Good afternoon, dear readers! You've probably come across the concept of "pepsin". And for some reason it is constantly used in conjunction with the definition of "beef". Although it is known that this enzyme is used to make cheeses, including homemade ones.

How to unravel these biological-linguistic labyrinths, now I will try to tell you.

First, let's understand the basic terms.

The main thing " actor»Of this story - rennet and its components. This substance is produced in the stomachs of ruminants, and more specifically - by the glands of the fourth section of the stomach, which bears the strange name "abomasum".

This is a natural compound and is used as a catalyst in the production of cheeses. The two main constituents of the rennet are pepsin and chymosin. The purpose of chymosin is the primary breakdown of milk components, as a result of which the insoluble protein casein is formed. The latter, in turn, undergoes "factorization" already with the help of pepsin.

As a result, milk is divided into two fractions - curd protein mass and whey. Moreover, the protein component after contact with two elements of the rennet is already broken down into amino acids, which are easily processed by the body.

The main thing to know about pepsin's function is its ability to aid protein absorption. Without it, we could drink milk in buckets, and not get the required portion of the “building” component, which is so important for tissues.

That's the story!

Historians assure that we owe the Arab nomads the discovery of what pepsin is in cottage cheese. It is clear that they did not know such a word, and they simply had no time to engage in substantive cheese making. As is often the case in a long and fascinating biography of the development of human society, everything happened by accident.

Moving through the hot desert, the pilgrims carried milk with them. The containers were sacks made from the stomachs of livestock. After some time on the way, the nomads discovered that the milk curdled, turned into a clot floating in translucent whey.

These components and the mechanism of milk curdling were subjected to close analysis only in the forties of the last century, at the same time the concept of "beef pepsin" appeared. And to this day, pepsin is natural substance, it is not produced artificially.

You can buy rennet in pharmacies and in specialized stores, it is available in the form of a liquid or powder. It is used in cooking to give meat dishes of greater softness, as well as for the manufacture of cottage cheese and cheese of different varieties.

Cheese-boron in detail

Why is pepsin synthesized in the stomachs of livestock and a number of other artiodactyls?

Initially, rennet was programmed by nature as an aid in the breakdown and assimilation of milk protein by newborn calves, lambs, kids and other young ruminants. In addition, it is also present in the gastric juice of birds.

As for the other component of the rennet, that is, chymosin, we will not go into details. chemical analysis, but let's dwell on a very important point.

To start the mechanism of its functioning, a certain environment is required: the presence in gastric juice of hydrochloric acid, calcium ions and pH (pH) less than 5 units. This must be taken into account when planning and making cheese at home, and its use, competent mixing with other food products.

Remember that if the acidity of the stomach is low, an alkaline environment prevails, then chymosin in it loses its activity, milk and other protein products will be poorly absorbed. Accordingly, you should not eat homemade and industrially produced cheese, say, together with lemons or apples, berries, apricots and bananas, and other "alkaline" delicacies.

Another tip: do not prepare the sourdough yourself. It is difficult to calculate the required proportions of acidity, and the process can take from 12 hours to a day. If we do not guess with the optimal acidity level, the cheese will lose its delicate taste. If the acidity of the fermenting composition is too high, the product will acquire a bitterness, which is not always pleasant to the taste.

Otherwise, our cheese can quickly deteriorate, since pathogenic bacteria can develop in it.

Thinking about how to make delicate homemade cheese, and even not too expensive in terms of finance, it is better to choose the option using ready-made beef pepsin.

At the preparation stage, beef pepsin is thoroughly cleaned of fat and other insoluble impurities. At the exit to finished product such impurities should not be more than 3% by weight. The drug is produced by the extraction method, then the salting-out stage takes place, the final moment is freeze-drying. Chymosin in the composition is on average about 10%.

The production process resembles the technology for the release of medicines and, ideally, should have the same careful control at different stages and at the final stage of testing. finished products.

Cheese makers themselves

So, we decided that we would prefer industrial pepsin for our culinary research. It will cause coagulation of milk in an hour or even a slightly shorter period of time, depending on the variety and other parameters of the feedstock.

By the way, about the economy of homemade cheese making. Just one bag of "shop" pepsin is enough to ferment 100 liters of milk, and at the end we get about 12 kilograms of finished products, delicious and healthy cheese.

