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This is my mom’s method of making farmer’s cheese. Grandma made this cheese in Ukraine. It takes a few days, but the steps are easy and the results are wonderful. Not to mention you will feel like a ninja after you’ve made your own cheese.
You end up with a good amount of farmers cheese and whey. Use organic milk for the best tasting cheese (I buy discounted organic milk that is about to expire just for this!). You can use the cheese to make syrniki or cheese crepes (nalesniki). Keep the whey (yellowish juice) to make bread.
Substitute water for whey and your bread will always taste better and it will be healthier since whey contains protein that is easy to digest. Are you a cheese ninja? How do you make your farmer’s cheese?
Ingredients for Farmers Cheese:
1 gallon whole milk (get the best quality you can; organic is best), At room temperature.
1/2 gallon Cultured low fat buttermilk, at room temp
What you will need:
4 layers of cheese cloth
Time to make:
3 days
Day 1:
1. Allow the milk gallon and buttermilk to come to room temperature on the counter (about 7 hours).
2. Pour milk and buttermilk into a large soup pot. Cover and place in a warm (100 ˚ F) oven for 1 hour or until mixture feels luke warm.
3. Remove from oven and place in a warm room (I put mine on the floor next to the heating vent in the laundry room) and let it sit for 24 hours. When it’s done, it should become the consistency of sweetened condensed milk. It pulls when you lift it up with a spoon and should not really stick to your spoon if you insert it vertically and remove it straight out. Do not stir.
Day 2:
4. Place on the stove again over LOW HEAT, UNCOVERED for 40 minutes or until it is WARM. Do Not Stir. You have to heat it up slowly, since high temperatures destroy the nutritious protein.
5. Remove from stove and place in a warm room for another 24 hours (again, next to the heating vent on the floor).
Day 3:
6. Place on the stove over medium/low heat UNCOVERED for 40 minutes or until hot (do not boil). The cheese will separate from the whey. Turn off the heat and let it sit covered for an hour (this helps for the curds to separate as well).
7. Place 4 layers of cheesecloth over a large colander set inside a large bowl.
8. Pour cheese mixture over the cheesecloth.
Here’s the Leftover whey. Refrigerate this stuff and use it for bread. There will be some settling on the bottom
9. You can tie a knot with your cheesecloth and hang it over your kitchen faucet for 8-10 hours OR place a cutting board either in a baking dish or in the sink. Put bag of cheese on top. Cover with another cutting board and place a heavy weight over the top (i.e. dutch oven filled with water or a large jug of water).
10. Remove cheese after 10 hours and make something tasty or refrigerate. You can let it sit longer if you want a drier cheese.
So, how do you make your cheese?
Farmer's Cheese Tvorog Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 gal whole milk at room temperature, organic is best
- 1/2 gallon Cultured lowfat buttermilk
What you will need:
- 4 layers of cheese cloth
Instructions
Time to make: 3 days
Day 1:
- Allow the milk gallon and buttermilk to come to room temperature on the counter (about 7 hours).
- Pour milk and buttermilk into a large soup pot. Cover and place in a warm (100˚ F) oven for 1 hour or until mixture feels luke warm.
- Remove from oven and place in a warm room and let it sit for 24 hours. When it's done, it should become the consistency of sweetened condensed milk. It pulls when you lift it up with a spoon and should not really stick to your spoon if you insert it vertically and remove it straight out. Do not stir.
Day 2:
- Place on the stove again over low heat, uncovered for 40 minutes or until it is warm. Do Not Stir. You have to heat it up slowly, since high temperatures destroy the nutritious protein.
- Remove from stove and place in a warm room for another 24 hours (again, next to the heating vent on the floor).
Day 3:
- Place on the stove over medium/low heat for 40 minutes or until hot (do not boil). The cheese will separate from the whey. Turn off the heat and let it sit covered for an hour (this helps for the curds to separate as well).
- Place 4 layers of cheesecloth over a large colander inside a large bowl.
- Pour cheese mixture over the cheesecloth. Tie the top of the cheesecloth and hang it over your kitchen faucet for 8-10 hours OR place a cutting board either in a baking dish or in the sink. Put bag of cheese on top. Cover with another cutting board and place a heavy weight over the top.
