Recipes for making Ricotta, and Ricotta Salata

[keljonma]

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

That isn't the normal price for whole milk here - I just found a really good sale!

 

[patandchickens]

Continuing report on the ricotta salata experiments:

when you've let some sit for too long in a frostfree fridge and it's gotten really crusty, you can grate it (*sharp* grater!) into milk or cream, with a little instant-mix flour, to make a pleasant mild cheese sauce that is good (if mild) on pasta and makes *really good* scalloped potatoes.

the ricotta salata with the caraway seeds in it has grown on me, btw, dunno if because of aging or because my opinions drift , but the kids and I like it considerably now and I will probalby make it again from time to time.

Pat

 

[miss_thenorth]

So, has the caraway seed cheese been sitting since the 2nd, when you posted that you made it? If so, has it changed in consistency--still havarti-like? Has the falvour blended with the rest of the cheese?? Curious!

 

[patandchickens]

It's gotten a bit smoother and more homogeneous and less "dusty" textured (dunno how else to describe it) -- it is still not going to be *mistaken* for Havarti but it is more that sort of thing than it *was*, you know?

It's mostly just been sitting. (Well, as per recipe I salted and turned it more or less daily for the first week, ish, maybe a bit less -- I've taken to wrapping them in cheesecloth and keeeping in the meat drawer of the fridge, although I am pretty sure cellophane would be better for wrapping). I've been whacking off pieces every couple days for me and the boys to eat, but I would say 2/3 of it is still there.

Have you tried a jalapeno (or etc) version? If so, how did it go?

Pat

 

[miss_thenorth]

No, I've been painting and working too much on other things--that and the kids don't leave me any milk. Definitely going to have to make time, (and save milk) for it next week.

 

[keljonma]

We had some wonderful horseradish cheese from the local deli. I'm going to try making some maybe next week.

 

[freemotion]

Wow, I'm gonna give that another try, especially now that I have my fancy-schmancy $3 cheese press! Mine was very, very mild, but I only aged it in the fridge for a few days, maybe 4-5, and it didn't get pressed very much. I don't think I weighted it enough, it was pretty moist.

The fancy-schmancy press will make my next batch scream for it's mommy!

 

[Iceblink]

I tried making the Salata last week, it didn't go all that well. I pressed and drained it for 3 days and it is still very moist and crumbly. It is still spreadable. I am thinking about making lasagne with it.

How much weight do you all put on it? I had 8 big hardback books on it, and they kept falling over.

I also reduced down the whey in an attempt to make gjestost (sp?) it didn't turn out either. I have a very hard, very salty, very small tablet to show for 3 hours of constant stirring.

I am a discouraged cheesemaker.

 

[freemotion]

Don't stay discouraged.....I have too many bags in my freezer marked "failed mozzarella" and "sort of failed mozzarella" and one little bag marked "good mozzarella!"

Pieces from all the "failed" bags were mixed with a little ricotta and turkey and chicken eggs and made the most wonderful filling in our recent lasagna.

The chickens made eggs out of stuff that didn't even deserve a bag in the freezer!

 

[patandchickens]

My observation from screwing up in various ways (only they're not screwups, they are learning experiences and 'I made a different kind of cheese that I have to use in a different way' ):

--don't overpress, it makes it really crumbly. I use a glass canister that holds about 3-4c water; better to err on the side of less rather than more. And only press for 12 hrs or so, not for days.

--do however make sure it is fairly well drained before pressing. Can't give an exact time because it depends how big or small pieces your curds are in when you put them in the cheesecloth. I drain for about 30 minutes, you want a consistency where you couldn't really spread it b/c it crumbles, but the crumbles aren't massively dry, if that makes any sense?

It *does* (for me) produce a cheese that is a little on the crumbly-moist, most of mine cannot be cut into beautiful slices or anything (although usually I can whack off a 1/2" slice and have it only break in a few places. It does (to me) get a bit cheesier and butterier-tasting after a week or two, but yes, it is essentially a very mild cheese (b/c no culture).

You cannot use the whey from the whole-milk-ricotta to make gjetost or more ricotta or anything else -- all the protein has already been stripped out of it. That only works with whey from 'real' (cultured) cheese, where the whey proteins did not coagulate out yet.

I think the bottom line though is that as freemotion says it's a craft, not a science -- you have to keep trying and not all batches will work out. Things that fail before salting can be fed to chickens; things that fail after salting can be hidden in various things like lasagna and mac-n-cheese. Thus far I think my overall cheesemaking score is something like: 2 batches to chickens, 1 partly to chickens, 2 hidden in other food to get rid of them, 3 "enh" ok-considering-cost-and-learning-experience batches of ricotta salata, 3 pretty good batches of r.s., and one buttermilk hard cheese that I hated at first but now that it's aged I like it.

Pat, with more stuff on order to try more hard cheeses