Curds and Whey
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the rennet
Wash the rennet in cold water to remove all salt and wipe it dry.
Place the rennet in a tea cup and cover it with lukewarm water.
Let it sit overnight or for several hours.
Make the curd
Remove the rennet and stir the soaking water into 1 quart of milk in a broad dish.
Set the milk in a warm place until it forms a firm curd.
Once the curd is completely formed, move it to a cool place.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Rennet
- Contains enzymes that clot the milk proteins, turning the liquid milk into a solid curd.
- Milk
- Provides the proteins that form the curd and the liquid whey that separates from it.
The step that matters
Setting the milk in a warm place. Rennet works best at warm temperatures. If the milk is too cold, clotting is slow or incomplete, and if it is too hot, the enzymes can be damaged, so the curd may stay soft or fail to firm.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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