- Remove cheese after 12 hours and make something tasty or refrigerate. You can let it sit longer if you want a drier cheese.
Hi Natasha!
Have you ever tried making tvorog in a crock pot? I assume that it could possibly work, but not really sure. Let me know what you think.
Thanks!
It might work but I haven’t tried it. Hmmmm. I guess I don’t see why not since it warms up slowly on the low setting just like it would in the oven or on the stove. I haven’t really tried it though so I’m hesitant to say yes. :-/
Hi Natasha,
Is there any method of making tvorog with already expired milk? I get lot’s of milk on a WIC program and tvorog sounds like a great idea! The gallon of milk I have is expired and the gallon already bloated…any ideas if it will still work?
Hmmm it may still work but I don’t know how long it’s been sour milk or if it makes a difference. Sorry that’s not much of an answer. If its been spoiled more than a day or two I would probably be nervous about using it.
Alright I agree, better be safe and do it with un-expired milk 🙂 thanks!
When I worked at daycare i would always get the expired milk and make tvorog, and it always turned out well.
Thanks for the tip Angelina, I will be on the lookout for some expired milk 😀
If you use expired milk you do not need butter milk. Just put it on the stove and it will be ready. That is how we make this cheese in Hungary. But the vinegar option is just as well, and faster than leaving the milk out for days until it gets sour.
Thank you for sharing Zsuzsa :).
I make cheese I would say once a week (my family loves cheese).Here is my recipe.I use1Gal of whole milk(2% just fine)and1 quart of buttermilk,pour it into a large pot,let it sit at room temperature for 24 hrs or until it thickens(became buttermilk).Then i preserve 1 cup of it(put it in the 1quart can, fill it with the milk,let it sit at room temps for another 24 hrs,then refrigerate.This is buttermilk to use next time i make cheese).Back to making cheese.I place my pot on the stove over med/low heat for about 1 hr and cheese is ready.Strain it through the cheese cloth.
Luda, thank you so much for sharing! How long does the homemade buttermilk last in the fridge for the next batch of cheese. I think that’s totally brilliant!!
Hi,Natasha.The buttermilk can be kept in the fridge for 2-3 weeks.Maybe even longer,but since i make cheese very often i never tried that.Did you know that you can freeze cheese?My mam does that.
Oh, I didn’t know you could freeze it! That will probably come in handy in the future! Thank you for the tip!
I just started your recipe today….since last night I realized I only purchased one quart of buttermilk. Looking forward how it turns out! Thank you!
Let me know the results 🙂
Okay….. i MADE IT!!!!! It turned wonderful!!!! I even saved a cup of it just what luda said to make more buttermilk…..and planning on making more of tvorog. We have lots of goats milk…….was not sure how it will turn out so i mixed half goat milk half cows milk!!!!! So excited!!!!! Now its time to do nalisniki!!!! made tvorog before…..years ago and it did not turn out…..I did not give up!!! Thank you for the recipe!
Oh I’m so happy to hear about your successful cheese making!! Let me know how it works with the goats milk.
Use whey for nalisniki
That’s a great tip! I bet it’s really good. Thank you!!
thank you kat that is a wonderful idea! i hate poring out the good whey. Now I can put it in good use.
Luda, I made you recipe twice. So easy and delicious! I used whey to add to my dogs food for extra protein; next time I’ll attempt to make ricotta cheese with it 🙂 Thanks for sharing!
I make mine the same,like you Natasha, just add sour cream and whipping cream…
God bless you!!
Thank you Nina! God bless you too!
Do you use the leftover whey for the bred recipe you have posted here?
I didn’t try it for this specific bread, but I plan to next time I make it. Every time I used whey, the bread turned out better.
Can you use the same process to make farmers cheeses from raw (unpasteurized) milk?
Unpasteurized milk is really dangerous for kids, elderly and pregnant women and I wouldn’t recommend it because if it has some kind of creepy bacteria, it will really grow quickly under these conditions. I stay very far away from raw milk.
