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Kefir cheese, household cloth method

Kefir cheese, Italian household method · Strained kefir cheese

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A soft cheese made by setting aside part of the day's milk kefir, draining it in a cloth and salting it through the evening, ready the next morning.

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Illustrative editorial image of plain soft kefir cheese in a ceramic bowl with cloth-draining context behind it.

Kefir turned into a cheese

Kefir cheese is a soft curd made by straining milk kefir. Its culture is the grain-based kefir, not a yogurt starter, so the cheese tastes of kefir even when it is spread like a fresh cheese. The Italian creator makes a daily kefir and sets aside part of it for the cheese.

The daily kefir uses 72 g of milk-kefir grains in 720 mL of milk. The creator says 600 g of milk gives a thicker kefir and 800 to 850 g a thinner one. Those are texture choices for the drink, not amounts for the cheese.

Draining and salting

The portion set aside is drained in a dedicated cloth. Salt is added during the evening drainage, and the creator says the cheese is ready the next morning. The source does not give the amount of kefir set aside, the drain endpoint or the yield.

The grain-freezing practice is recorded as a maintenance note. Freezing and thawing are not shown to affect the cheese.

Limits

The sources give no fermentation temperature for the cheese, no draining time in hours, no storage duration and no measured endpoint. The UF/IFAS guidance on kefir recommends refrigeration after fermentation at 41°F (5°C) or below. That is general safety context and not a validated limit for this method.

Compared with the Polish methods of the same food, which heat the kefir with milk or drain a pure kefir overnight in the refrigerator, this household method is a different batch, and the page does not merge them.

History

Kefir is associated with the Caucasus and Eastern Europe. Kefir cheese as a household product is not dated by the reviewed sources.

Ingredients

Scaling: source batch only

Milk kefirMake the day's milk kefir with 72 g of grains in 720 mL of milk. Set aside an unspecified portion for the cheese.
720 mL
The 720 mL is the kefir batch. The portion for the cheese is not stated.
Milk-kefir grainsFor the kefir batch.
72 g
SaltAdded during the evening drainage.
Amount not stated.

Method

Risks and precautions · Standard risk
Overnight draining of a soft cultured dairy product without a temperature

The drain is overnight with no temperature or duration control given.

Hazard source

Refrigerate the finished cheese; the reviewed guidance gives 41°F (5°C) as a ceiling for fermented dairy holding

Control source

The creator's readiness and taste are not safety endpoints.

The source gives no storage duration for the cheese.

  1. Make the day's milk kefir: 72 g of milk-kefir grains in 720 mL of milk. The creator says 600 g of milk gives a thicker kefir and 800 to 850 g a thinner drink.
  2. Set aside an unspecified portion of the kefir for the cheese.
  3. Drain the portion in a dedicated cloth.
  4. Add salt during the evening drainage.
  5. The cheese is ready the next morning, according to the creator.

Places

Italy

Modern adaptation · Country evidence

A home method shown by an Italian creator. The location of the creator is not treated as the food's origin.

See Italyon the mapLocation source 1 →

Related

Made from

  • Milk kefir

    Milk kefir is a tangy fermented drink made with reusable grains of bacteria and yeasts. Grain fermentation can give the milk a light fizz and some alcohol.

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Sources