Is pressed cottage cheese a different cheese?

Question

Cottage cheese, by definition, is a cheese made by curdling milk using an acid or rennet of some sort, and then draining the whey, but not really going to any great lengths to press out all the moisture. The result is a very loose, chunky cream-like product.

So, the question is, what if you took cottage cheese (either off-the-shelf or homemade), and then went that extra distance by putting it in a cheese press? Would the resulting product be a different cheese known by a different name, or simply another form of cottage cheese?

Answer 1

Cottage cheese is made by separating the whey from the protiens in milk. If you add lemon juice or vinegar to milk that has been brought up to 180 degrees and then cooled to 100 or so it will separate into small or large curds. All that is left is to rinse it through a strainer. If you want a Ricotta type cheese you can put the strained cottage cheese in cheese cloth (hence the name "cheese cloth") and squeeze out more of the liquid. If you put the cottage cheese in a press it will turn out to be a white firm block of Mexican style cheese. Many people add a little salt to the cottage cheese prior to pressing to aid in the removal of the whey and prolong the life of final product. All in all if you press plain cottage cheese you will just have firmer cottage cheese. Store bought cottage cheese will not work in a press. Store bought cottage cheese has cream added back into it to give it the texture that you are used to seeing in the container. It will not solidify. The cream will stop the curds from sticking together. Make your own and you will enjoy it way more anyhow.