Yes, that is what everyone says, but if you do research you are more likely to get sick from foods like spinach or cantaloupe than raw milk. If you visit the farm (and usually those farms are smaller and much cleaner), question the farmer, see that its clean, and feeds the cows grass, then i dont see a problem. The “pasteurized” milk we get is from mass produced farms that are filthy dirty that is why they pasteurize the milk. Raw milk has many benefits. But thats just my opinion, and i guess you didnt answer my question.
I can definitely believe that. I usually buy organic milk and organic milk is better for this cheese but I’ve never tried using raw milk so I can’t recommend it. I guess I’ve taken too many classes that discuss bacteria and there’s no way to sterilize the outside of the cow to make sure nothing gets in the milk during the milking process. That’s where my take on it comes from. Just the other day, the state epidemiologist (she studies origin of diseases) came and gave a presentation and was adamant about not using raw milk for kids, pregnant and elderly. I’m sure it is much better for you than pasteurized but it carries too much risk for me to buy it. If you do try it, please let me know how it worked out. Maybe someone else has the same question.
I made tvorog once from unpasteurized milk from a farmer and it turned out wonderful.
Hi alina, did you even try making farmers cheese from the raw milk? I’m curious because I would like to try but don’t want to waste the milk. I am a newbie to the raw milk movement and would love to get more info from you if you’re willing to teach me a bit 🙂 let me know thank you! 🙂
Raw milk is so much better for you than pasteurized, homogenized milk. My kids have been drinking raw milk for the past 2 years and they are doing great. Store milk is “empty” milk. Anyway, kefir made from raw milk is super delicious and is loaded with good bacteria. And to make farmers cheese from raw milk you would just need raw kefir and raw milk. Combine the two and let it sit in a warm place. Once it starts separating you would heat it up like Natasha showed, drain and there you have your farmers cheese. By the way, you would get more farmers cheese if you use whole milk and it tastes better too.
I meant strain the cheese not drain…lol.
Maybe one of these days I will brave up and buy raw milk. In the meantime, I have switched over to using only organic milk. I look for whole milk to be on clearance, for example if it’s going to expire in the next few days, and I buy it for making cheese. It works out great!
Hi Natasha,
I just made tvorog last week:)
I have made mine with a special culture that my mom gave me once, but most of the time I make it with lemon juice. It is SO easy and I love how it tastes too. It literally takes anywhere from 1/2 -1 hour to make. Great recipes! I love your pictures too.
Hi Natasha, I have a much simpler recipe with great results each time. Per gallon of milk add one cup of vinegar, let it stand for a few hours, then place it stove at the lowest and cheese will be ready in few hrs. Each time it will be very super sweet and only takes few hrs from milk to cheese 🙂 you can’t ever go wrong with this recipe, trust me. Whey might be a little sour but I love the cheese.
I’ll have to try that for nalesniki one of these days. I hear its also good with lemon juice. Have you tried lemon juice?
Beautiful. I love tvorog. 🙂 I make mine with sour cream.
Ps. I enjoy reading your blog 🙂 God bless you!!
Farmer’s cheese cheesecake – this is probably Ukrainian or Polish recipe for the “syrnik”, I mean the one that like cake, not zapekanka. There are plenty recipes now over the net.
I’ll have to do some googling I guess 🙂
I love tvorog. I am totally going to make it the way you do it and that way I can see if it will taste as my moms. Thank you!
Wow this sounds simple enough…I’ve been wanting to make a farmers cheese cheesecake and it requires a lot of farmers cheese, this is definitely on my to do list;)
Wow a farmer’s cheese cheesecake sounds incredible! Is it a Russian cheesecake?
I tried it at a wedding once but am not able to get the recipe from the lady (a russian lady) cuz I don’t know her, but I found a recipe on epicurious, the reviews aren’t that great but I’m hoping I can tweak it somehow 😉
I have a great recipe for Farmers cheese, cheese cake from an old Russian cook book. I usually make it for Easter. My husband and family always look forward to it. If you want I can send you it.. just tell me where to send it. 🙂 Lu ur site by the way… I’ve been following it for a while now, but never really left a comment.
