Homemade Quark Recipe Using a Sous Vide Method

Wanting an easy Quark recipe? Take a look at this unusual way of making this staple ingredient used for German cheesecakes and so much more. My method involves using a Greek yogurt maker, but using the oven or even a slow cooker (if it goes low enough) work as well.

Two of our fans, Ralph Spitz and Shawn Garbett sent in their methods, both similar but with different temperatures and times, using a Sous Vide cooking appliance. Shawn said he wanted to try making my recipe for homemade Quark using it. Ralph mentioned it was an even better alternative to using an oven as a yogurt maker.

I found it pretty cool that two men would share their recipes for making quark. I'm thinking that's because a Sous Vide makes spectacular steaks. Perhaps that's the main reason this appliance is purchased, since guys are often the grill masters, constantly looking for the best ways to cook those steaks. 

1. Ralph's Quark Recipe using a Sous Vide

➤ by Ralph Spitz

Using a Sous Vide:

• I place the milk, in this case, the buttermilk in a 1 quart hinge-top glass jar.
• Place it in a large stock pot, filling it with warm water to just below the top of the jar, where the lid seals. 
• I set the sous vide temperature to 115°F, and the time to 12 hours.

It stays at exactly the correct temperature, and requires no monitoring. 

After the time is up, drain as Oma does here or as mentioned below.

2. Shawn's Quark Recipe using a Sous Vide

➤ by Shawn Garbett

I was reading a baking recipe when I came across a reference to quark cheese. I'd never heard of quark cheese and being a cheese lover I needed to try this with all due haste.

Being that none is available nearby and being an amateur cheesemaker myself I figured I'd just make some. I began a search of the internet for recipes.

Most I found had some very dodgy practices that is until I ran across Oma's recipe.

I realized that her procedure is one of the easiest most foolproof procedures in making cheese that I've ever seen.

There are a few additional details I'd like to share to ensure success, but otherwise follow her recipe and one will have quark in no time.

The first is the choice of buttermilk. Make sure it has active culture. Some buttermilks sold have been pasteurized killing the active culture.

By using active cultured buttermilk, one skips right over a tricky step in cheesemaking: getting very fresh milk with little processing cultured.

This is a natural acid set cheese. Do not use vinegar or lemon juice to rush the process--it needs the natural culture to develop the flavor.

The mesophilic culture in buttermilk will continue to acidify if given the right conditions. Optimal is 92F (33C) for 24 hours in Oma's recipe.

I used a sous vide cooker to do achieve this and just opened the buttermilk carton and placed right in the water and set my sous vide to 94F since it was quite cool in my house and the top of the carton was exposed.

The popular multi-function "one pot" that has settable temperature would also work quite well. Yogurt cookers are designed for a thermophilic culture which likes a hotter temperature (110 to 115F).

Mesophilic will still grow but slower so if one uses a yogurt makers one should wait a bit longer, say 30 hours. If neither of these are available, a lukewarm water bath from the tap will do or a counter top in the summer when the house is warm.

Just let it go a bit longer if it gets off optimal temperature.

The second tip for success is a good cheese cloth. This is not what is sold as "cheese cloth" in the grocery store. A good cheese cloth is a 100% cotton unbleached muslin cloth.

To keep it a cheese cloth it is never to be washed or exposed to detergents or soap. To clean simple wash off any curd matter still left and wash in washer with bleach or borax.

The acidity is very important to good cheese making and cloth can retain residual soap which will work against the acidity and can spoil the process.

With good temperature control and a soap free cheese cloth this is an incredibly easy process. The rest is just letting it drip out remaining whey and oh is it delicious. Much more delicate flavor than a sour cream from the store.

Quark is simple and tasty.

Oma's Tips:

Don't have a Sous Vide?

If you have a Dash Greek Yogurt Maker, then it's also very easy to make. It's such an easy way to make, not only Greek yogurt, but also Quark ... and definitely worth the cost of buying!

Buttermilk costs less than $2.50 per quart here and makes about 1¾ to 2 cups quark. Check out the recipe for this right here.

Go to recipe >

Oftentimes, for recipes on this website that normally use quark, I've substituted other variations.

Sometimes it's a mix of ricotta and sour cream. Other times, it's using drained Greek yogurt.

But, using the real-deal is the best! ~ Oma Gerhild 

When it's time for Christmas, baking is at the forefront of preparations. Get Oma's collection of her favorites in Christmas Baking eCookbook. 

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Oma's Homemade Quark Recipe using Sous Vide



By Shawn Garbett





Wanting an easy Quark recipe? Check out this unusual way using a Sous Vide to make this staple ingredient used for German cheesecakes and so much more.


Ingredients: 1 quart buttermilk

For the full recipe, scroll up ...

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More about me >

Hi, I'm Oma Gerhild! As a food writer and cookbook author, I'm always looking to find ways to pass on my German heritage using local ingredients. Quick and easy. That's my goal. Wunderbar food. That's the result.