Adyghe cheese at home. Adyghe cheese at home - tips and tricks

Note:in total, about 400 g of homemade Adyghe cheese can be made from this amount of ingredients (depending on the fat content and quality of milk, it can be more or less) and about 2.2 liters of whey.

How to cook Adyghe cheese at home - a recipe with a photo:

Pour the milk into a saucepan with a volume of 3-5 liters and send it to the fire. We bring the milk almost to a boil, or rather to a temperature of 95 C (it is not necessary to use a thermometer, you can also navigate “by eye”). By the way, if you are using homemade market cow's milk, and not from a package, then you need to bring it to a boil.

Pour whey into hot milk. Be sure to mix the milk.

As soon as the milk curdles, cheese clots begin to form, the saucepan can be removed from the heat. Do not heat the mixture longer, as then the cheese may turn out to be slightly rubbery. We give our cheese a rest for about 5 minutes, during which time the cheese flakes will settle to the bottom of the pan, and the whey will remain on top.

For now, let's prepare a form in which we will form our Adyghe cheese at home. If you approach this issue thoroughly, then, of course, you can buy special baskets for homemade cheese, but this is not at all necessary. In addition to purchased forms, you can safely use an ordinary sieve, which must be lined with 2-4 layers of gauze. But in order for the finished cheese to have a neat shape, a plastic container can be adapted for shaping it, in which you need to make many holes for decanting excess whey, as seen in the photo.

We place our container for the formation of Adyghe cheese in a deep container, and under its bottom we put an ordinary cookie cutter (this is done so that the container with cheese is on a slight elevation and, thus, the whey will drain into the container). After 5 minutes, using a slotted spoon, carefully catch the cheese clots and put them in a prepared container.

We tamp the cheese with a spoon.

We put a saucer on top of the cheese or, for example, a container lid cut to the desired diameter (if there is nothing suitable, then we immediately put the load), and then we install some kind of load. In this form, we send our cheese to the cold for 4-5 hours or more.

After all the excess whey of the glass, carefully remove our homemade Adyghe cheese from the mold.

Now it needs to be salted. To do this, pour 500 ml of whey into a suitable container and add 1 tbsp to it. salt (we select the amount of salt to taste). Stir to dissolve the salt.

We dip our head of cheese into the saline solution, close the container with a lid or film and send it to the refrigerator for at least a few hours (but better for longer) for salting.

This is how quickly and easily you can cook Adyghe cheese at home!

We store it in brine for about 3-5 days.

Rarely does anyone not prefer a piece of cheese for breakfast, because cheese is not only hearty, tasty, healthy, but also an easily digestible product. And if this cheese is also made with your own hands, in a good mood, all your household members will feel love and care. There is no doubt that everyone will appreciate such a dish, because efforts must be made to prepare it. And do not be afraid of difficulties, making Adyghe cheese at home from milk with your own hands with a step-by-step recipe that we present to you is not at all difficult.

Adyghe cheese at home: a detailed recipe

The main thing is to prepare in advance all the necessary products, which we list below.

Adyghe cheese is less caloric than semi-hard and hard cheeses, only 264 kcal.

100 grams of homemade Adyghe cheese contains:

• Proteins - 19.8 mg;
• Fats - 19.8 mg;
• Carbohydrates - 1.5 mg.

Vitamins A, B1, B2, E, PP, C and macro- and microelements essential for the body, such as iron, iodine, potassium, calcium, copper, sodium, selenium, sulfur, phosphorus, fluorine, zinc, as well as saturated fatty acids .

Ingredients:

• Fatty milk (not canned) - 5 liters;
• Cream 20% - 0.5 liters;
• Lemon (large) - 1 piece;
• Sea salt - 1/2 tablespoon.

How to make Adyghe cheese at home

At the very beginning, we draw your attention to the fact that milk for making Adyghe cheese must be live, with a short shelf life, and not canned. As a rule, such milk is sold in soft plastic bags with a shelf life of no more than 7 days.

Pour milk and cream into a saucepan and set to heat. When steam comes from milk and cream, and they are ready to boil (foam will begin to form), add salt with constant stirring and squeeze the juice of 1/2 part of the lemon into the milk mixture. You will see how, with light stirring, the milk begins to curdle into an airy curd that floats to the surface. It is not necessary to stir the mass until smooth.

When the milk-lemon mixture begins to boil, with gentle stirring, squeeze the second part of the lemon into it and remove from the burner.

