How to cook cottage cheese for babies from milk. How to make cottage cheese for a child from milk and kefir? Methods for preparing a fermented milk product

Every mother strives to feed her baby only fresh, safe and healthy products. The modern food industry produces a variety of baby food products that are guaranteed to be safe and prepared according to strict recipes. But, despite this, in order to extend the shelf life of the product, one has to resort to certain preservatives. And, as you know, the most useful products are fresh products.
Cottage cheese is an indispensable baby food product. A lot of options for this dairy product can be found on store shelves. But the most useful and delicious will be homemade cottage cheese. And mother's love and care will make it even tastier. There are many ways to cook homemade cottage cheese, it remains only to choose your best option.

At the heart of any cottage cheese is kefir. Buying this product ready-made or making it yourself is everyone's business. It is better to buy children's kefir. If you do it yourself - for safety, you need to use either baby milk from the store, or from a proven farm, where the cows are healthy and all the rules for collecting and storing milk are observed. Preparing kefir is very simple - for 0.5 liters of milk you need to take 1 tablespoon of sour cream or unsweetened yogurt, mix and leave in a sealed container at room temperature overnight. In the morning kefir will be ready.

Now you can start cooking the curd:

1. Curd from frozen kefir. To prepare cottage cheese, kefir must be placed in a freezer bag and sent to the freezer for a couple of hours. Place the frozen briquette in a sieve and defrost at room temperature. The mass remaining on the sieve is the curd. It is very soft and airy.

2. Curd from boiled kefir. Pour yogurt into a saucepan and bring to a boil, as it boils - lower the fire to a minimum. Stir continuously for 5 minutes. Strain through a sieve. Cottage cheese turns out to be safe - boiling kills bacteria, but also less useful, because. vitamins are also destroyed by boiling. And in terms of protein and calcium, everything is normal.

3. Cottage cheese made from milk and kefir. Boil baby milk and turn off. Pour kefir into milk and cover for 5 minutes. The ratio of milk and kefir is 2 to 1. After 5 minutes, strain through a sieve. The curd turns out to be more tender and useful than in the second method - the mass is not boiled, but due to milk it is even more enriched with calcium.

In order for all the calcium from the curd to be absorbed, you need to give your child vitamin D according to age norms. This may be a drug in the form of drops, or products with a sufficient content of this vitamin. And so that the baby eats cottage cheese more willingly, you can beat it with fruits and berries. In addition, it is a source of fiber and minerals needed by a growing body. You need to cook for the child at one time, i.e. do not leave for another feeding.

Everyone knows that protein products, of which cottage cheese is also a representative, supply "building material" for body cells. The fact is that during digestion, any proteins break down into individual amino acids, which are the "bricks" for building the body's own proteins. There are 20 known amino acids, ten of which are indispensable for the human body. This means that they cannot be synthesized in it and must be supplied with food. Of the essential amino acids, the rarest in terms of content in foods are methionine and tryptophan (they are necessary for the proper functioning of the nervous system, digestive tract and blood vessels). And it is cottage cheese that is the main source of these amino acids. In addition, it contains three more essential amino acids - histidine, phenylalanine and lysine. Cottage cheese is also rich in some vitamins - folic acid, B 12 , B 6 , B 2 , niacin. And of course, everyone knows that cottage cheese has a lot of calcium and phosphorus. Moreover, the ratio of these two elements in cottage cheese is close to optimal for absorption and assimilation by the body. These minerals form the basis of bone tissue and teeth. That is why they are necessary for children during the period of active growth and development.

When to introduce cottage cheese?

Cottage cheese is introduced into the nutrition of infants not earlier. The fact is that during the processing of protein in the body, many acidic nitrogenous compounds are formed, which create an increased load on the baby's immature kidneys. In this regard, the "abuse" of cottage cheese (prescribing it earlier than six months or exceeding the recommended daily dosages) may subsequently "respond" to the appearance of salts in the child's urine - oxalates, urates and phosphates, metabolic disorders, increased blood pressure.

