Ricotta
From pointsevenout 10 years ago
- 30 minutes to make
- Serves 2-4 cups
Thanks to David B. Fankhauser, Ph.D. Professor of Biology and Chemistry University of Cincinnati Clermont College http://biology.clc.uc.edu/fankhauser/Cheese/Ricotta/RICOTTA_00.HTM for use of his recipe in making this recipe. Read more Strictly speaking, ricotta is not really considered a cheese, but a latticino, which means a dairy by-product. Ricotta (literally meaning "recooked") uses whey, the liquid that remains after straining curds when making cheese. Most of the milk protein (especially casein) is removed when cheese is made, but some protein remains in the whey, mostly albumin. This remaining protein can be harvested if the whey is first allowed to become more acidic by additional fermentation (by letting it sit for 12–24 hours at room temperature). Then the acidified whey is heated to near boiling. The combination of low pH and high temperature denatures the protein and causes it to precipitate out, forming a fine curd. Once cooled, the curd is separated by passing through a fine cloth. See less
Ingredients
- 12 cups whey, more or less, which is the byproduct of cheese making from 1 gallon milk shopping list
How to make it
- Always use sterilized equipment. Boil utensils in ½” water for 10 minutes, covered.
- If you have already used CaCl2 in this whey from a cheese making process, do not use any more.
- I use whey from Cottage Cheese/saved
- Reserve whey from cheese making at room temperature for 24 hours to let it further acidify.
- The 12 cups of whey will make 2 cups of ricotta.
- Most of the time in this recipe is wait time.
- If you have made a hard cheese using rennet, strain the whey first before heating the whey.
- Raise temperature of whey to 95C over medium heat in a thick bottomed non-reactive pot. DO NOT STIR. This will cause very slow draining if the curds are broken up.
- Remove from heat. Cover and allow the "cooked" whey to cool undisturbed until comfortable to the touch.
- Scoop out any floating curds and reserve.
- Strain the curds through a tea towel over a bowl.
- You may rinse the curds in the tea towel in a bowl of ice water if you wish. It tastes just fine to me without the rinsing.
- Reserve the whey. It can be used as the liquid portion of baked goods or even in shakes.
- Add reserved curds after whey has coarsely strained down.
- Gather up corners and tie up tea towel; suspend over a clean bowl for 2 hours. Three hours makes the ricotta on the dry side after a day in the fridge.
- Add whey to the reserved whey.
- Add heavy cream back into the ricotta to the desired consistency and container the curds.
- Season to your pleasure.
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