You can see how the milk mixture has become a transparent whey, and the curd has floated to the surface.

We cover the colander with double - triple (it all depends on the quality of the material) with pre-washed gauze, put it in a container (any bowl the size of a colander will do) and carefully, with a slotted spoon, begin to remove the curd from the surface of the whey, laying it on gauze bedding.

When all the curd is transferred, we take out the colander from the bowl, carefully, not completely, pour the whey from the pan (where the curd was prepared from the milk mass) into the bowl in which the colander stood.

From the bottom of the pan, collect the rest of the cottage cheese and also transfer it to cheesecloth in a colander.

We lift the gauze with cottage cheese from a colander, gently wring it out and leave it to drain from the remaining whey in a suspended state for two to three hours. Occasionally we approach the gauze bag with cottage cheese and squeeze it slightly, allowing the whey to drain. The more often we squeeze the cottage cheese, the stronger the resulting Adyghe cheese will be.

Then, when the whey no longer stands out from the curd, carefully transfer it from the cheesecloth to the prepared mold (it can be an ordinary plastic container), press the curd with a lid of a smaller container and put a press on the lid (an ordinary two-liter bottle of water will perfectly fulfill the mission of the load) . We leave the cheese under pressure for 6 - 8 hours. If a little whey has formed on the surface, carefully remove it with a spoon.

It is best to cook Adyghe cheese in the evening and leave it under pressure in a cool place all night. In the morning, without much effort, the cheese is transferred to a plate by tipping the form upside down.

Your hearty, tasty and healthy Adyghe cheese, made by yourself at home, is ready.

Since the quality of milk is different for each producer, the weight of the produced Adyghe cheese may vary.

Have a good meal, friends!

Larisa Yaroshevich's recipe

Now, when it is difficult to find high-quality dairy products in stores, housewives are increasingly deciding to make their own at home. An example is the Adyghe cheese, it is often prepared at home, because it is done simply and quickly, but the main thing is that the taste of paneer cannot be compared with the store-bought one.

The cost of a home-made product does not exceed the price of the purchased one, but the benefits and delicate, slightly spicy, taste are many times better than the industrial one.

Recipes for making Adyghe cheese came to us from the national Circassian cuisine.

Traditionally, Circassians prepare the product from cow's milk, but they can add whole goat's or sheep's milk to the paneer. The taste of the cheese is delicate and not too salty (very similar to our cheese), this allows you to use it not only as an independent product, but also as a basis for preparing various dishes.

Adyghe homemade cheese: kefir recipe

Ingredients

• Kefir - 1 liter + -
• - 1-2 tsp + -
• - 3 liters + -

How to cook Adyghe cheese at home

In total, it will take 2 days to cook, but you will immediately receive 8 servings of a healthy dairy treat. Try to eat cooked as soon as possible, or cook initially as much cheese as you can use in the near future.

What to serve with homemade Adyghe cheese

Paneer, made with your own hands at home, can be consumed as much as you like. They make sandwiches for breakfast from it, adding pieces of fresh vegetables or lettuce leaves, eat cheese and together with pita bread.

However, in addition to eating alone, Adyghe cheese is often used to prepare all kinds of dishes.

The list of such dishes is endless:

• spicy cheese paste with nuts and herbs;
• fried paneer with garlic and ground pepper (such cheese can be served with fresh herbs, vegetables or included in any side dish, a side dish of boiled rice is perfect for this);
• cakes with cheese;
• pies stuffed with cheese;
• salad "Caprese";
• cheese marinated in spices and olive oil;
• vegetarian soups and many other dishes.

Another option for making curd cheese is cooking based on cottage cheese. Of course, as in all homemade recipes, you must use only natural ingredients. This will provide excellent taste to the dish and help you avoid unnecessary difficulties in the cooking process.

Ingredients

• Milk (fat content 3.2%) - 1 l;
• Soda - 1 tsp;
• Cottage cheese (fat content 9-18%) - 1 kg;
• Salt - 1 tsp;
• Butter - 100 g;
• Egg - 3 pcs.

Cooking

After that, we shift the mass into a deep bowl (greased with oil), level the paneer. As soon as the product has cooled, we put it in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours.

That's it - the product is ready. But in order not to damage it when removing it from the bowl, just turn it upside down. Paneer will fall out of the dish, completely retaining all the charms of its shape.

