Sous Vide Crème Fraîche Cottage Cheese

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Kate Itrich-Williams

Atlanta

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Cottage cheese — so hot right now. And if you’re wanting to really embrace the trend, why not try making it yourself? It’s much easier to make cheese when you use a water bath regulated by an Anova Precision Cooker. You won’t have to worry about standing by the stove or insulating a pot to keep your milk at the perfect temperature for culturing and setting the curd. The Precision Cooker will do all of the work for you. This recipe is informed by two DIY cottage cheese recipes; the temperatures from a method on ChefSteps and the addition of crème fraîche from Mary Karlin’s book Artisan Cheesemaking at Home. If you’re familiar with cheesemaking, you’ll notice that the temperatures in the first stage are a bit higher than is traditional. It’s easiest to use a higher temperature and higher-temp starter culture (thermophilic vs mesophilic) when using sous vide. The benefit is that you won’t need to culture it as long! If you’re not familiar with cheesemaking, don’t sweat it! This recipe is easy to pull off for beginners. The cheesemaking supplies mentioned in this recipe can all be ordered from New England Cheesemaking. A final note — if you’d like even firmer curds than what this recipe yields, you can add calcium chloride to the milk before the rennet. You’ll need ¼ teaspoon, dissolved into ¼ cup cool water, divided between the four jars.
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Ingredients for 4

  • 1 gallon whole milk (preferably organic, either pasteurized or raw; not ultra high-pasteurized (UHT)), divided, plus more if needed for finishing

  • ¼ tsp (0.4 grams) thermophilic direct-set starter culture (C201)

  • 8 drops double-strength liquid vegetable rennet

  • 2 ½ tsp (7.5 grams) kosher salt, divided, plus more to taste

  • ⅓ cup (80g) crème fraîche

Directions

  • Step 1

    Attach an Anova Precision Cooker to a large vessel of water and set the temperature to 100°F (38°C).

  • Step 2

    While the water bath is heating, sterilize your equipment. Place four 1-quart glass canning jars, the jar lids, and a long flat metal spatula or butter knife in a large pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil over high heat and then continue to boil for 10 minutes. Carefully remove from the water and let drain and cool on a clean wire rack.

  • Step 3

    Once the jars have cooled, fill them with the milk until there is just ½ inch of headspace from the top of the jar. There will be some milk left over. Reserve this for finishing the cottage cheese. Sprinkle about 1/16 tsp (0.1 gram) starter culture on top of each jar of milk. Let the jars sit undisturbed for 5 minutes to hydrate the culture.

  • Step 4

    Add 2 drops of the rennet to each jar. Use the sterilized spatula to gently stir each jar for 20 to 30 seconds to incorporate the culture and rennet. Place the lids on the jar and screw them on fingertip-tight.

  • Step 5

    Transfer to the water bath and culture for at least 4 hours or up to 12 hours. The longer the jars are in the water bath, the tangier and more “cheese-like” the final result will be. While the milk is culturing, wash the spatula (no need to re-sterilize).

  • Step 6

    Remove the jars from the water bath. Adjust the temperature on the Precision Cooker to 125°F (52°C). (This temperature will determine how firm the curds are; 125°F will yield a medium-firm curd. Adjust up or down by 5°F (3°C) for a softer or firmer curd.)

  • Step 7

    While the water bath is heating, cut the curd in the jars. Remove the lids. Insert the spatula straight down into the curd towards one side of the jar. Make sure to get the spatula all the way to the bottom of the jar. Draw a straight line through the curd. Repeat on the other side of the jar, drawing a second line parallel to the first. Repeat two more times, this time drawing lines perpendicular to the first two. You should see a tic-tac-toe pattern on the top of the curd. Repeat with the remaining jars. Replace the lids, again screwing them on fingertip-tight.

  • Step 8

    Once the bath is heated, return the jars and cook for 90 minutes. Do not exceed this cooking time. Meanwhile, line a fine mesh strainer with two layers of butter muslin or a clean, thin kitchen towel. (If you only have cheesecloth, use four layers.) Place over a large bowl.

    • Finishing Steps

    • Step 0

      Remove the jars from the water bath. Remove the lids. The white curds should have firmed up, shrunk, and be floating in a jar of yellow-ish whey. Gently pour the curds and whey through the butter muslin. Keep an eye on the whey level in the bowl. If it’s getting too high, pour out into a separate bowl (if you’d like to save it). Gather up the butter muslin to form the curds into a ball and gently squeeze to remove additional whey.

    • Step 1

      Pour off 1 cup of the whey into a storage container, cover, and refrigerate. You can discard or keep the remaining whey for another use.

    • Step 2

      Transfer the curds, still in the draining set-up, to the refrigerator. Chill overnight (or up to 24 hours) to firm up the curd.

    • Step 3

      The next day, remove the ball of curds from the refrigerator and unwrap. Transfer to a cutting board and chop into roughly ½-inch pieces. Transfer to a large bowl and add 1 ½ teaspoons of the salt. Fold gently to incorporate.

    • Step 4

      In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the crème fraîche, remaining milk, and remaining 1 teaspoon salt. The volume of the mixture should be about 1 cup. Depending on how full you filled the jars before culturing, you may need to add additional milk. Pour the crème fraîche mixture into the bowl with the curds and fold gently to combine. If the mixture is thicker than you’d like, you can fold in additional whey, ¼ cup at a time, until it reaches your desired consistency. (Keep in mind that the cottage cheese will continue to thicken and firm up in the fridge.) Taste the cottage cheese and add additional salt if desired.

    • Step 5

      Serve immediately with the toppings of your choice or transfer to a storage container and refrigerate for up to 10 days.

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100 F / 37.8 C Recipe Temp
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