Allow the milk to come to room temperature on the counter (it should take a few hours)
Add 1 heaping tablespoon of sour cream to the milk and mix to incorporate it. The cultures in the sour cream will help the milk become sour and thicken it, which essentially turns into buttermilk.
Once you mix the sour cream with the milk, cover the jar loosely with the lid and let it sit at room temperature for 24 hours. The milk will begin to sour and form clumps; this is the natural fermentation process. It is supposed to do that. You will notice that the buttermilk will begin to separate from the whey. The whey is a greyish color, and the buttermilk will be white. Do not mix or stir it.
Gently pour the buttermilk into a large pot and place it on the lowest heat on your stove. Heat the buttermilk for 20-30 minutes until the cheese is slightly more than lukewarm. The heat will slowly heat the cheese, and the cheese will begin to thicken. Do Not Stir. You must heat it up slowly since high temperatures destroy the nutritious protein.
My mom has taught me a simple test to see if the stove is too hot. Place your finger into the pot after 20 minutes of the cheese heating. If it still feels cold, let it continue to warm up and check again in 5-10 minutes. If the cheese feels too hot and you can’t put your finger into the pot, you have overheated it! But please be careful not to burn yourself. Proceed with caution! (If you overheat the cheese, that’s. You can still use it! It might have a slightly chewier texture, but it will still work)
Turn the heat off, cover the pot with a lid, and let it cool completely—this may take up to 6 hours. Place a cheesecloth or a flour sack towel over a large colander set inside a bowl (if you want to keep the whey, you can use it in sourdough bread instead of water)Line all four corners of the cheesecloth, tie a knot on top and hang it over your kitchen faucet for 8-10 hours. Alternatively, twist the cheesecloth around the farmer’s cheese (tvorog) and tighten the twist every few hours to ensure most of the whey is out. Remove from the cheesecloth and make something delicious with it!