Choosing a recipe for cheese homemade, please note that if you choose the option of cheese making without the use of pepsin, then milk with a low percentage of fat, as well as ultra-pasteurized, is not suitable for it. The use of pepsin expands the range of likely feedstocks. Here varieties with varying degrees of fat content are already suitable, even powder with some skill can be "tamed" and turned into the desired cheese. Only milk with an excess of preservatives will not work.

The practice of both industrial cheese making and amateur culinary experiments proves this with success. With purchased rennet, you can create masterpieces: various soft cheeses, as well as pickled varieties, feta cheese, cottage cheese in endless variations of additional components, shades, "zest".

With beef pepsin, any of these components of the true gourmet menu acquires delicate softness, smooth consistency without annoying lumps and hard grains. And the piquancy of taste is added.

One of the options for making rennet cheese.

Dissolve pepsin in water at room temperature, pour it into milk warmed up to 35 degrees. After half an hour or 40 minutes, we will see that a cheese curd has formed. Bring to readiness in a water bath at a temperature of about 40 degrees. When we get cottage cheese of the desired consistency, we filter out the mass, wrap it in a cloth, squeeze it out under a press. Additional ingredients can be added to the pulp if desired.

Surely, after reading this article, I am interested in you, and one recipe for making cheese at home will not be enough for you. It is so?

What will you find in this book?

  • recipes for dishes from homemade dairy products. Dishes like sour cream butter, cottage cheese, cheese, kefir, yogurt, cream, whey.
  • many color photographs;
  • simple cooking tools;
  • affordable theory for home cooking.

By studying this book and putting it into practice in your kitchen, you and your family will truly appreciate the taste of the food you cook. After all, they will be not only tasty, but also healthy.

You can order this wonderful helper here.

Related articles:

Dear friends, here we have "made" homemade cheese using this special ingredient: beef pepsin.

And if you know or have tried to make homemade cheese according to a different recipe - share in the comments. It will be interesting for me to read it, and then try it in practice.

That's all for me, see you soon!

The invention relates to the dairy industry and is intended for the preparation of cheese. The method for preparing cheese includes preparing milk for curdling, which involves maturing milk, normalizing it in terms of fat, pasteurizing and coloring, introducing lactic acid starter culture and rennet into milk to curdle it with the formation of a curd, treating the curd with the formation of curd grains, shaping curd grains , pressing, salting and ripening. Before the introduction of lactic acid starter culture and rennet into milk at a temperature of 30-35 ° C with stirring, pectin is introduced in an amount of 0.5-5.00% by weight of milk, while pectin is introduced in the form of a milk-pectin emulsion at a ratio of pectin - pasteurized milk (1: 1) - (1: 5), respectively. The invention makes it possible to prepare cheese with high consumer properties: nutritional and physiological value, water-holding capacity, improved structural and mechanical properties and resistance to oxidation during storage. 1 tab.

The invention relates to the dairy industry and can be used in the preparation of cheese.

A known method for preparing cheese, including preparing milk for coagulation (maturation, normalization of fat, pasteurization, coloring), the introduction of lactic acid starter culture and rennet for milk coagulation, obtaining a curd, processing it to separate the whey, mixing the curd with the formation of curd grains, molding and pressing, salting and ripening of cheese (Technology of cheese and whey processing products / Z.S. Sokolova, L.I. Lakomova, V.G. Tinyakov. - M .: Agropromizdat, 1992, - pp. 244-254).

The disadvantage of this method is that the resulting cheese is characterized by insufficient water-holding capacity, which can lead to the separation of whey from it, especially during defrosting, when the so-called melting of the cheese takes place. In addition, the cheese obtained in this way has a low nutritional value, as well as insufficiently pronounced melting characteristics and adhesion effect, leading to sticking of cheese on the knife, and, most importantly, high rates of oxidation of the fat contained in it during storage.

The objective of the invention is to create a highly efficient method for preparing cheese with high consumer properties: nutritional and physiological value, water-holding capacity, improved structural and mechanical properties and resistance to oxidation during storage.