This recipe is convenient in that, by slightly adjusting the cooking technology, you can get a completely different kind of cheese.
To do this, after the first boiling of the curd mass, boil it not for 30, but for 40 minutes, while adding 1 tbsp. l. salt (and not 1 tsp, as indicated in the recipe above). We do not add soda at all.

If we cook the product using this technology, then we will get homemade Suluguni cheese.

Secrets of homemade Adyghe cheese

Instead of kefir, you can use yogurt as a starter. It is desirable that the yogurt is natural, not store-bought.

If you can’t buy homemade yogurt, choose one that contains the minimum amount of harmful additives and has a short shelf life.

The same goes for choosing fresh milk. You can also use curdled milk, whey, lemon juice or acid as a starter.

You can cook paneer, if desired, with herbs and spices. Use whatever you want, just don't overdo it, otherwise the cheese will lose its natural delicate taste.

The shelf life of the "Caucasian" cheese is short. It is recommended to keep it in the refrigerator (at t not higher than +6) for no longer than 7 days.

Avoid storage in the freezer. Cheese actively absorbs odors, so keep it away from other products and be sure to “limit” its freedom with closed containers.

Glassware with a tight-fitting lid is best suited for storage. However, tightly folded parchment, a resealable container, and any other vacuum packaging can be used.

If you really need to extend the shelf life of paneer, then try smoking it, or sprinkle it with coarse salt.

You can read more about the terms and conditions of storage of dairy products in our detailed articles.

Using simple tips, you can easily cook Adyghe cheese at home. By independently adjusting the taste, color and amount of paneer, you can always please yourself and your loved ones. But the main thing is that you can enjoy a tasty and healthy product at any time.

Eat right and stay healthy!

Adyghe cheese at home is much tastier, more tender and healthier than a store-bought product. The dish is prepared simply and quickly (with the exception of the whey souring time).

Adyghe cheese is a valuable storehouse of protein and calcium. In addition, it is non-caloric, and therefore can be recommended for a dietary diet. Due to its wonderful taste, it is used as an additive to various salads, snacks. The dairy product goes well with herbs, vegetables and even fruits.

Ingredients

• kefir or yogurt - 1 liter;
• milk - 3 liters;
• salt;
• pepper, spices, herbs (optional).

About 500 grams of cheese comes out of the indicated amount of ingredients.

Adyghe cheese recipe at home

Before you start cooking, you need to make a starter from kefir. Pour kefir into a saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. As soon as it begins to boil, and small flakes form, immediately turn off the heat.

With the help of a fine sieve or gauze, we filter the whey from the cottage cheese. Pour into a convenient bowl and leave for 2 days at room temperature to sour. The cottage cheese remaining in the sieve can be eaten or used in baking.

When the whey turns sour, heat 3 liters of fresh milk in a large deep saucepan.

Bring to a low boil, stirring constantly so that the bottom of the pan does not burn. As soon as the foam begins to rise, immediately pour the acidified whey to the milk, mix well.

The milk will begin to separate the protein, the whey will turn clear green and flakes will form.

Let simmer for 1 minute, remove from heat. Drain into a fine sieve or colander.

While the cheese is still hot, level it with a spatula, crush and salt to taste. Leave for 15 minutes for the whey to glass, and the product thickens (the drained whey can be reused for making cheese or used in baking).

Then turn over, and repeat the procedure with salt on the other side, also leave for 15 minutes.

If you want the dish to be more compact, put it under pressure for a few minutes while the product is still hot. If desired, the appetizer can be seasoned on top with red pepper or herbs to give a piquant taste.

Ready cheese is good both warm and cold. It can be added to salads or used as a filling for pies. Bon appetit!

Adyghe cheese has a lot of "relatives" in many countries: Mozzarella, cheese, Ricotta, Feta, Paneer and many other types of pickled cheese invented throughout the history of mankind.

The Adyghe legend claims that the famous cheese existed in the 7th-8th millennium BC. But the cheese with the name "Adyghe" became really famous only after the 1980 Olympics, in Moscow, where it was delivered in beautiful packages specially made in Finland.

The technology for the production of pickled cheese "Adygeisky" has not changed at all for thousands of years.

The only difference in modern production is the use of raw materials.

If earlier goat and sheep milk were used to make Adyghe cheese, then due to the widespread and significant reduction in the number of these domestic animals, cow's milk began to be used in production.

