How to make suluguni cheese at home

Many believe that the Georgian suluguni cheese is a braided pigtail or thin sticks, but this error is extremely wrong. The classic recipe has nothing to do with smoked hard food, suluguni is a soft cheese. On the basis of it they cook second courses, salads, snacks, often suluguni is consumed with bread and greens. To fully enjoy a quality product, it is enough to cook it at home.

What is a suluguni cheese

1. Suluguni looks like cheese, it belongs to the category of soft cheeses in brine. The final product is not crusted, which usually appears after a long maturation.
2. As a rule, the preparation of Suluguni is not limited to any framework.However, many prefer to keep the cheese in a solution of salt, lemon or grape juice. The main advantage of Suluguni is considered to be that cheese can be made from any kind of milk (cow, sheep, goat, buffalo, etc.).
3. If we talk about the classical technology, it is better to cook suluguni from sheep's milk. But many know that it is extremely difficult to get. For this reason, many housewives have learned to improvise, eventually getting no less sophisticated product.
4. Perhaps, one of the most important features of Suluguni preparation is that it is prepared without emulsifiers and preservatives. Since the synthetic components are completely absent, you will get natural and healthy cheese at the exit.
5. It is believed that Suluguni is most recommended for use by children and people with diseases of rheumatism, arthritis and other ailments caused by insufficient calcium in the body.
6. Suluguni has a fairly wide scope. It is added to baking, fried, baked and smoked as an independent snack. Cheese is also added to salads, second courses, wrapped in pita bread or smeared on bread.
7. Georgian dish Khachapuri is prepared on the basis of Suluguni. Also, many chefs successfully combine pickled cheese with olives, olives, purple onions, cucumbers and beans. Suluguni is decorated with fish and meat, then poured over with vinegar.

Features cooking Suluguni

Depending on the chosen recipe, you need to take care of the main ingredients and available tools. They are required in the process of making cheese.

1. Pepsin. The classic recipe for suluguni includes this enzyme. Pepsin can be purchased at the pharmacy, it is available in the form of a powder or solution (10%). In the second case, one ampoule has a volume of about 10 ml.
2. Sour cream. This ingredient is not required in all recipes. However, if you prefer the technology of making suluguni based on sour cream, buy a product with a fat content of 30%. The consistency should be medium, no need to take too thick or liquid composition.
3. Milk. If possible, purchase high-quality home-made (farm) composition, raw milk is used to prepare suluguni. Discard the pasteurized skim composition,otherwise, the taste and quality of Suluguni will suffer. In some cases, the cheese may not curl at all, all efforts will go to "no."
4. Handy materials. In the process of cooking milk is divided into cottage cheese and whey. You need to prepare a gauze or cotton fabric, with which you can squeeze and strain the product. You will also need a cooking thermometer that will allow you to fully comply with the technology. Other available materials (dishes, cutlery, etc.) you will find in your kitchen, depending on the recipe.

Suluguni based on sour cream

• sour cream (fat content of 30%) - 235 ml.
• fresh dill - 1 bunch
• milk - 2.2 l.
• chicken egg - 4 pcs.
• seasoning to taste
• salt - 40 gr.

1. No need to defend the milk and remove the cream from it. Pour the product into a saucepan with a thick bottom, put it on the stove, bring to the appearance of the first bubbles on average power. Reduce heat, add salt and begin to stir intensively so that the granules dissolve.
2. Pour sour cream into a separate deep container, break eggs into it and mix with a fork / whisk. You can use the mixer at low speed, the main thing - bring the composition to homogeneity.Ensure that there are no air bubbles in the mass.
3. While the milk is boiling over the fire, slowly pour in a whipped mixture of eggs and sour cream. Wash, dry and chop the dill, also send to the pan. Pour seasoning (optional). Wait until the milk starts to coagulate. You will see large flakes on the surface.
4. After separating the composition into whey and cottage cheese, pound the mass on the stove for another 5-7 minutes, then turn off the burner. Prepare a colander or kitchen sieve, cover the cavity with a gauze cloth folded in 4 layers. Transfer the curd mass to the container.
5. Leave in this state for a quarter of an hour, then tie the corners of the gauze together, forming a bag. Squeeze the composition with your hands, place the curd under the press. To properly build a yoke, send the composition to the pan, cover with a plate and place a five-liter bottle on top.
6. The remains of serum will be released in 3-5 hours, you need to periodically drain the formed liquid. After the specified time, unfold the finished suluguni, move it into a plastic container or a tight plastic bag. Store in the refrigerator.