If the first complementary foods are offered to the baby at, then the turn of the cottage cheese comes approximately to (after the introduction of vegetables, cereals, fruits). Some experts consider it right to first introduce meat into the baby's diet and only then cottage cheese, others - in the reverse order (cottage cheese - meat).

In special cases (insufficient weight gain, pronounced manifestations), cottage cheese can be assigned as one of the first complementary foods, but this decision must be made by the pediatrician observing the baby. And even in such cases, they try not to offer this product to the baby earlier.

They start, as always when introducing a new dish, with 1/2 teaspoon (about 3-5 grams).

It is better to offer cottage cheese in the morning so that you can watch the baby until the evening. If during the day you do not notice any unpleasant phenomena (skin rash, upset stool, bloating, severe anxiety), the next day you can give the little one no more than 1 teaspoon of cottage cheese.

In the absence of adverse reactions, the dose is gradually increased to 30 grams to, up to 40 g - to and 50 g - to.

Special cases

We must not forget that cottage cheese is made from cow's milk. And although milk proteins undergo some modification during the cooking process, children who are allergic to cow's milk protein often develop allergic reactions to cottage cheese. Such babies should wait with the introduction of cottage cheese at least until, and sometimes much longer (it all depends on the severity of the allergic reaction). Moreover, children with allergies should not introduce new foods without consulting an allergist.

Sometimes intolerance to cottage cheese occurs with severe lactase deficiency. This condition occurs when there is not enough lactase enzyme in the gastrointestinal tract, which is necessary for the digestion of milk sugar, or lactose. Lactose is part of fresh milk (both breast milk and animal milk - cow, goat), is present in much smaller quantities in fermented milk products, since lactic acid bacteria process milk sugar into lactic acid. Lactase deficiency is when the amount of lactase produced by the digestive glands is not enough to digest the amount of lactose that comes from food. The causes of this condition can be both an increased amount of lactose and a real lack of an enzyme in the body. The main symptom of lactase deficiency is loose, watery, sour-smelling stools. Often this condition is also accompanied by bloating and pain in it. There is very little milk sugar (lactose) left in the curd, since most of it is processed by lactic acid bacteria (they are used as a starter culture). But if there is a significant lack of lactase, even such a minimal amount of lactose can provoke intolerance to the product. It is manifested by the appearance of watery, liquefied stools, sometimes with an admixture of greenery, rumbling in the abdomen, bloating, less often pain. Such problems must be solved together with a pediatrician or gastroenterologist. If the baby is already receiving lactase enzyme replacement therapy, the dose may need to be increased. If such therapy has not been prescribed, it may be necessary to wait a few more months with the introduction of cottage cheese.

Chemical "educational program"
The protein in cottage cheese is represented mainly by casein, the main protein in the milk of all mammals. In milk, the molecules of this protein have their original structure (that is, like the molecules of any protein, they are folded in a certain way), so casein is soluble. In an acidic environment (which occurs when milk is soured), casein molecules undergo denaturation - first they unfold, and then twist again, but in a random way. Denatured casein is no longer soluble and begins to clump. That is why standing yogurt is stratified: a layer of whey forms at the bottom (water and milk sugar, which is processed by lactic acid bacteria) and the top layer is milk fat and denatured casein. As the temperature rises, the denaturation process accelerates.

You should not give fatty cottage cheese to a child suffering from an acute illness or weakened as a result of a serious illness. The maximum allowable fat content of cottage cheese is 15%. The digestion of fats requires a lot of energy, which in such periods is needed for other purposes.

Let's make our own cheese

There are several recipes for making cottage cheese. At home, you can get fresh (calcined) and sour cottage cheese. Remember: cottage cheese is a perishable product.

What to choose?
The industry produces children's curds with natural fruit fillers. They allow you to enrich the diet of the baby with vitamins, microelements and dietary fiber, as well as significantly diversify the palette of tastes. But we would not recommend using these curds in the first year of life. The fact is that added fruits increase the risk of developing allergies. In addition, the composition of these products always includes sugar, which is not recommended for infants due to the risk of developing caries and being overweight. If you give a baby under 1 year old purchased cottage cheese, then it is desirable that it be children's cottage cheese without fruit fillers.

