Recipes for making Ricotta, and Ricotta Salata

[me&thegals]

Hey Pat--Have you ever made ricotta from the whey left over from making mozzarella? I've been feeding it to the chickens or occasionally using a cup or 2 for pizza dough, but I would LOVE to make ricotta. The recipe in the kit just hasn't worked for me...

Thanks in advance

me&thegals

 

[freemotion]

I'll jump in here, because ricotta from whey is the only cheese that I have been consistantly successful with, and my freezer is filling up with bags of it! I just put the whey directly on the burner and turn the heat up to medium-high, and heat it to 200. Then strain through a piece of pillow-case in a collander, then hang it for a few hours, salt it, and in the freezer it goes. That is it.

I didn't get a kit, so I don't know if that is how the kit says to do it. I also scrape the sides and bottom of the pot to get all the cheesy bits into the whey.

 

[patandchickens]

I have not yet made "proper" mozzarella, and supposedly the whey from 30-min mozzarella (which I do make periodically) won't work for ricotta.

I did make a batch of "actual hard cheese" a few weeks ago (using buttermilk as the culture... not surprisingly, the cheese tastes like, you know, buttermilk. Hmph) and tried using the whey from *that* for ricotta. From a gallon of whey I got about 4 Tbsp of ricotta. I know it's supposed to be low-yielding but I think I did something wrong (possibly stirred too much or did not let it sit for long enough?)

I will be getting some hard cheesemaking stuff (culture, etc) in early May so will be able to try 'real' ricotta again then.

Pat

 

[freemotion]

I am using a three-gallons-of-milk mozzarella recipe, so I get about a pound (?) of ricotta from it. Only got real mozzarella once out of five so far, though! It would really, really help to take a class or learn from someone. Good thing the milk is "free," sort of.

 

[me&thegals]

When I started making butter, I was shocked at the low butter:cream ratio. And then I tried cheese........:/

 

[freemotion]

Yup, me, too! But I think of it this way: It is a great way to keep all that nutrition in the family because you can freeze cheese, and you can toss out all the water. I do keep some whey (before making ricotta, I want the cultures to still be alive) for pre-soaking my flour products like pasta, bread, crackers.

I need to make some more crackers, I made one batch 2 months ago and we just finished them (we don't eat much in the grain category, I used to be able to finish off a box of Wheat Thins in a sitting or two! No wonder I struggle with my health!) I made a batch of Ricotta Salata and it is calling for crackers!

 

[patandchickens]

When I started making butter, I was shocked at the low butter:cream ratio. And then I tried cheese........:/

I dunno, a pound of hard cheese or nearly 2 pounds of whole-milk ricotta from a gallon of milk isn't that bad, to my mind anyhow.

If you're making whey ricotta remember you've *already* taken most of the protein out with whatever your original cheese was, making the ricotta is just sort of picking up the sweepings so to speak

Pat

 

[keljonma]

I made the ricotta today. Its a bit more time consuming than making yogurt cheese, because I make that after the yogurt has cooled. But I got great results and the ricotta is very tasty.

The big dessert in our family for Easter is a family recipe cheesecake. One of the ingredients for the recipe is 1 pound of ricotta, and I think Ill use my own ricotta for it. I have 2 pounds of ricotta hanging now to drain.

I already had the citric acid and the kosher salt in my pantry. It cost me under $2 for 1 gallon whole milk. Even if I add in the cost of the citric acid and kosher salt, it was still definitely less expensive to make (rather than purchase) ricotta, which was on sale here this week for $5.49 for a 2 pound container!

Thanks for sharing, Pat!

 

[patandchickens]

It cost me under $2 for 1 gallon whole milk.

Wowie. I pay $5.29 for 4L (=about a cup more than a US gallon). I could get it for a buck less if I bought scary cheapie brands, but still, nowhere close to *that* price.

Clearly the Canadian milk industry has a better lobby for price regulation. Not that the US milk industry is any slouch in that regard

Still cheaper for me to make the whole-milk ricotta than buy ricotta, though -- works out to about $2.50-$3/lb homemade versus $5-6/lb purchased.

Any chance you could be persuaded to share the ricotta cheesecake recipe? (I'll certainly understand if you want to preserve the family secret, of course )


Pat

 

[freemotion]

Oh, please, please, please post the recipe! No one will know you shared it with millions of your closest friends!! I won't tell