Make Your Own Philadelphia-style Cream Cheese

Preface:

1. Since I often make different types of cheese myself, I (actually) know that you should NOT use UHT milk for this, but normal fresh milk. Those who can obtain them directly from the farmer still have a clear advantage. But since I had sold out of my shopping and had taken long-life milk – which of course I only noticed when the whole procedure was already underway – I decided to just give it a try (see in my profile “Alchemist’s Kitchen “… ;-)). I didn’t want to dispose of the ingredients right away until I at least tried it. Well, it also works with long-life milk if necessary! I did need a little more lemon juice for the coagulation (hence the specification of 100 ml), it also took a little longer and the cheese break was very fine-grained and not coarse lumpy. The whey separated well, but couldn’t be seen under the curdled cheese layer. With fresh milk, stirring in the lemon juice (60 ml would be sufficient here) makes the curds very coarse and visibly floating in the clear whey. Both must then be poured into a sieve lined with a cloth and drained off. That also worked with the small-grain mass …… so, and now the preparation details:

Preparation:

1. Pour the milk into a larger saucepan, place the thermometer in it, heat to 38 ° while stirring and maintain the temperature. First pour in 1 tablespoon of lemon juice and stir in for 1 – 2 minutes. Then pour in 1 tbsp again and stir in. The crowd starts to get a bit cheesy. Repeat this until the lemon juice is used up. But be careful (!), When using fresh milk, 60 ml of juice may be enough so that the whey separates visibly and the cheese curd floats in it in large pieces. For my long-life milk, however, the 100 ml was required. The whey settles at the bottom and the fine-grained curd floats like a blanket on the surface. This may take a while.
2. Then place a large sieve on a high bowl so that the sieve does not hang in the whey that has drained off and line it with a cheese, gauze or linen cloth. Pour in the contents of the pot little by little. After each pouring in, always let the whey run through a little and then pour in again straight away. Let the cheese curd – whether the coarse of the fresh milk or the small-grained UHT milk – drain for at least 15 minutes. Then twist the cloth at the edges and gently squeeze out some whey.
3. Pour the curd from the cloth into a mixing bowl, sprinkle in the salt and beat with the mixer hook of the hand mixer. This is very crumbly at first. However, by gradually adding a little whey or clear water, the mixture becomes creamier. But that at most 2 – 3 times. Then pour in the cream and whip the cheese until it has reached the required consistency.
4. Then pour the mass into a mold, cover the surface with cling film, close with a lid and put in the refrigerator. The next day the cream cheese is creamy and firm and easy to spread. It keeps cool for approx. 2 weeks …………… if it has not already been plastered ……….