Making Fresh Cheese At Home – Ricotta
I use ricotta cheese in a million recipes. I started making it from scratch years ago. There are so many versions on the internet but they are all basically the same, and all agree, after making it fresh, they’d never buy the stuff in stores again. I completely concur, and you will too. It’s so easy to make and It’s usually less expensive than store-bought and there is absolutely no comparison to the taste of fresh made ricotta cheese. It’s rich and creamy and you can control the density to fit whatever you are making with it. Your recipes will get a huge boost of flavor by changing up to the homemade variety. There are so many ways to use this mouth watering ricotta cheese and it freezes beautifully too.
So Easy – Here’s What You Need To Make Your Cheese
Use a non-reactive pot, that means stainless steel or enamel coated cookware. Do not use aluminum or copper. You’ll also need a candy thermometer. You can get that at the grocery store, cooking supply or order it from Amazon. The thermometer will hook onto the side of the pot, making sure not to touch the bottom of the pot, which would cause the temperature to read incorrectly. You will also need cheesecloth or a nut bag.
As long as you’re on Amazon, go ahead and order a nut bag. It’s a reusable, cleanable, mesh bag with a drawstring top. This bag is great because I know you’re going to love making ricotta cheese and you’ll want to make it over and over again. The nut bag will take the place of cheesecloth for draining the curds from the whey and cheesecloth can get expensive. The nut bag will last years! Here’s a link https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KLT6X9W/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=bittersalty06-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=B00KLT6X9W&linkId=7a183921dc6260fb248c686540b9c670
Ingredients: 1, 2, 3
One gallon of whole milk, 1 teaspoon of salt and some type of acid. You may use white vinegar, lemon juice or, my preference, which is citric acid. You can order food grade citric acid from Amazon, or you can also find citric acid in most grocery stores. Vinegar and lemon juice work just fine, but I do prefer citric acid. Once you’ve committed to making this for life, I bet you will too. I think it makes more curd than the other acids.
Acid options per gallon of milk: 1/3 cup white vinegar or 1/3 cup lemon juice or 1 teaspoon citric acid, dissolved in 1/2 cup cool water.
Homemade Ricotta Cheese Easy as 1,2,3!
Fold a cheese cloth into four layers and line a colander, making sure there are a few inches hanging over the sides. You’ll want to be able to lift the cloth after it’s drained. If you’re using a nut bag, open it up and make sure it’s inside out (it just makes it easier to empty without seams). Set it inside a bowl. It will stay open enough to accept the curds. Add the milk to the pot, attach the thermometer. On a medium flame, heat milk to 195 degrees. Add lemon juice or vinegar*, stir for about 10 seconds.
Turn off the heat and let it sit for 15 minutes undisturbed. The curds will start to form. After 15 minutes, carefully ladle the curds from the top and put into the cheese cloth lined colander or into your nut bag. Let the curds drain to your desired consistency. If you’re using a nut bag, hang the bag over the bowl to drain. (see picture). The longer the cheese drains, the more firm the consistency.
*If you are using citric acid, you can add the citric acid to the milk at the very beginning when you first add the milk.
The hardest part of making this cheese is keeping yourself from eating it!
Here’s a link to a recipe that features this wonderful, fresh made ingredient: https://wp.me/p9KEfL-2di
Ricotta Cheese From Scratch
Notes
If you are using citric acid instead of vinegar or lemon juice, you should add the citric acid at the beginning of the process, with the milk prior to heating.
Make sure that your heat is not too high to avoid any scorching of the milk on the bottom of the pot.
Ingredients
- 1 gallon whole milk
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon citric acid, dissolved into 1/2 cup cool water or 1/3 cup white vinegar or 1/3 cup lemon juice
tools to gather:
- candy thermometer
- cheesecloth or nut bag
- colander
- stainless steel or other non reactive pot
Instructions
- Line a colander with 4 layers of cheesecloth, folded. Set into your sink. If you are using a nut bag, open the bag inside out and set it into a deep bowl.
- Add milk to a stainless steel or other non-reactive pot.
- Attach a candy thermometer to the side of your pot so that it is not hitting the bottom of the pot. Add salt and stir to combine.
- Put the heat on medium low.
- Allow the milk to heat to 195 degrees.
- Once temperature is reached, add all the vinegar or the lemon juice at once and stir well. Remove from heat.
- Let the pot sit undisturbed for 15 minutes as the curds form.
- Carefully ladle the curd into the cheese cloth lined colander or the nut bag.
- Allow to drain at least 5 minutes, then to the desired consistency.
- If you are using a nut bag, after initial draining in the bowl, lift the bag by the strings and hang from a cabinet knob with the bowl under the bag. The longer the cheese drains, the more firm the ricotta will be.
- Put into a container and refrigerate until you are ready to use it. Or, you can freeze this in a zip lock freezer bag for at least 2 months.
Karen Harris https://www.bittersaltysoursweet.com