After cooking, it should be stored in the refrigerator for no more than 2-3 days.

Preparation of sour curd with sourdough

For 1 liter of milk, you will need 50-75 g of yogurt or sour cream for sourdough. Milk must be boiled and cooled to a temperature of 35-40 ° C. Boiling in this case is used as a sterilization, so that by-product bacterial cultures do not develop in the milk. It is necessary to cool the milk so that the living bacteria of the starter do not die. Add the starter to the cooled milk and leave it for a while in a warm place until the milk acquires the consistency of curdled milk. The sour milk is heated until whey separates. In order for the cottage cheese to turn out tender and tasty, it is better to heat the milk in a water bath. In extreme cases, you can put it on a very slow fire, in no case allowing boiling. If you heat the mass quickly, the denaturation of the protein will be very rough, and the curd will clump into hard, tasteless lumps.

Some recipes suggest not even waiting for the whey to peel off - it is only supposed to slowly heat the sour milk to a temperature of 60-80 ° C and remove from heat. The separation of whey should occur in this case as it cools. Thus, the curd of the most delicate consistency is obtained.

As soon as you notice the separation of the whey, remove the milk from the heat and drain it into a sieve or colander with a clean gauze laid on top of it. After draining the main volume of whey, the curd is suspended in gauze. If you want to get a firmer curd, you can put it under a small weight, in this case more whey will be removed, and the final product will be drier. However, for babies it is better to leave a more delicate, semi-liquid consistency.

Preparation of sour curd without sourdough

To prepare 50 g of cottage cheese, you will need about 250-300 ml of kefir. Pour one-day kefir into a saucepan and heat over low heat or in a water bath until curdled (whey exfoliates). Pour the cooled mass into a sieve or colander lined with gauze. After draining the whey, the resulting curd can be rubbed through a sieve to obtain a more homogeneous mass.

Preparation of unleavened (calcined) cottage cheese

In addition to milk, you will need a solution of calcium chloride, which can be bought at a pharmacy. For 300 ml of milk - approximately 3 ml of the drug. The milk is boiled, cooled, calcium chloride is added from the ampoule and the resulting mixture is brought to a boil again (preferably in an enamel bowl). During the heating process, the mixture curdles. It is thrown back into a colander or sieve, as described above.

Making homemade cottage cheese for a child up to a year is very simple and easy. You just need to start. Babies up to a year are required to introduce other products into the main diet. Because from a certain age for the full growth and development of mother's breast milk or mixture is not enough. A child up to a year grows very quickly. To build bones and muscles, a small body needs a lot of protein, which is enough in cottage cheese.

About milk

So, in order to make homemade cottage cheese for a child up to a year old, you need to take fresh milk. It can be homemade or store bought. First you need to choose the right one. If you want to take milk from the store, pay attention to the following: the expiration date of the milk indicated on the package is better to be as short as possible - up to 7 days. Such packaging retains more nutrients, which then turn into cottage cheese. Sterilized milk with a long shelf life partially loses some vitamins. Fat content can be standard - 2.5%.

If you have the opportunity to make homemade cottage cheese for a child from unpasteurized, fresh milk from a cow, then this is also a good option. However, before you start cooking, ask if the cow has been tested for tuberculosis and brucellosis. Has she been vaccinated against infectious diseases? Through milk from sick cows (even if homemade cottage cheese is made from it), a child can become infected. Therefore, trust only reliable owners who take care of their cows and take good care of them.

Curd making process

To prepare homemade cottage cheese for feeding a child up to a year, we take 250 - 350 ml. milk, heat it to a temperature of 37 - 38 degrees. Milk should be hot, but the hand must endure the temperature. It is not necessary to boil it in order to preserve the beneficial substances that will pass into homemade cottage cheese as much as possible. I heated in a glass jar in a water bath.

Then put the sourdough into the hot milk. This can be a tablespoon of curdled milk, kefir containing live lactic acid bacteria, or a special healthy starter that is sold in a pharmacy.

Shake the jar and leave in a warm place until fermented. Such a fermented milk product can separate or become homogeneous, like yogurt, after a few hours. It depends on what microorganisms are in the sourdough. Homemade cottage cheese for a child can be prepared from milk of any fermentation.