The problem is solved by the fact that in the method of preparing cheese, which includes preparing milk for coagulation, which involves maturing milk, normalizing it in terms of fat, pasteurizing and coloring, introducing lactic acid starter culture and rennet into milk for its coagulation to form a clot, processing a clot with the formation curd, molding curd, pressing, salting and ripening, before the introduction of lactic acid starter culture and rennet into milk at a temperature of 30-35 ° C with stirring, introduce pectin in an amount of 0.5-5.00% by weight of milk, at This pectin is introduced in the form of a milk-pectin emulsion at the ratio of pectin - pasteurized milk (1: 1) - (1: 5), respectively.

When preparing cheese by the claimed method, the resulting product is characterized by high structural and mechanical properties, namely: plastic cheese dough, there is no brittle bending effect, after defrosting there is no melting or sticking effect on the knife.

As we have shown experimentally, the use of pectin in the claimed ratio of components makes it possible to obtain cheese with new properties. The introduction of pectin makes it possible to increase the moisture-holding capacity of the cheese, and also makes it possible to reduce the course of oxidative processes of the fat contained in the cheese, due to its high antioxidant properties.

In addition, cheese with the introduction of pectin acquires a higher nutritional value and physiological activity due to the radioprotective and immunomodulating properties of pectin.

The preparation of cheese by the claimed method allows to increase its yield by 0.9-3.0%, as well as to increase the shelf life by 15 days in comparison with the cheese obtained by the known method.

The inventive method for preparing cheese is illustrated by examples.

Example 1. In 10 kg of milk, which has passed maturation, normalization for fat, pasteurization and coloring, with an acidity of 19 ° T, heated to a temperature of 33 ° C, 50 g of pectin is introduced in the form of an emulsion in pasteurized milk with a pectin - pasteurized milk ratio of 1: 5, after which lactic acid starter culture and rennet are introduced into the mixture. After thorough mixing, the mixture is left for 30 minutes to curdle the milk, after which the curd is processed, the curd is molded and pressed, salted and the cheese is sent to ripening.

Example 2. In 10 kg of milk that has passed maturation, normalization for fat, pasteurization and coloring, with an acidity of 19 ° T, heated to a temperature of 33 ° C, 250 g of pectin is introduced in the form of an emulsion in pasteurized milk with a pectin - pasteurized milk ratio of 1: 2, after which lactic acid starter culture and rennet are introduced into the mixture. After thorough mixing, the mixture is left for 30 minutes to curdle the milk, after which the curd is processed, the curd is molded and pressed, salted and the cheese is sent to ripening.

Example 3. In 10 kg of milk, which has passed maturation, normalization for fat, pasteurization and coloring, with an acidity of 19 ° T, heated to a temperature of 33 ° C, 500 g of pectin is introduced in the form of an emulsion in pasteurized milk with a pectin - pasteurized milk ratio of 1: 1, after which lactic acid starter culture and rennet are introduced into the mixture. After thorough mixing, the mixture is left for 30 minutes to curdle the milk, after which the curd is processed, the curd is molded and pressed, salted and the cheese is sent to ripening.

Cheese was prepared in parallel in a known manner.

The indicators of the obtained products are shown in the table.

From the data in the table, it follows that the cheese prepared by the claimed method has high organoleptic and physicochemical characteristics and is a physiologically valuable product.

Claim

A method of preparing cheese, including preparing milk for curdling, providing for milk maturation, normalizing it in terms of fat, pasteurizing and coloring, introducing lactic acid starter culture and rennet into milk to curdle it with the formation of a curd, treating a curd with the formation of a curd grain, molding curd grains , pressing, salting and ripening, characterized in that before the introduction of lactic acid starter culture and rennet into milk at a temperature of 30-35 ° C with stirring, pectin is introduced in an amount of 0.5-5.00% by weight of milk, while pectin injected in the form of a milk-pectin emulsion with a ratio of pectin: pasteurized milk = (1: 1) - (1: 5), respectively.

Goat's milk produces cheese with a specific flavor that is appreciated by amateurs.

To ferment milk, special ferments or citric acid with acidin pepsin are used (these are pharmaceutical tablets with ferments suitable for fermentation). For some reason, cheese starter cultures are sold in sachets for 100 liters of milk. If you think the bag is a decent size, then it is not. The bag weighs only 1 g. I had no choice but to estimate the amount by eye: I cut the package and literally squeezed out a few grains of sourdough.