That would be great; thank you soo much! I’d love to compare our recipes and see if I can improve on mine. My email is: natashaskitchen@yahoo.com P.S. I like your new blog; looking forward to more posts 🙂
would love the farmers cheese cheesecake recipe as well – please.
love the site.
thanks, mike
Here you go 🙂 https://natashaskitchen.com/2013/10/26/farmers-cheese-chocolate-cake/
P.S. I am going to give tvorog one more chance – your way (is that putting just a little bit of pressure on you? 😉 Don’t worry, I’m sure I won’t be disappointed, none of your recipes have disappointed me yet:)
Crazy amounts of pressure; not sure how I’ll make it through the day 😉 Ok, really though, putting out a recipe is a little scary; I have to get it right since people will spend their time making it. So, sarcasm aside, yes, a little bit of pressure 🙂
Natasha, my mama and mama-in-law save the whey to use it instead of buttermilk to make the cheese next time. My mom even freezes it if she doesn’t plan on making it soon. Have you done that before? I have tried to make tvorog out of their saved whey several times but the results were disappointing. Maybe using buttermilk is a sure way to get the cheese just right..? Although mom says buttermilk and whey are both sour milk, they should both work just as well. Let me know your thoughts.
That’s very interesting. The whey does have a sourness to it. I’ve never tried that and I didn’t realize the whey could be frozen. Thanks for the tip!
If you use whey it will be cheese (aka Adugeiskii) not tvorog. I learned it on my own gut.
they are all different cultures
I love homemade farmers cheese drizzled with honey to go with my morning coffee. I make mine using a similar method to yours and add a bit of salt during last heating.
Mmmmm. Yumm! The salt sounds like a good idea. It probably preserves it longer too.
This recipe probably destroys the nutrients, but I learned this awhile ago and want to say that I’ve become an express ninja of cheese:
1 gallon of whole fat milk (with red cap)
1 carton of half and half (the bigger size… 1 quart? about 4 cups)
130 ml vingar
4 cheese cloths
1. Pour milk and half and half in a large pot
2. On smal-medium heat warm up the milk to hot but NOT boiling, just so it forms lots of foam on top. Remember to ALWAYS stir the milk while heating b/c you might burn the milk and the bottom of your pot will be ruined! (Not that I’ve done that 😉 )
3. Pour in the vinegar slowly while stiring the milk and you will see cheese forming right before your eyes!
4. Do the whole cheese cloth steps like you did. Let it cool and use.
I think the consistency and texture of the cheese might be different than yours but if you need homemade farmers cheese in about 2 hours then this is a quick recipe… I’ve been using it for 3 years now and love it! And the cheese tastes delicious, in my ninja opinion.
Just remmeber, stir the milk while heating!!!
Thank you so much for all the work you put into this website.. I can only imagine how time consuming it can get!!! Love your recipes!
Thank you for your expert (express) ninja opinion. You made me laugh. I will absolutely try your method and I may just have to post another version!! Thank you so much for sharing.
Hey, do you use milk straight from the refrigerator or at room temperature? Thanks
I left mine on the counter 7 hours (room temperature). I think it would work with cold milk, but it would need more time to warm in the oven the first day.
This recipe is more for Ricotta chesse, its smoother and not as chunky.
The recipe for ricotta is a little different. It uses lemon juice instead of buttermilk. Also, it all depends on how long you let it drain. The longer the better and it will be more chunky and dry 🙂
Thank you natasha for this recipe. I am so excited to make it. We have four goats. We make all kinds of things and they turn out great. Made tvorog once but did not turn out that well. So i am looking forward trying out your recipe. thanks!
4 goats? Wow! Goat milk is much healthier than cows milk but it’s super pricey.
I’ve made farmers cheese once but it was with a 2% gallon of milk. Bring it to boil. Add 4 tbsp of vinegar and turn off. Let stand for 10-15 min. (The less you let it stand, the softer it will be). Strain it through a cheese cloth. Will have to try your method. It’s probably much tastier.
That sounds too easy 🙂 looks like I will have lots of cheese experiments in the future 😉
I make my homemade farmers cheese same way, except I never left the warmed thickened milk for another 24 hours. Do you get more cheese if you do it that way?
I will have to experiment and let you know.
I was going to post recipe today 🙂 he he I use sour cream in my
Great minds think alike! 🙂 can’t wait to see your post.