Cooks Illustrated method for making ricotta

[wryter2000]

They sent a recipe to test for torta. I ended up not making the torta, but the instructions for making ricotta were amazingly easy, and the results were delish. I'm never buying ricotta again.

Basically, you heat whole milk to 185, add salt and lemon juice and let it sit until the curds have separated and the whey is clear. Then, you strain it through a double thickness of cheese cloth until it's as dry as you want it.

It's about a quart of milk to 1 - 2 Tbs of lemon juice and (I think) a 1/4 tsp of salt. Once the milk is at the right temp, turn off the heat, add the lemon juice and salt. Then wait 5 minutes to see if the whey is clear. If not, add more lemon juice and wait another 5 minutes. I had to add quite a bit of juice because my lemons are Meyer lemons, and I'm not sure they're as acidic as the ones you buy in the store.

The resulting cheese doesn't taste like lemon at all, although that might not be a bad thing.

[Lucinda]

1. Ohhh cool! GOOD timing on this recipe. I am in "learn to make cheese" mode

This sounds nice and easy! :hi:

[wryter2000]

2. It'll come out in the magazine in a few months

Give it a try. It's really easy and good.

I'm wondering if other types of milk might be interesting. I think I can get goat's milk at the store.

[Lucinda]

3. We have to drive to the next town for it, but I'd like to try making several goat cheeses

FETA!!! for sure.
A goat's milk ricotta sounds really interesting....could add a lot of flavor to lasagne.

[wryter2000]

4. Ha! I'll bet you're right

I think feta would need more salt. It's a big saltier.

[Lucinda]

5. Yup. I had a nice saltiness in my failed mozarella yesterday. Salty is good. :)

Feta must have teh salt!

[hippywife]

14. Do you have a source for

goats milk that's not been ultra-pasteurized? The stuff in the store is likely to be and might not work as well.

Thanx for posting the recipe. I have some ricotta in the fridge to use up but will definitely turn to this the next time I need some. :hi:

[eleny]

6. Did you start with 1 Tbs of lemon juice....

...and then use one more Tbs at a time to achieve clear whey?

[wryter2000]

9. I started with 2 Tbs because I knew my lemons

The original recipe called for 1.5 gallons of milk and 1/2 to 3/4 cup lemon juice (or 8 - 12 Tbs). I had to use the maximum and then some. It made a huge amount of cheese. So, when I reduced the quantity, I used 1 quart of milk and 2 Tbs of juice.

It's easy to start with the smaller amount of juice and add more. Put in the original amount, stir, let it sit for 5 minutes. If it's not curdled right, add more, stir, and let it sit another 5 minutes. In a heavy-bottomed pot, the milk stays hot.

[eleny]

11. Thanks for the tips

I have a Le Creuset pot that's be heavy enough to keep it hot. I'll be using regular lemons.

[Vinca]

7. I'm going to have to try this. I always end up with ricotta

left over when I buy it for something and it usually gets tossed. This way I could make exactly the amount I need. Thanks for posting! (I thought it was rocket science and never considered making it.)

[eridani]

8. I'm told it freezes well

I used some of mine for the crepe exercise and also for lasagna and froze the rest. One of these days I'll unfreeze it and make some tortellini with it.

[Vinca]

15. I had no idea you could freeze it, either. This is great!

I'm going to try a small test batch today.

[wryter2000]

10. What it makes

I didn't measure exactly, but it seemed as if using 1 quart of milk produced an amount of cheese a bit smaller than the larger containers you buy in the store.

[eleny]

12. That represents a big savings

When I can get my Organic Valley milk for a $1 a half gallon my savings and quality would take such a leap.

:hi:

[wryter2000]

13. I thought the same thing

And no gums and other ferrin ingredients. I didn't measure, though. Just eyeballed it.

[Vinca]

16. I think I did something wrong.

I decided to make a mini-batch since I don't need any ricotta at the moment, but couldn't wait to see if it would work. I got the milk to 185, took it off the heat and added the salt and lemon. Hardly anything happened. So I added more lemon . . . and more lemon . . . and more lemon. By then the milk was cooling off and while there were some curds, not much was happening. So I got the idea that maybe I should keep it warm and put it back on the burner and warmed it up again and, voila, cheese. Is that the secret? Keeping it warm? I actually added so much lemon you can really taste it in the ricotta, so I obviously didn't do something right. Thoughts?

[eridani]

17. My guess is that the temperature was probably the problem

I think it does need to be maintained at a constant level.

[Vinca]

18. I'll try it again sometime next week. I also squeezed

too much liquid out of it. This morning I went to taste the chilled cheese and it was almost a solid. I added a little water and it came back and tasted pretty good. Practice makes perfect.

[troubleinwinter]

20. I have no knowledge of making it, but

the idea of lemon flavored ricotta sounds pretty good! Nice with spinach, artichokes, asparagus?

[Gormy Cuss]

19. What did you do with the whey? n/t

[pleah]

21. Can you use fat free milk?

:)