HOW TO MAKE COTTAGE CHEESE: IT'S REALLY GROSS
Cottage cheese should be made using skim milk, because the cream solids don't stay in the curds, it stays with the whey. A gallon of skim milk will make about a pound of cottage cheese. If you are planning to use raw milk, let it set for a while and then skim off the cream to use later in your finished cottage cheese.
You will need a starter to make cottage cheese. You can use a commercial culture, cultured buttermilk, or rennet tablets. I have found that by replacing one cup of the skim milk with one cup of cultured buttermilk and 1/8 of a rennet tablet gives a small curd cottage cheese, leave out the cultured buttermilk and use 1/4 tablet rennet if you prefer large curd cottage cheese. Salt helps to improve the life of the cheese, no to mention the flavor. After the cottage cheese is done, it will have a very acid like taste to it, so you will want to season it with either sour cream or sweet cream. Herbs, fruit or sweeteners can also be added.
Now you will need some equipment to make cottage cheese. First you will need a six to eight quart pot made of stainless steel, enamel or glass. Don't use aluminum! You will need another container, which can be aluminum, a little bigger, to use like a double boiler. Your kitchen sink with a good stopper will work if you don't have a bigger pot. A floating dairy thermometer is the best, but a candy thermometer that will measure 75 to 175 degrees will work. Measuring cups and spoons, a long handled knife and spoon for cutting and stirring. They need to be long enough to reach the bottom of you large non aluminum container. You will also need a storage container to store your cottage cheese in when it is finished. A colander and some cheese cloth to drain you cottage cheese.