mixed back into your butter. It should be lumpy when taken out of the churn.
Put butter into a large shallow bowl and rinse out the buttermilk. Pour tepid water over the butter while you work it with your hand until the water runs clear. Squeeze the wash water out of the butter by hand or with a paddle on a tilted board.
Add canning salt to taste. (about 1 tsp. per pound). Work the salt in thoroughly Press butter into a mold and cool.
(You may wrap your butter in parchment paper which has been soaked in water. This helps keep the butter fresh when stored in a refrigerator).

Cottage Cheese

Here is a Cottage Cheese recipe I've been using for quite a while. Don't remember where I got it.
1 gal raw milk
1/2 cup cultured buttermilk
1/4 tsp. liquid rennet
1/4 c. cool water
Warm the milk to 86 degrees F. Stir in the buttermilk, mix the rennet into the cool water and add to the warmed milk. Set until it coagulates, usually about 1 hr.
Cut the curds into 1/2 inch cubes. Heat slowly by the double boiler method until the temp. reaches about 110 degrees. Hold at this temp. for 30 min. and stir often, gently to prevent matting . When the curds are firm, place into a cheesecloth lined colander and let drain for 20 min. Lift the curds in the chees cloth and dip into a pot of cold water. Drain until the curd stops dripping place curds in a bowl and add salt and cream if disired.

Cheese Recipe

Grandma's cheese recipe.
The milk needs to be very fresh.
Warm 4 gal. fresh raw milk. (I warm it to around 86 degrees F.) Keep the milk temp the same (86 degrees) and let rest for 40-45 min.
Mix 1 tsp. rennet with about 1/4th. cup water and stir into warm milk. Let set until curds form and are set. Cut the curds into small chunks ( about 1/2 inches) and bring temp. to 97 degrees F. continuing to stir slowly. Keep at same temp. for about 30 min. stirring occasionally, but let it rest the last 5 min. or so. When curds settle, drain the whey.
Line a stainess steel colander with cheese cloth. Pour off whey from strainer pot, reserving about 1/3rd of it in the pot. Set strainer over the top of whey in the pot and cover, keeping whey at 97 degrees. for 30 min to 1 hr. ( Lessen the time from 1 hr. for moister cheese).
Remove slab of curds and cut into 1/4 in. strips about 6 inches long. Stir in 1 Tbsp. coarse salt. (Pickling or sea salt.) Place curd into cheese press and leave overnight. Remove from press, cover with coarse cheese cloth and let dry. Allow to ripen for 4 weeks for mild cheese, 3 months for medium, and 4 to 5 months for sharp. (Cheese may be waxed after removing from press if you wish).