Description
Ricotta is a soft whey cheese that has a fine, moist, grainy texture
Ingredients
Scale
- 1 gallon of fresh whey, leftover from cheese making
- ½ cup lemon juice
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Equipment:
- Cheese-making thermometer
- Cheesecloth
Instructions
- Heat the whey on the stove over medium heat until the whey reaches a temperature of 90C about 185F – Use a cheese-making thermometer
- Add 1/4 cup lemon juice (Fine curds will form and rise to the top of the whey)
- Continue heating for 10 minutes, stirring so that curds do not burn nor stick to the bottom
- Continue heating for 10 minutes while the curd precipitates out of the milk
- Line a colander with a cheesecloth
- Pour the whey through the cheesecloth and allow it to drain for a few hours or overnight (Once most of the whey is drained out of the ricotta you can speed the process by lifting the edges of the cheesecloth and twisting the top together to form a bag — sort of like a hobo’s pack. Let it drain overnight.)
- You can save the liquid if you place the colander over a clean container
- When curds have cooled and drained, mix in salt and refrigerate
Notes
- This ricotta cheese can be used in cheesecake recipes, as a filling for pasta, or in any recipe that calls for cottage or ricotta cheese.
- You can save the liquid if you place the colander over a clean container. It can be added to soup stock or animal feed.
