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Polish Farmer’s Cheese (Twaróg or Biały Ser)

Yields6 ServingsPrep Time30 minsCook Time15 minsTotal Time45 mins

Polish Farmer's cheese called twaróg or biały ser (white cheese) is an important ingredient in many popular Polish dishes. For Polish cooks around the world, it may also be a hard ingredient to find, but don't fret. Polish Farmer's cheese is actually simple to make and worth it. It's cheaper than store-bought and when you make Polish Farmer's cheese yourself, the freshness is guaranteed.

Basically, you will be souring the milk and collecting the curds. They are many methods to do it, but the vinegar method is the simplest and easiest.

This recipe yields around 2 pounds of cheese, plenty for sizeable batch of pierogi ruskie.

 1 gal whole milk (about 4 liters)
 ½ cup white vinegar
1

Tips and tricks before you start:

Use your best pot, either a good stainless steel pot or any thick-bottomed pot.

Use good whole milk from the dairy case, not UHT. If you want creamier cheese (not dry as in this recipe), you need to replace some of the milk with cream or half and half.

If you have a cheesecloth that's great, if not use a thin tea towel or other thin type of material.

You will also need a big spoon or wooden spatula to stir your curds and a strainer or colander to drain your newly formed cheese.

2

Heat (not boil) the milk on low to medium heat until you see little bubbles. Keep an eye on the milk because it is easy to scorch. Then as the bubbles start to burst, add the vinegar a little bit at a time and stir. Keep the heat on low, wait a minute and stir again. Curds should be forming. The whey should be a yellow color. If you don't get curds with yellow whey, add a bit more vinegar, wait, and stir again.

3

When your curds have formed and the whey is yellow, take the pot off the heat and let cool.

4

Set the sieve or colander in a pot or bowl and place your cloth inside. Pour the room temperature curds and whey into the cloth and allow the whey to drain through. Twist the cloth into a ball and squeeze the remainder of the liquid out. And there you have it, your own homemade Polish farmer's cheese!

Place your curds into the container of your choice, store in the fridge, and pat yourself on the back. You've done it!

What to do with the whey?
5

You may either discard the whey or use it in some other recipes. I set some aside in case I squeezed my cheese drier than I intended. They I add some liquid back in.

Farmer's Cheese Substitutes
6

If you have read all the Polish Farmer's Cheese making steps and are still not interested in making it, you can substitute other cheeses in your recipes with success. In making gzik or other twaróg dishes to eat alone, I wouldn't substitute any other cheese. But for pierogi I would consider using the curds of cottage cheese, cream cheese, or perhaps ricotta. Experiment a bit until you find what works best for your recipe.

As always, smacznego to you!

Nutrition Facts

Servings 0