Then we put this fermented milk mixture again in a water bath, right in the jar. To prepare homemade cottage cheese, heat up, wait for the whey to begin to separate. You can heat almost to a boil, but do not boil so that the homemade cottage cheese does not become hard. When the curd mass rises, we throw it on a sieve or in a clean, ironed gauze. We let it flow. Homemade cottage cheese is ready. You can give it to a child.

Cooking homemade cottage cheese from store kefir

Homemade cottage cheese can also be prepared immediately from kefir by heating it in a water bath. Then just throw it on a sieve or cheesecloth. Some mothers freeze kefir and thus get homemade cottage cheese.

You can give it to a child up to a year immediately after preparation. And it is better to mix homemade cottage cheese with fruit puree. To improve the taste, you can add a mashed banana to the cooked curd.

Complementary feeding with cottage cheese for babies is recommended not earlier than 6 months. You need to start introducing it gradually, starting with half a teaspoon. If the baby has problems digesting milk protein, then a pediatrician should be consulted.

The time when introducing cottage cheese into complementary foods is not only desirable, but mandatory - it comes in the second half of the first year of a baby's life. During this period, the baby learns to crawl, sit, stand up. An enormous amount of energy is expended. Foods rich in protein, phosphorus and calcium help replenish it. So, cottage cheese comes to the children's menu as a host.

Feeding a baby healthy food is not easy. In this sense, cottage cheese is a salvation for many parents. Indeed, of all sour milk, it is curd dishes that children, as a rule, eat with pleasure.

Curd protein has a high biological value, the child's body absorbs it well. In addition to calcium, phosphorus, the product is rich in folic acid, B-vitamins and niacin.

Of all fermented milk products, cottage cheese is the least criticized by pediatricians. Doctors generally agree that cottage cheese for children under one year old is a must-have product. Exceptions are children with kidney disease. It is also prohibited in case of intolerance to milk protein and in cases where the fontanel of the crumbs drags on too quickly. And for overweight children, instead of cottage cheese, kefir is recommended.

Useful properties of the product

Cottage cheese is useful not only for the full formation of bone tissue. The product provides a healthy weight gain, normalizes metabolism, the functioning of the liver and nervous system, and strengthens the tissues of the heart muscle. Curd protein stimulates the immune system. The product itself, due to the “good” acidity, gently acts on the gastrointestinal tract. In addition, probiotics protect the intestines and promote healthy digestion.

At what age can you give cottage cheese to a child? Here, a lot depends on whether the artificial baby is a baby or still feeds on mother's milk. In the first case, you can give cottage cheese to babies, starting from six to seven months. In the second, the deadlines have been shifted to eight or nine months. But, as a rule, all fermented milk products come after the baby has become acquainted with fruits, vegetables, meat and dairy-free cereals. This sequence can be corrected if the child suffers from rickets and there is an increased need for calcium.

Time to get acquainted with cottage cheese

The period when you can give your child cottage cheese without health risk begins in the second half of the year for several reasons. They are caused by age-related changes in the body.

The need for trace elements is increasing. The baby is growing - the demands of the body are also growing. More substances involved in the construction of organs and systems are required. For example, after six months, a child needs 600 mg of calcium per day, and before that, 400 mg was enough.
Improves the ability to absorb protein. It is not necessary to introduce cottage cheese earlier than the recommended dates due to the high content of protein in it. For comparison, the milk of this substance contains less than six times. Due to non-compliance with the terms of cottage cheese complementary foods, the crumbs' kidneys will work literally for wear and tear. In addition, excess protein can lead to diabetes and hypertension.
The necessary enzyme "base" appears. After six months, the baby’s body already produces the enzymes necessary for the healthy digestion of fermented milk food in the optimal amount. And in the intestines, a favorable microflora is formed for this.

Five "curd" questions

So, after consulting with a pediatrician, you have decided when you can introduce cottage cheese into complementary foods. But the questions of parents about the sour-milk menu are not limited to this. Here's what moms worry about and ask, five popular questions.