To prepare homemade cheese, you need to control the temperature of milk (even goat milk, even cow milk), so you need a culinary thermometer or slow cooker with yogurt functions or a multi-cooker of 30-40 degrees. You will also need a colander and gauze. To make goat cheese at home, prepare the ingredients listed below.

I used to citric acid and acidin pepsin fermented milk for cheese, for example, in a recipe for mozzarella. and was glad to finally try a special leaven. The starter culture can be ordered from online stores. Pondering this way and that, how much should I measure the starter culture for 1 liter of goat milk, I simply squeezed out a few grains through a small incision on the bag. I think that it was possible even less than in my photo.

  1. Dissolve the starter grains in a little water.
  2. Then pour the water with the sourdough into the milk heated to 35 degrees. Stir and leave for a while, gradually the milk curdles and flakes form.
  3. The resulting mass must be filtered through cheesecloth folded in several layers.
  4. After draining the whey, place the curd under. impromptu press.
  5. It is necessary to take out the cheese mass 2-3 times from under the press, crumble it into pieces and then again place it under oppression.
  6. When the cheese mass is already very dense, place it for about an hour (and some will stir overnight) in a salt solution (about 0.5 liters of water and salt - from 2 tablespoons).
  7. To do this, first cut the cheese into slices or cubes.
  8. Salted in such an unpretentious way, the cheese is almost ready to serve.
  9. But you can do a few more actions: knead it again, put it under oppression again, and then serve it, or let it mature in the refrigerator for five days.
  10. In the photo - homemade goat cheese, soaked in the refrigerator for four days after cooking.
  11. Serve ready-made goat cheese as an appetizer, in sandwiches or salads, and it can also be a filling for khachapuri and other similar pies or flat cakes.

Today, an increasing number of people are thinking about healthy, and most importantly, natural food. I recall the recipes of our grandmothers and great-grandmothers, which can firmly establish themselves in the cookbook of a modern hostess. These recipes are also good because they can be modernized and replaced with some ingredients. Our article will tell you how to make homemade milk cheese with pepsin.


The subtleties of cooking

Pepsin is an enzyme of gastric juice, under the influence of which milk is curdled. Exists great amount preparations with this enzyme, but it is best to purchase the pharmacy "Acidin-pepsin", since it is guaranteed to be safe for the human body. The disadvantages include low solubility of tablets and milk curdling time (more than two hours).

All pepsin cheese recipes have one a common feature – pepsin, when milk is heated, coagulates the milk protein into a cheese ball. Depending on the choice final product, cheese can be hard, semi-hard, soft, pickled and processed. The choice of recipe depends on taste preferences: Someone likes Cheddar, Dorblu or Camembert, and someone likes Mozzarella.


However, getting a natural product at home is quite simple, although there are several nuances here.

  1. Milk should be fresh and homemade. The main thing in such milk is that it is not normalized and, accordingly, the fat content is higher than what is sold in stores. An important factor there will be also the origin of milk: cow or goat. The former is versatile and suitable for cooking both hard and soft cheese. Hard cheeses are not made from goat milk, since they are inferior in quality.
  2. Edible table salt without additives... Iodized salt does not change the taste of the cheese better side, so it is advisable not to use it.
  3. Pickle for cheese like Suluguni or Mozzarella. It is worth remembering that the salinity of the cheese depends on how much time it spent in the brine. If you want saltier - keep it longer and vice versa.
  4. All kinds of seasonings are sprinkled on the finished product and only in processed cheeses additives are mixed into the cheese lump.


Recipes

The recipe is simple and includes only three components: milk, acidin-pepsin and salt. The drug is sold in tablets, so it must be crushed before use. Pepsin consumption is approximately the same - 1.5-2 tablets per 1 liter of milk. Below are two basic recipes for adding acidin-pepsin.

Cooking cheese using heat

To make cheese you will need:

  • a form for cheese (if there is no special one, then a colander will do);
  • gauze, if there is no special form;
  • goat or cow milk, preferably homemade;
  • acidinpepsin;
  • salt.