True, after the introduction of this innovation, cheese makers of Adygea began to actively spread rumors that their cows are special, and they give milk, which is not found anywhere else in the world. By the way, about milk: in pasteurized form, the milk of an Adyghe cow does not have any significant differences from the milk of an Indian or Swiss cow.

An interesting fact: Adyghe cheese is produced by many of the largest cheese factories in the CIS, but under a different name. The fact is that the name "Adyghe cheese" is patented by manufacturers in the Republic of Adygea, so exactly the same cheeses made outside of Adygea with an absolutely authentic taste should be called something else. But it's not the name, it's the taste. Therefore, such cheese can be completely prepared in any home kitchen.

Adyghe cheese at home - basic technological principles

The difference between the production technology of Adyghe cheese and other pickled cheeses is that long-term pasteurization is used for its manufacture.

The only difficulty in making Adyghe cheese at home is to ensure long-term heating of milk to a temperature of 95ºϹ, which affects the consistency of the clot. At this temperature, as well as during continuous stirring, the milk protein sticks together into thread-like clots, pushing out the whey mass.

So that milk does not run away and does not burn during pasteurization, there is a simple and effective way to solve the problem: before heating, the raw material must be cooled as much as possible, and then added to the pasteurization pan gradually, in small parts, with continuous stirring, pouring chilled milk along the edge of the container and at the same time lowering the temperature of the pan and raw materials.

So that the milk does not burn, before starting the brewing of the cheese dough, pour a little water into the bottom of the pan, and, bringing it to a boil, start adding fresh milk first, and then whey, sour cream or yogurt. The use of fermented milk products in the preparation of homemade pickled cheeses is the best option. These foods are naturally saturated with essential bacteria and enzymes and every housewife knows how to properly handle them.

Special and rennet enzymes and starter cultures that are used in industrial cheesemaking require a certain level of training from a beginner cheesemaker, and, in addition, their use makes sense for impressive volumes of cheese production: special starter cultures in the amount of 1.5-2 g are added to 100 liters of milk . At home, it is unlikely that anyone will need such an amount of cheese: from 100 liters of milk, you can get 13-16 kg of the product, depending on the type of milk. With such a minimum amount of starter per 100 liters, it will be very difficult to measure its weight to prepare one head of cheese weighing 1.5 kg.

It should be noted that heads of smaller weight can be prepared at home, but the following factor should be taken into account: the separation of whey in pickled cheeses occurs naturally, without the use of presses, under the pressure of the product's own weight. Therefore, based on the laws of physics, with a head weight of 0.5 kg, the whey extrusion process will be slower and less efficient.

The ratio of fresh milk and fermented milk products is 2:1. It will be very convenient if, immediately before starting cooking, dilute sour cream or thick curdled milk with a part of fresh milk: this will allow you to pour in the sour mass more evenly and avoid the formation of lumps in the cheese dough.

To start making Adyghe cheese at home, it remains to consider the quality requirements for the raw materials used and the standard requirements for the finished product. Of course, natural, whole milk, which can be purchased from farmers or specialized markets for agricultural products, is best suited for making cheese. The fat content of Adyghe cheese is, according to standard requirements, 45%; humidity - up to 60%; salt content - 2%.

To obtain cheese of this quality, the raw materials used for its preparation should correspond to these indicators as much as possible. It is allowed to use dry concentrates, with the help of which natural skimmed milk can be brought to the desired fat content. Also, to obtain the necessary fat content, it is possible to use a combination of skimmed milk with full-fat sour cream.

In general, GOST rules do not have absolute power in your own kitchen, but you can give free rein to your creativity.

1. The original recipe for Adyghe cheese at home

Ingredients:

Goat milk, whole 4.5 l

Cow's milk, whole 5.5 l

Whey, natural (from cow's, whole milk) 4 l

Cooking method:

Take two types of milk in equal parts and the same amount of whey. To prepare pickled cheese according to the original recipe, you will need an enameled or stainless steel saucepan with a volume 2 times the amount of milk.

Strain the milk bought on the market through gauze or a linen napkin.

Pour the milk into a saucepan, turning the stove on to the lowest temperature setting. Boil it for 50-60 minutes, pouring in the whey in small portions every time the milk is about to boil. Stir the contents of the pot continuously. In the milk mass, thread-like clots should form, separating from the whey.