How to start cottage cheese feeding? The scheme is similar to the introduction of any new product. The child must be healthy. More than a week has passed since the last vaccination, and the next one is not due in the next seven days. There is no heat outside. For the first time, we offer crumbs ½ teaspoon. If the child does not show an allergy to cottage cheese, gradually, doubling, we increase the dose to the daily norm.
When, with what frequency and how much to give the baby cottage cheese? Cottage cheese is recommended to be given between main meals. There are opinions that the optimal time is after 18:00. According to some studies, it is during this period that calcium is best absorbed by the body. Pediatricians offer to feed healthy babies with cottage cheese every other day. At the age of 12 months, a child can eat 50 grams of cottage cheese, but no more. It is necessary to focus on this dosage with a step-by-step increase in the volume of the product. For example, at seven months you can give 20-30, and at eight - 30-40 grams. From nine months, the maximum fifty-gram dosage is allowed.
How to give? On the table to the crumbs, it should fall in dishes that have undergone the necessary heat treatment. The temperature of the product itself is not lower than room temperature. You can heat the cottage cheese, which has just been taken out of the refrigerator, in a water bath.
Which cottage cheese is better? Doctors recommend that children under three years old be given factory goods or products from children's dairy plants. Up to a year it is better to use pure cottage cheese, and after that you can give children's cottage cheese with fruit fillers.
How to store? Definitely in the fridge. After the factory pack is opened, it should be used immediately. Therefore, it is better to buy a product packaged no more than 50 g each. If we are talking about homemade cottage cheese, its shelf life is no more than two to three days.

How to choose "your" product

Modern manufacturers offer a wide selection of curd products for kids. Parents can be confused in front of a rich assortment, so it is important to know what types of cottage cheese are and what is suitable for a particular baby. As a rule, the product is made from whole or normalized milk, the fat content of which, during processing, has been adjusted from 3.8% or more.

In the shop…

First of all, by the way, cottage cheese for children differs precisely in the percentage of fat content. There are three main types.

Lactic. Its fat content does not exceed 5%. Such a product is suitable for large babies who, due to inactivity, gain weight and expend little energy.
Creamy. This product is high in calories. The percentage of fat content is from 10 to 15. Useful for children who are hard to gain weight, as well as hyperactive babies.
Combined. It combines fats of both animal and vegetable origin. Most often, it has an optimal six percent fat content. Enriched with substances that help strengthen the nervous system and develop brain functions.

… and at home

At the same time, on thematic forums there are a lot of negative reviews about store-bought sour milk. There are cases of poisoning. As a result, despite the recommendations of doctors, mothers agree that children's cottage cheese prepared at home deserves more trust.

If parents decide to arrange a “dairy plant” in their own kitchen, then pediatricians recommend strictly adhering to the recipe, responsibly approaching the choice of raw materials and storing the finished product. Ideally, it is better to make cottage cheese for a child from the milk of your own, domestic cow.

Depending on the method of preparation and the tasks that the product must solve in the crumb menu, cottage cheese is divided into two types:

Fresh homemade. The product is best suited for breastfed babies and children with weight gain problems. How to cook such cottage cheese for a child at home? You need milk and a ten percent solution of calcium chloride, which is available in pharmacies. There are about 19 ml of a substance per liter of milk. After mixing the ingredients, bring the mixture to a boil. After the contents of the pan have cooled, you should strain it, separating the whey from the curd mass.
Kefir home. Such a product is called acidic. It is prepared from baby or regular kefir. In the second case, you need a base, the fat content of which does not exceed 1%. Suitable for healthy babies who develop within the age norm. No additional starters or additives are needed here. Raw materials are poured into a jar and boiled in a water bath. After curd flakes appear in the container, you need to strain the resulting mixture and place it under a press. In this way, you can get about 50 g of cottage cheese from 100 g of raw materials.

Experienced mothers share their recipes for homemade cottage cheese. For example, they offer a quick way to make a fresh product for each feeding. You need 100 ml of milk and 60 ml of kefir. The mixture can be brought to a boil even in the microwave, after which it can be filtered. And the remaining liquid is used to make pancakes.

