Quark Made With Buttermilk Culture
Submitted by ancameni on August 14, 2010 at 12:22 pm

DESCRIPTION
German Quark, smooth and creamy. eat it plain, savory, as a dip, in cakes, tortes etc

SUMMARY
Yield 0

INGREDIENTS
Here is what you need:

• thermometer
• sauce pan
• large strainer lined with a kitchen towel or other linen (avoid cheesecloth)
• plastic spoon
• 1 gallon of regular milk
• 2 plastic containers with lid (one for 2 cups (300 ml) and one for 3 quarts (2.5 l)
• 1 cup of buttermilk (as fresh as possible)•

INSTRUCTIONS
Making a starter culture:

(1day evening-- 15 minutes)
In a small sauce pan heat 1 cup (250 ml) of milk to 158 - 163F (70 - 7 3C). Do not cook the milk or the proteins will be broken down. Hold the temperature for 30 -45 seconds so that the milk is pasteurized. That step is important, even if the milk has already been pasteurized. Now the milk must cool down. Best done by putting the sauce pan in the sink with cold water around it. Cool it down to 75 - 82F (24 -28C) degree. Now add 3 - 5 tablespoon buttermilk. Pour into a plastic bowl and cover with lid. Let stand for 12 hours in a warm place 75 - 82F (24 -28C). This culture can be kept in the refrigerator for 2 week, or in the deep freezer for up to one year.
This culture is enough for making 2 1/2 to 3 lbs (1200 - 1400 g) of Quark.

Quarkmaking process:

(2nd day morning-- 5 minutes)
Heat 1/ 2 gallon (2 l) of milk to room temperature or 75 - 8 2F (24-28C), mix in half of the starter culture, pour into a plastic container with lid, and let it stand for 24 hours in a warm location 77 - 90F (25 - 32C). You might be attempted to leave the milk out overnight, so you will have the milk at room temperature. This is not a good idea, because there are always some live bacteria(good and bad) in the milk, which might spoil the end product.
(3rd day morning-- 5 minutes)
Take a big strainer, line with a kitchen towel (sterilized in boiling water), and pour the whole mixture into it. Place into the refrigerator for 6 - 10 hours to the draining. If the is too thin, just fill a plastic bowl with water and put it on top of the towel.
(3rd day afternoon-- done)
This will give you 1 1/4 - 1 1/ 2 lbs. (600 - 700 g) Quark. You can store this for a week in the refrigerator.
This is simple and with little work to do, but it will take 3 days.

Hints/Tips/ Tricks

Cream Milk mixure:
Used to make Sahnequark. Add to every 4 cups of milk 1 cup of heavy cream. To get a creamy Quark (Sahnequark) make sure that your Quark is very dry, and then add heavy cream to it, or start Quark with cream milk mixture.
Tip:
If Quark is too dry, add milk, half - and- half, or cream.
Variation

To make a dessert, sweeten the Quark, whip heavy cream and stir under.