Quick Cottage Cheese

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After reading all the comments that were very helpful, I used lowfat milk, less salt, and spent a lot of time rinsing the curds. I then added heavy cream to the mix and the result was heavenly. The best cottage cheese I have ever eaten and I have eaten a lot of cottage cheese. I can't wait to share it with my friends. Thanks Alton!

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I've made this twice. The first time I added the entire 1 1/2tsp of kosher salt and it was practically inedible. I read the reviews after the fact and made it again yesterday. Much better when I only used 1/2tsp of kosher salt. I added the cream right away and the product was wonderful. It yielded just over 2C. It was completely coagulated by this morning, however. Ugh. Doubt seriously if I'll ever make it again.

I also attempted to reheat the whey to produce ricotta as suggested and I got nothing but liquid. Any suggestions? I live at 6400ft. Maybe there's an issue with altitude and adjusting the recipe???

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Just made this, and having not actually had cottage cheese before, I found this tasted very much like mozzarella. I varied the recipe slightly after reading the other reviews. I took the cheese and soaked it in cold salt water breaking it up under water. I did this several times and then rinsed it even more under running water. I squeezed every drop of water I could get out of it and then tasted it. It only had the faintest of vinegar taste. I took the cheese broke it up in a bowl sprinkled a small amount of salt on it, added the half and half, then sprinkled some more salt on it, Probably no more than a 1/4 of a teaspoon. I let this chill for a while then ate it. The key is to rinse as much of the vinegar out as possible. It makes about 1 cup. just to verify, my wife (who eats cottage cheese tasted it and said "it taste like cottage cheese".

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My four-year old and I watched the "Milk Made" episode together. He and I both love cottage cheese, so I wanted to give it a try. We had great fun making it together (he did the stirring as I added the vinegar and helped squeeze the curds in the tea towel under the cold water. He is learning to love the science of food preparation and he really loved eating the results.

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I used fresh, raw milk that I have an abundance of. I doubled the recipe right off the bat and I cut down the vinegar to 1 -1/4 cup & also cut down the salt to 1 -1/2 tsp. It came out great. Much better & more flavorful than store bought. I yielded 4+ cups of curd's & after totally draining & mixing, I just take out the amount we want for our meal & mix with the fresh cream we have on hand. It's easy & fast & trouble free, not to mention, delicious. I 'm really happy to of stumbled upon this recipe.

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I didn't get very much, as someone else said, only about a cup. The recipe was easy enough. But it was dry, and bigger chunks than the small cottage cheese that I usually have...and that usually has the whey, and it's creamy....the whey here was more vinegary, not so creamy. Maybe it's my expectations, but whenever Alton says that once you make it yourself, you'll never buy it again from the store...I expect that to be true, that he's done the research and tried different ways to make it, etc, but in this case, I think I'll just stick to store bought.

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I did not find the result anywhere near cottage cheese. I will probably eat it, but will not make it again. The curds are kind of sandy and not even the size of small curd cottage cheese. It is nice that there are no preservatives or added ingredients, but I can find cottage cheese made locally at my co-op that has no extra ingredients for about the same price as this and it actually tastes like cottage cheese. I am going to look for the real recipe instead of trying to cut corners with this one.

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I got a super low yield out of this--only about a cup. I think I'll try a different recipe next time. The vinegar taste was a little off-putting--maybe lemon juice or buttermilk would make a better tasting cottage cheese.
On the bright side, however, the low yield spurred me on to doing something with the whey, so I wouldn't feel so wasteful. After doing a little googling, I added a teaspoon of salt to the whey, heated the mixture to the boiling point (212 F, let it cool to 140F, then strained it through cheesecloth. Voila, ricotta cheese! Then I fed the remaining (cooled liquid to the puppy. He was ecstatic!
The whole experience was sort of a lose/win/win, in that order.

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So what do I do with the whey? Anything?

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In case anyone is still wondering...

You CAN make this recipe with raw milk (straight from the cow. As with any raw milk product, be aware of the conditions from which your raw milk comes from and be aware of any potential bacteria and infectious conditions.

Full-fat and skim milk are interchangeable in simple cheese recipes. The acid (vinegar simply separates the curds from the whey. The amount of fat in your milk will only affect the taste and feel of your curds.

You can also use powdered milk. Try a 7-1 ratio. 7 pints of reconstituted powdered milk (reconstituted overnight to 1 pint of half and half. It should work, but you may want to play around with the amounts.

Finally, if you are having trouble achieving a clean break (the why is clear and the curds are totally separating, then don't be afraid to add more vinegar. Just add a small amount very slowly until you see a clean break form.