Add crushed tablets to a small amount of warm boiled water, stir thoroughly. Acidin-pepsin is poorly soluble and may take 10 to 15 minutes. The resulting solution is added to hot (no more than 40 degrees) milk, stirring constantly for five minutes. After about forty minutes, the mixture will begin to curd. The future cheese must be cut into small pieces with a long knife, first vertically, in strips 3-4 centimeters wide, then at an angle as close as possible to 90 degrees, horizontally.

This is necessary in order for the cheese ball to ripen evenly. Then, for about 2 hours, the mixture is heated over low heat, stirring. The heating temperature should not exceed 40 degrees, otherwise the cheese lump will disperse into flakes. As soon as the mixture becomes viscous and reaches for the spoon like a rubber one, you need to salt it, place it in a mold or colander covered with gauze, and let the whey drain. The serum can be refrigerated for later use.



Option without heating

The recipe is similar to the previous one: a pepsin solution is added to warm milk. The resulting mixture is covered with a lid, placed for about six to seven hours in warm place... After the formation of a dense cheese lump, it is placed in a mold for decanting the whey.

The calculation of the product yield is simple: about 100 grams of cheese is obtained from one liter of milk. Depending on the fat content of the milk, there may be a little more or a little less cheese. The animal fat content of a product also depends on milk. Salt is added to taste (some people like a saltier product, while others like slightly salted cheese.



According to these two recipes, the product turns out to be soft, it is not recommended to store it for more than five days. For hard cheese you need a press, it can be special or made from scrap materials. The hardness of the cheese depends on the severity of the press. The cheese should spend about one and a half days under the press, periodically it must be turned over and wiped dry.

The resulting product should ripen, cover with a crust. To do this, he is placed on a plate lined with cotton cloth in the refrigerator for one or two weeks. They turn it over every day. It's okay if the cheese is rounded a little, because holes are formed in it due to carbon dioxide. Such a product is stored for about two months.

You will learn more about how to make cheese from milk with pepsin at home in the following video.

· Dissolve the amount of pepsin required for a given amount of milk in a cup of cold water at the rate of 1g (one sachet) per 100 liters of milk ... While stirring, add it to warm milk at a temperature of 35 C. If you need to use 8-10 liters of milk, then take 1/10 of the bag.
If you make cheese constantly and little by little: then you need to dilute one sachet in 200 ml of pre-boiled and chilled water and store in the refrigerator in a jar with a tightly closed lid, periodically measuring the required amount. (the solution is stored for 2-3 weeks in the refrigerator).

· Sourdough Swiss cheese

Stir in the sourdough into strained fresh milk, cover with a warm blanket, keep under it for 2 days, put the thickened milk in baskets lined with linen and let the whey drain for 1 day. Wrap the mass in canvas bags, put them under oppression for 1 day, rub the mass through a sieve (if the mass is still liquid, then hold it under pressure, and dilute the thick mass with a mass that was not under pressure),

shape in the form of small truncated ends in tin molds, sprinkle with salt and allow to salt for two days. Lay on the grates covered with clean straw, hold, turning, for 2-3 weeks, and when the cheese is covered with a bluish fluff, transfer to the pantry for ripening and keep in it until a yellowish crust appears under the fluff.

  • Chechil cheese

Pour pasteurized skim milk, cooled to a temperature of 30-33C, into a well-washed dish, add pepsin, then, avoiding cooling the milk, keep under the lid until a clot forms. Determine the readiness of the curd with a teaspoon dipped obliquely into the curd, and if it breaks off when the spoon is lifted without leaving flakes, then it is ready. Put the resulting curd on several layers of gauze (or a rare cloth) and drain the whey. Then cut the curd into small cubes with a blunt knife, put it back on the canvas, shape it into a bag and let the whey drain again for 8-10 minutes. The mass must be cut again, wrapped in a bag and kept under a press (1 kg) for 10-15 minutes. After that, cut the mass again, put it again under a press with a heavier load and maintain the same time. Formed in the process, a layer 7 cm thick, cut into blocks with a square base 10-12 cm long, cool, pouring cold water and place the sticks in a strong solution table salt(20% salt). Sprinkle the blocks floating in the solution with salt, let stand for 12 hours, sprinkle with salt again, put them in the brine.