When the curdled milk protein gathers into a spherical clot, turn off the heat or remove the pan from the stove. Prepare a container for discarding the cheese, and place another dish under it, into which the whey will drain. When the whey has drained and the cheese has compacted under its own weight, turn the mold over and place the head on a wire rack (grid).

Real Adyghe cheese is filtered through willow wicker baskets. But you can use other containers suitable for this purpose: a sieve or colander will do. Sprinkle the surface of the head with salt. The cheese should ripen within 18-24 hours. Cheese can be stored in a tightly closed package, no more than 72 hours.

Recipe 2. Adyghe cheese at home from dry concentrate

Ingredients:

Milk, whole (3.2%) 6.5 l

Curdled milk, homemade 3.3 l

Powdered milk (25%) 1.5 kg

Cooking:

Heat natural milk to 40ºϹ, and dilute the dry concentrate in it, adding the powder with continuous stirring. When the concentrate is completely dissolved, separate 2.5-3 liters of milk from the total volume and cool this part to 18-20ºϹ.

Heat the second part of the reconstituted milk to 90-95ºϹ and start pouring into it first 200-300 ml of chilled milk, and then yogurt to lower the boiling point. Use curdled milk with a temperature of +5ºϹ to extend the cheese cooking process up to an hour.

Pour in chilled milk and yogurt along the edge of the pan, in a circular motion, so that the clot gathers in the center of the pan. Remove the saucepan from the stove when the milk has curdled and cool again to room temperature. Collect the clot and transfer to the prepared form with holes for draining the whey. Place the mold in a dish that will serve as a tray. After the cheese has firmed, salt the surface and transfer to a grid or wire rack, and salt the cheese on the other side. Place the finished head in a plastic bag with a zipper or in a container with a tight-fitting lid.

Shelf life of cheese - 3 days, at a temperature of 0-5ºϹ.

3. Adyghe cheese at home from whole cottage cheese and milk

Ingredients:

Milk, whole 4.5 l

Cottage cheese, homemade (fatty)

Cooking:

Wipe homemade cottage cheese through a sieve and combine with half of the taken milk into a homogeneous mass, without lumps. Start heating the second half of cold milk in a saucepan, in parts of 200-300 ml: heating one part to 90ºϹ, pour in the next portion of milk. After all the milk has been pasteurized, start pouring in the cooled mixture of milk and cottage cheese, also in parts: in a circular motion, from the walls of the pan to the center. Remove curdled milk proteins from the stove to cool. Next, shape the cheese heads as described in the recipes above.

4. Adyghe cheese at home from milk and sour cream

Ingredients:

Natural milk 7.5 l

Sour cream (25%) 2.5 kg

Cooking:

Also, as in previous recipes, use chilled ingredients to make cheese. Combine 1/3 of the milk with sour cream to get a liquid homogeneous mass: it will be convenient to introduce sour cream into the pan.

Start pasteurizing the milk by pouring it in batches into a saucepan and heating it close to boiling point. Under no circumstances should the milk boil. After all the milk has been poured, pour in the sour cream diluted with milk. In the process of pasteurization, do not stop the smooth stirring of the cheese mass. Leave the curdled milk protein to cool; collect the curd mass in a sieve, colander or other round container with holes. After the whey has drained onto the tray and the cheese has compacted under its own weight, salt the surface and turn the mold over, placing the cheese in the prepared storage container.

Adyghe cheese at home - tips and tricks

For the convenience of making Adyghe cheese at home, use a thermometer to control the pasteurization temperature of milk: if the milk boils, then cheese will not come out of it, and the pasteurization temperature is very close to the boiling point.

To make one kilogram of Adyghe cheese at home, at least 6.5 liters of milk is required.

You can replace rennet in homemade cheese production with sour cream, cottage cheese, curdled milk and any fermented milk products.

If the household has a home smokehouse, try smoked Adyghe cheese: after preparing a cheese head in any of the ways described, keep it in the smokehouse for 3-4 hours, in cold smoking mode (up to 25ºϹ). To smoke, brush the head of cheese with butter. Smoking does not extend the shelf life of the cheese, but allows you to get new, interesting flavors. To increase the shelf life of smoked Adyghe cheese, a longer exposure in the smokehouse is required, but the taste of the cheese changes significantly.

Try making Adyghe cheese with pepper, cumin, cilantro or other spices and spices. Such cheese can be used to prepare original salads and other dishes.