DIY homemade soft cheese

hi there,
ufff had no internet connection for 3 days and already wanna write so much, so will try to catch up with all those thoughts and ideas in my mind.
You already perhaps know that dairy products are very important part of your baby's diet. Try to give them variety of dairy products, such as milk, yogurt (flavored or plain), different smoothies or milk porridge or soft cheese. One of the stored here sells really good soft cheese which is great for babies, they are sold in small containers which are also perfect for one portion meal. However, with all these good things it is still quite expensive. I used to make soft cheese like this at home and still remember my mom making such things so I thought if I could do it before why not starting it again for my baby to enjoy natural homemade cheese. Besides you can use it to create many other yummy dishes both for your baby and you.

I started giving whole dairy products for my baby when she was around 9 months.

It is really easy to make soft cheese at home and requires only 4 things:

1. plain fresh full creme yogurt (use whole dairy products for your baby only. However, if you make cheese for yourself low fat yogurt will do just fine)
2. cheesecloth (if you can't find cheese cloth, any cloth which looks like it will do, as long as it is made of natural material like linen or muslin, but it shouldn't to thick or dyed, choose white or natural off white color) the size of the cloth I usually use is about 40/45 cm by 70 cm, but it totally depends on your needs and the amount of cheese you plan to make.
3. a string to hang the cloth with yogurt
4. time  (at least overnight)

So, line the sieve with the cloth you are using, if the weave is too loose I make two or three layers.

I do the whole making process in the sink, just a quick reminder. ;)

Put yogurt into the cloth, cover loosely with the edges of cloth and let it drain a bit (wait for about an hour or so).

This way you won't have so much liquid when you finally hang it to drain thus won't have splashes or drops around. To make this process faster my mom recommends to heat yogurt slightly in a pot before placing it in cloth. It actually separates liquid from the cheese mass and should be easier and faster. If you use this method don't strain warm yogurt with the liquid through the cloth, take out only the cheese mass that you get and keep whey away. In the end of the day this is what we are trying to do.
This is some whey after an hour of straining

When yogurt is strained a bit, mix it with a spoon, tie the ends of cloth, wrap the string around and tie so that you have a loop for hanging.

I have cupboard right above the sink so I use the nob to hang cheese-to-be :) ( don't know if I can actually say that)

Leave it overnight or for at least 8-10 hours. When you think it is done open and check the consistency. If that is what you want, put your cheese in an airtight container and keep in the fridge for about 10 days. (I don't know how long it will stay as I never had it longer than a week).

And here it is fresh yummy homemade cheese at a cost of yogurt.

To be noted that 1 kg of yogurt makes about 370 g of soft cheese, but it all depends on how much liquid you actually want to leave in your cheese.

I would recommend not to make it too thick for your baby as they try to swallow the whole thing at once and may start choking.

You can serve just like that or with some berry sauce or honey, make some delicious cheesecake or berry fruit fool. (recipes to come soon, check back later).

Please feel free to tell me what you think or what you got.

But for now that's all...

take care there.