Homemade Caciotta Cheese
Delicious Italian cheese in your own kitchen? Yes — give it a go! Making caciotta at home is fairly involved, but entirely doable. Whole, fresh farm milk is your best bet, since store-bought milk may simply not set up into cheese; the richer the milk, the better. You can fold in any spices you like, and pieces of vegetables such as bell pepper make a great addition too. Stir in chopped olives or sun-dried tomatoes if you like. The amount of milk here yields about 2 1/2 to 3 1/4 pounds (1.2–1.5 kg) of cheese.
anvara
Recipe author
Homemade Caciotta Cheese
Nutrients and energy value of the composition of the recipe
By weight of the composition:
Proteins 30 %
3 g
Fats 30 %
3 g
Carbohydrates 40 %
4 g
62 kcal
GI:
100
/
0
/
0
- For the cheese to taste good, use fresh farm milk with a good amount of fat. If you use store-bought milk, be prepared that the cheese may not set. Any cheese starter culture works — you can find plenty on specialty sites, and large supermarkets carry them too. Rennet is also available from specialty sites. Use the starter and the rennet in the amounts their instructions call for (figuring on 12 liters of milk). You can boil the milk or not — that's up to you. Heat the milk to 97–99°F (36–37°C), no higher. If it overheats, let it cool back to the right temperature; if you boiled it, just wait for it to cool. Once it reaches temperature, sprinkle in the starter culture. Don't stir right away — wait a couple of minutes, then stir gently. Cover and let the milk and starter sit for half an hour. Meanwhile, mix the rennet with a little water. Pour the mixture into the milk and stir gently again. Let the milk stand for 45 minutes (add another 15–20 minutes if you boiled it). By then the curd should be fairly firm — cut it into large cubes. Set the pot over the lowest heat and warm the milk for half an hour, stirring now and then; keep the temperature under 108°F (42°C). When the time is up, drain off the whey, leaving about a third behind. Layer the future cheese into cheese molds. At this stage, add spices, chopped herbs, or pieces of vegetables — bits of bell pepper or chili, for example, if you want a spicier flavor. Next, the cheese cooks in a water bath: pour water into a large pot, set a rack inside, and place the cheese mold on it. Cover the pot. Keep the water at 122°F (50°C). Cook the cheese in the water bath for 1 1/2 hours, turning it over every 30 minutes. Then let the cheese cool at room temperature for 3 hours, turning it over every hour. The next step is salting. Make a brine by mixing the listed ingredients. Once the salt has dissolved, submerge the cheese in the brine. Salt it for 3 hours per pound (about 3 hours per 500 grams). Then lift the cheese out of the brine, wipe it with a clean cotton cloth, and transfer it to a suitably sized container — a large plastic container works. Refrigerate it for 5 days. Each day, wipe the cheese again, this time with a cloth dampened in brine, then with a dry one, and set the wheel on a different side each time. The cheese is ready to taste, but it keeps for up to a year, getting tastier with every month of aging!
Caloric content of the products possible in the composition of the dish
- Whole cow's milk - 68 kcal/100g
- Milk 3.5% fat content - 64 kcal/100g
- Milk 3.2% fat content - 60 kcal/100g
- Milk 1.5% fat content - 47 kcal/100g
- Concentrated milk 7.5% fat content - 140 kcal/100g
- Milk 2.5% fat content - 54 kcal/100g
- Wine vinegar (3%) - 9 kcal/100g
- Vinegar 9% - 11 kcal/100g
- Balsamic vinegar - 88 kcal/100g
- Apple vinegar - 14 kcal/100g
- Vinegar - 11 kcal/100g
- Salt - 0 kcal/100g
- Water - 0 kcal/100g
- Sourdough - 29 kcal/100g
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