Make cream cheese, quark and Co. yourself

Quark can be spilled, but can you do it yourself? And if so, how complicated is that? And what is the difference between quark, cream cheese, yogurt and cheese? Actually, quark is "cream cheese"? and thus an intermediate of cheese production. Quark is milk (coagulated) milk protein that has been precipitated from the milk? This is achieved by lactic acid fermentation and / or with the help of enzymes such as calf rennet. Making quark and simple cheese does not require a great deal of cooking, but care, cleanliness and a lot of patience!

Make quark yourself

Quark is relatively easy to produce: you heat fresh milk, whether whole milk or semi-fat milk does not matter, only H-milk may not be, even the? Longer-lasting? is not quite as good. Those who prefer preferential milk should heat them to (maximum) 70 ° C for 30 seconds before processing, which kills pathogenic germs.

For 1.5 to 2 kg quark you need 5 liters of milk, a pinch of bacteria **, 10 drops of rennet **.


To make quark milk should have a temperature of 20-22 ° C. First, the appropriate lactic acid bacteria are added, but you take a mesophilic culture **, which likes exactly these temperatures. Then you leave the pot covered and warm packed 3 hours stand. The rennet is diluted with 10 times the amount of water and stirred into the milk. Now do not move the pot. Leave for at least 6 hours, preferably overnight. Then the milk protein has separated from the whey and the thicket has emerged, which is still cut into pieces in the pot. Then leave the whole thing again for 6 to 10 hours in peace. Then you can drain the whey, preferably in a strainer lined with a cheesecloth *. That takes 4 to 6 hours again. Once the desired firmness has been achieved (cream cheese is allowed to harden and quark is creamier), mix the mixture with a blender. If you like it creamier, stir in a cup of cream. Good Appetite!

By the way: The quark you can buy is available in three different fat levels? However, it is always produced from skimmed milk. The fat levels are adjusted after production by Rahmzugabe.

Make cheese yourself

The cheese distinguishes between sour milk cheese (this is then cream cheese, red lard, Harzer, Camembert, Brie) and rennet cheese, which is not acidified and which includes most cut and hard cheeses. If you want to make sour milk cheese, then you start with the quark preparation as described above, only the dripping becomes longer and more intense.


Lab cheese is easier to produce: 1-2 liters of milk are heated to 33 ° C and the diluted rennet ** stirred. Wrap the pot in thick towels and let it rest. After the lab addition, it is important not to shake the mass anymore. After about an hour, the thicket would have arisen. Cut into 2-3 cm cubes with a cheese harp * or a knife. Let stand for a short time and then jerk gently back and forth, so that the whey separates better. Let rest again for a while. Now pour the mass into the cheesecloth * and leave it overnight. Important: the bottom of the sieve must not be in the whey. So either a sieve with feet or something tinker a kind of spacer. The next morning, pour the drained mass into suitable cheese molds * and allow to drain further (distance to the whey!) Turn every two hours, turn it upside down four to five times. Now the cheese is pressed in the mold for about five hours, you put to the press cover * and complains the whole. Then out of the mold and into the salt bath: one liter of water with 150 g of salt.

If you want to try a Camembert, scrape off some of the noble mold bark from a Camembert and vaccinate your own cheese. Allow to mature for two weeks at 18 ° C.

*The tool

  • Food ThermometersIndispensable because bacteria are very sensitive to temperatures.
  • Fine household strainer
  • cheesecloth: Can you replace with a clean, thin dishcloth.
  • cheese harp: looks like an egg cutter, for the beginning a sharp, long knife suffices
  • cheese molds: Are mostly round plastic molds with lid and press cover. The molds are perforated so that the whey can drain. Who wants to make cheese more often. for the purchase is worthwhile. For the first or rather rare experiments, you can make something yourself: For this you need the same size, stackable plastic cans with a lid. In the bottom, lid and top and bottom edge with a hot needle puncture holes. For pressing you simply put another plastic box in the top of the cheese can and complain with books.

** The aids Lactic Acid Bacteria and Lab

Lactic acid bacteria are very different. They are responsible for converting the milk sugar contained in the milk into lactic acid, making the milk taste sour and making our future quark or cheese tastier. The milk protein is precipitated and the milk is "thickened".Lab is an enzyme that is derived from calf stomachs and mainly provides for the thinning. Both (the lactic acid cultures of different types for different types of cheese) are most easily obtained on the Internet, in the health food store, the pharmacy or in the well-stocked health food store. As a vegetarian alternative to the animal lab, there are lab herb or you can just try it with citric acid.


And now something simple: Make yogurt yourself

Heat 1 liter of milk to 50 ° C and stir in 150 g of natural yoghurt. Put in suitable glasses and place on a baking sheet in the oven at 50 ° C. Do not move! Switch off the oven after half an hour, but leave the yoghurt in the oven overnight. Consume within 3-4 days.

Editor's tip:

Naturlab to make the cheese itself is also available on Amazon in the offer.

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