Since being told this recipe by a friend, I have practically stopped buying my store brand cottage cheese and instead purchase the milk needed to create my own. It tends to come out a little more like pannier then cottage cheese in consistency, but I think that is because I do not boil it long enough. the major advantage of doing it this way is that this home made stuff has no sodium, where store bought tends to have about 2000mg per cup.
Ingredients:
2L Milk (Any percentage will work, I usually use 2% or Whole)
Vinegar (maybe half a cup)
Directions:
1) In a very large pot, fill the bottom with about an inch of water and bring it to a slow boil. This will help prevent the milk from burning to the bottom.
2) Add the milk to the pot. Bring the milk to a boil (approx 95-100c) while stirring. From my experience, bringing to around 98C over a long period of time yields the most cottage cheese.
3) Allow to slow boil for about 2-3 minutes. Add the vinegar and begin stirring. The milk will separate and become curds (cottage cheese) and whey (vile yellow liquid).
4) Using a sieve or cheese cloth, drain the curds and whey. Rinse the curds in cold water until cool.
And thats is. Your done! If you can getting the timing and temperatures right, I think you can get a 50/50 split of curds and whey. Usually I end up with around a 25/75 split, wasting alot of the milk. Still the overall cost is less then a tub of cottage cheese and in my opinion much tastier.