Well, as promised here is my very simple “How to Make Pot Cheese” tutorial.  I’m afraid I don’t have pictures though .

1.  Place a very large pot of fresh milk on the stove on high (you can save up for a few days, just make sure you keep your milk in the fridge, we don’t want wild cultured cheese, that’s more of a cottage cheese approach.)  If you use whole milk your finished cheese will be slightly soft and creamy, if you use skim milk your finished cheese will be firm and squeaky.

2.  Stir, stir, stir, milk burns easily and you want to heat it until just before a rolling boil.

3.  Once your milk starts to show signs of boiling (make sure it doesn’t foam up and boil over – whoo, that makes a mess), grab some lemon juice in a bottle or vinegar (I prefer lemon juice for flavor myself) and squirt it in while quickly reducing the heat.

4.  Stir to distribute the lemon juice evenly.  Watch for signs of separation.  If the milk turns into two distinct parts – a yellowish clear fluid (whey) and chunks of white stuff (curds), you have success!  If your milk stays white and whole, add more lemon juice, stir, repeat as needed to achieve separation.

(This isn’t a super-scientific technique that involves measuring, ph checks etc. just eyeball it.)

5.  Once you’ve achieved separation, pour off the whey (some people like to save some for soaking grains/beans, or diluting in water as a digestive tonic, you can also feed it to your livestock.)

6.  Strain your curds – this is your cheese!  If you want a firm cheese you can cut into cubes and fry, put a plate on top of your cheese in the colander that you strained it in and put a weight on top like a jug or jar full of water.  If not, you can just crumble the cheese up into whatever dish you’d like to serve it in.

7. Salting your cheese before adding it into your dish will help a LOT.  Pot cheese needs a lot of salt – it has a very mild flavor, and it will soak up a LOT of salt from your recipe.

8.  Enjoy!  This fresh cheese is very versatile, with a mild flavor that adapts to most uses.  If you have a milking cow, don’t let that skim milk go to waste!  This is a great way to extend all your family’s favorite dishes!