Cream cheese suluguni

• milk - 2.8 l.
• pepsin - 1 pinch
• salt - 70 gr.
• drinking water - 1.9 l.

1. Dilute pepsin in 25 ml. cold drinking water, knead until the granules dissolve. Pour the milk into an enamel pan and heat it to 45 degrees.
2. Once the milk product reaches the desired level, turn off the burner and add the dissolved pepsin. Stir very gently, cover and leave the mixture for 30 minutes.
3. After the allotted time, open the lid, evaluate the result. If the surface of the milk is “springy”, cut the composition into small pieces so that the whey leaves quickly. Wait a quarter of an hour again, then mix the product with a wooden spatula.
4. Cover a colander or strainer with gauze folded in 3 layers. Tie the fabric into a pouch, squeeze out excess liquid with your hands. Suspend the product over deep dishes or sink, leave for 1.5 hours until the whey is completely drained.
5. Prepare the brine by mixing salt and drinking water. Bring the composition to complete dissolution of the crystals, then remove the cheese from the cloth and immerse in brine. Soak the product for about 5 hours at its natural temperature.
6. When the time expires, remove the cheese, chop it into small pieces. Pour boiling water into the pan, immerse the cubes of cheese in it so that the liquid completely covers the product, but does not rise above it.
7. You will notice that the water will start melting the cheese. Stir the composition with a spatula until the mass becomes plastic. After that, begin to stretch the cheese so that it becomes layered.
8. Line the sieve with gauze, pour the finished product into it and knot the fabric. Suspend the cheese over the coil so that the whey is glass (about 1.5 hours). Make another brine of water and salt, taking the above proportions. Transfer the melted cheese to the liquid, wait 6 hours.

Suluguni from goat milk

• pepsin - at the tip of a knife
• cow's milk - 270 ml.
• goat milk - 4.7 l.
• yogurt - 250 ml.
• salt - 15 gr.

1. Dissolve pepsin with cow's milk, leave for half an hour. After the time, strain the resulting starter through 2 layers of gauze, warm up on the stove to 35 degrees.
2. In another container, bring goat's milk to 40 degrees, then pour sour milk and pepsin-based sour milk to it. Leave the pot at room temperature for 1 hour.
3. After that, the milk will start to roll up, put it on the stove. Add salt, wait for the crystals to dissolve. Heat up to 40 degrees.
4. Line the colander with gauze, transfer the finished product to it, tie it in a bag. Leave to drain for 3 hours by placing a plate and a press on top of the cheese.

Lemon juice based suluguni

• milk - 2 l.
• lemon juice - 55 ml.
• fine salt - 75 gr.

1. Heat the milk on the stove to a temperature of 40 degrees, stir constantly, so that the composition does not stick on the walls of the dish.
2. After the first bubbles appear, pour in lemon juice, add salt (15 gr.) And wait for the granules to dissolve. Such a step will help the milk to quickly split into cottage cheese and whey.
3. After you see that cottage cheese flakes start to appear on the surface, simmer the composition for another 5 minutes, then turn off the burner. Prepare a colander or kitchen sieve, cover with three layers of gauze.
4. Using a skimmer, place the cottage cheese in a container, tie the fabric into a tight bag, and leave it to drain (about 2 hours). If possible, hang the suluguni to make the process of serum run faster.
5. After you see that the liquid is no longer separated from the curd, proceed to the preparation of brine. Dissolve the remaining 60 grams. salt in two liters of boiled water, mix.
6. When the granules dissolve, remove the cheese and remove it from the gauze. Put in the brine for 6 hours, then proceed to tasting. Store in the refrigerator for no longer than 15 days.

It is easy to make Suluguni cheese at home, if you stick to one of the above technologies. Consider a recipe based on goat or cow's milk, make a sourdough of pepsin, lemon juice.

Video: how to make suluguni at home