Cottage Cheese

The origin of cottage cheese, as it exists today, is- The solids not fat of milk is standardized to
as old as the cheese making itself. From the9.0% by fortifying with skim milk powder.
historical point of view, the cottage cheese- Pasteurization of the milk is done at 63°C
making, appeared as a delicacy in the ranchfor 30 min or 72°C for 15 seconds (normal
houses and homes of Central European countriespasteurization time temperature combination).
was later adopted by the colonial America and the- The pasteurized milk is cooled to 30°C.
modern industrial cottage cheese making- Calcium chloride is added at the rate of 10 g for
originated in the U.S in about 1915. It is also calledevery 100 litres of milk.
as Pot cheese in USA and some times Dutch- Starter culture is added at the rate of 4 - 6%.
cheese.- Rennet, the important coagulating agent, is
However with the advent of cyber technologyadded at the rate of 0.04 g per 100 litres. After
and seemingly shrinking world, the geographicalthe addition of rennet, the milk is incubated at a
significance of cottage cheese, as styled aftertemperature of 37°C for 60 - 75 min.
American cheese has lost much of its local flavor- Next step in the manufacture of cottage
and standard types of cottage cheeses arecheese is cutting. Cutting of the cheese curd is
emerging in the international market to cater todone when the whey acidity reaches 0.50% lactic
the taste of the informed customers of the newacid. It generally takes about 3 - 4 hours.
era.- Then cooking of the cheese curd is done.
Cottage cheese is a soft unripened variety ofCooking is nothing but slow heating of the curd to
cheese made from skim milk to which somea required temperature for a particular duration.
cream and salt are added. It serves as a goodInitially cooking is done at 40°C.
source of high quality milk protein and less in- Final stage of cooking is completed when the
calories (since skim milk is used in the preparationtemperature reaches 55°C.
of cottage cheese). It is the best type of cheese- Then the cooked cheese curd is washed with
suitable for overweight and health consciouswater at a temperature of 27°C for 10 min.
people.- Second washing is done at 17°C for 10 min.
The technology of manufacture (productionThird and final washing is done at 8°C for 10
technology) of cottage cheese is as followsmin.
- Fresh, good quality milk free from antibiotics and- Finally, the cheese is added with cream in such a
preservatives is selected for preparing cottageproportion so that the final fat percentage comes
cheese.to 18%. Now it is called as cottage cheese.
- A good quality and active starter is generally forIn the end we get a mellowing and refreshing
coagulating the skim milk to prepare cottagecheese that is nothing but cottage cheese.
cheese.