Cottage cheese is a fermented milk product obtained by fermenting milk with the subsequent removal of whey. In pursuit of profit, some manufacturers add palm oil and starch to it, not considering it necessary to inform the consumer on the product label.
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What iodine will indicate
Sometimes cottage cheese makers mask the addition of extraneous ingredients so skillfully that even an experienced gourmet does not notice it. To bring counterfeiters to clean water will allow iodine. With it, you can check the purchased cottage cheese for quality and naturalness at home. Iodine will allow starch to be identified in cottage cheese, which unscrupulous manufacturers add to the product to increase its weight. This is not done to improve the taste of cottage cheese: the manufacturer includes starch in the recipe solely in order to extract financial benefits.
To check the quality of cottage cheese, it is enough to take a small amount of product, one teaspoon is enough. Place the cottage cheese on a saucer and add a couple of drops of iodine to it. If the product turns blue, then starch is present in its composition. You have acquired high-quality cottage cheese if, as a result of the addition of iodine, it has not changed its color. A starch-free product at the point of contact with iodine should only turn a pale yellow color.
Vegetable Fat Check
The lack of starch in the product does not mean its unconditional quality. To increase the shelf life of the product, some manufacturers secretly add vegetable fats to it. You can also check cottage cheese for palm fat content at home, and in several ways.
First of all, vegetable fat is quite well felt on the tongue. To do this, eat a spoonful of cottage cheese, sip it in your mouth for 15-20 seconds. A high-quality product should not leave a feeling of the presence of an oily film on the tongue.
There is another way to identify vegetable fat in cottage cheese. To do this, place a little product on a plate and leave it for several hours at room temperature. Cottage cheese, stuffed with vegetable fats, slightly changes its color. As a rule, such a product, when exposed to air, quickly weaves and becomes covered with a yellowish crust. In addition, he usually does not change his smell and taste. Cottage cheese without extraneous additives under the same conditions begins to slightly acidify, but at the same time it does not change its color.