Curds & Whey - For Canadian Poutine

Total Time: 40 mins Preparation Time: 40 mins

Ingredients

• 12 cups fresh water (3 quarts)
• 6 cups instant dry milk powder
• 1 -1 1/2 cup vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Recipe

• 1 heat the water in a very large pot over low heat.
• 2 stir in the dry milk powder as the water heats.
• 3 heat it gently until it is very hot but not boiling.
• 4 stir in about a cup of vinegar.
• 5 turn off the heat and allow the mixture to sit for about 10 minutes - don't skip this part because the mixture has to sit for the milk to have a chance to curdle.
• 6 after 10 minutes there should be a big clump of cheese curd in the middle of a pool of clear amber liquid.
• 7 if the liquid is still milky, then you need to add more vinegar to finish curdling the milk.
• 8 add a couple of spoonfuls of vinegar at a time and stir gently so that more of the milk will curdle and clump up.
• 9 continue until all of the milk is curdled into curds, and the liquid (the whey) is clear.
• 10 line a strainer or collander with a lightly damp thin cotton cloth.
• 11 carefully pour the big pot of curds and whey into the strainer and let all of the whey strain off.
• 12 run a little cold water over the curds to cool them down, and to rinse out all of the whey.
• 13 squeeze the curds with your fingers to break them up, and rinse them thoroughly.
• 14 gather up the cloth around the curds and squeeze to remove as much of the moisture as you can - the curds should be quite dry.
• 15 transfer the cheese curds to a bowl or container and stir in the salt.