When the baby is fully adapted to the new product, you can diversify it by adding different fruits or cookies. The components are mixed with a blender.

Cottage cheese for babies is an important product. Over time, so that he does not get bored with the baby, you can cook casseroles, puddings, cheesecakes, dumplings with curd filling. The main thing to remember is that with all the benefits of cottage cheese, you should not rush to introduce it to the menu. The product brings benefits only if the timing and dosage of complementary foods are observed.

From the age of nine months, if there are indications and on the recommendation of the pediatrician observing the child, the baby can be given cottage cheese. It contains useful calcium, milk fat and milk protein, vitamins A and D. Cottage cheese protein contains all the amino acids necessary for the growth and development of the child, and is also well absorbed by the body. For babies, special cottage cheese from dairy cuisine is better suited. Store-bought cottage cheese can only be given to a child in the form of a casserole or added to baked goods, having subjected it to heat treatment before, as it is a perishable product and serves as a favorable environment for microbes.

Mom can cook cottage cheese herself from baby milk, yogurt or kefir. You just need to follow the rules of hygiene.

Buy 3 packages of baby milk and 2 packages of kefir, 200 g each. This mixture will make 100 g of kefir. Pour milk into a saucepan, boil, then pour kefir into it and turn off the stove. The milk will start curdling. Place the pot in a bowl of cold water and let cool. Strain the resulting cottage cheese through a sieve and wipe.
To obtain 100 g of sour cottage cheese, you need 4 packs of baby milk, 200 g each, and 50 g of kefir or unsweetened baby yogurt. Pour milk into a saucepan, boil and turn off the stove. Pour kefir or yogurt into the pan, cover and leave for 3 hours. Then bring the mass to about 60 degrees and pour onto a sieve.

Getting cottage cheese with a freezer
Place three 200 g packages of baby yogurt in the freezer overnight. Then take out, remove the frozen mass from the packages, put it in a bowl to thaw. You can put it directly on the sieve. When the mass has completely melted and drained, fresh cottage cheese will remain. Rub it through a sieve.

Ways to cook cottage cheese in a water bath

Buy baby kefir. From two packs of 200 g, 70 g of cottage cheese will come out. To prepare it, you will still need a large and small pots to make a water bath, and a fine sieve. Pour water into a large saucepan, boil. Place a small saucepan with kefir already poured into it, make a small fire. Soon clots of cottage cheese will begin to separate from the edges to the center, they do not need to be stirred with a spoon.
Bring the temperature of the former kefir to 60 degrees and turn off the stove, and leave it to stand for half an hour. Then empty the bottom pan, pour cold water into it and leave the small saucepan in it for 20 minutes. After that, pour the contents of a small saucepan into a sieve - and the cottage cheese is ready! For the convenience of chewing the baby, wipe the resulting cottage cheese with a spoon through a sieve.
By the way, you can not pour out the whey from the cottage cheese, but use it as the basis for pancakes: they will turn out lush and dietary.
Buy baby unsweetened yogurt. From 500 g of yogurt, 90 g of cottage cheese will come out. Cottage cheese is prepared in the same way as from kefir - in a water bath.

How to make calcium-fortified cottage cheese?
Sometimes there are situations when pediatricians prescribe to eat calcined cottage cheese: deviations in the development of the hip joints, prolonged overgrowth of the fontanel, a delay in teething. To do this, write out a prescription for the purchase of a 20% solution of calcium chloride in a pharmacy. Such calcium-enriched cottage cheese is taken no more than 2 times a week. To get 100 g of cottage cheese, you will need 4 more packages of baby milk, 200 g each. Pour the milk into a saucepan, boil. Add 1 tbsp. calcium chloride solution, stir and turn off the stove. Place the saucepan in cold water. Pour the cooled mixture into a sieve, let the liquid drain and wipe the resulting curd through a sieve.

Cottage cheese tends to spoil quickly, so it is prepared immediately before use, and leftovers can only be stored in the refrigerator and only for a day. Purchased curds specially for children are also stored only in the refrigerator and always in sealed packaging, and you need to make sure that there are no scratches or swelling on its surface.