Homemade Ricotta Cheese

Yes you can make your own ricotta cheese. It's simple and quick

Some of you may be wondering what happened to the political side of this stack. Well its not going away, I have some I am working on but with others covering these things I thought maybe with the food situation between the outragous prices we are starting to see and what looks like future shortages because of war I would bring in another avenue of my interests.

It may be time to learn to cope and bring back some of the things our parents and grand parents did, such as making cheese, jelly, bread, beer making ( of course) and other stay at home and cook ideas. Once you make your own going out and spending ’s on a so so meal and buying bland food from the store you will see what you have been missing. Going out will unfortunately become a disappointment more times than not.

Home made ricotta is easy and oh so much better than the commercial stuff.

So I hope you enjoy and try it.

What is required?

8 cups of whole milk. Do not use the ultra pasteurized as the proteins are obliterated with the ultra high heat. The closer you can get to milk straight out of the cow the better.

Optional 1 cup of cream - again NOT ultra pasteurized. It will make the ricotta richer and creamier.

4 tablespoons of white vinegar or lemon juice - the acid curds the milk

1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt. I use Himalayan salt. This is for flavor so its up to you.

A pot large enough to hold 10 + cups of milk.

A instant read thermometer

A slotted spoon or preferably a skimmer.

Cheese cloth or a fine strainer

A double boiler - with a colander. The holes in most colanders are too large but you need to be able drain away the whey

On to the making of ricotta

I use a 10 quart pan.

heat the milk up to 180 degree f. You have to constantly stir as otherwise it will scald to the bottom. Once you hit that magic number add salt and vinegar, and stir that in. Now you just let it set, you can turn the burner off , but I keep mine on a low heat for 20 more minutes keeping the mixture at 170-180f

Vinegar added

Salt added

In about a minute you will start to see curds forming, you can stir occasionally as the vinegar needs to be well mixed

The curd in the strainer and double boiler draining. This you can vary up your time. I like my ricotta dryer so I let it set for a half hour or so. A 3-6 minute drain time will produce a creamier ricotta.

8 cups of milk makes around 16oz of ricotta cheese

The remaining whey.

Whey can be used a soup base, in smoothies, in place of water in bread recipes or fed to chickens, cats or other stock.

Congrats! you have made your very own ricotta cheese - ENJOY! It will last about 5 days in the refrigerator, that will not be a problem as it will be gone plenty before that.

Now the fun begins, ricotta can be used on pizza, lasagna, chips, cakes, pasta, omelets, salads or just a simple spoonful any thing you want.

You can also add fresh parsley, parmesan cheese and tomato sauce for a flavorful sauce.

You can also add garlic powder, black pepper, fresh basil or shredded mozzarella cheese for an added boost of flavor.

For desserts, there are so many delicious ways to flavor your ricotta. Sprinkle lemon zest, chocolate chips, maple syrup or Nutella on top. Let your imagination go, who knows what delicious food you will come up with.

The tools/untensils above open a whole new avenue for making mozzarella, sour cream, swiss cheese and other dairy products. You have not had mozzarella or sour cream until you have made your own. The flavors are oh so good, store bought vs your own their is no comparison. The great part is they are all simple to make, and no chemical preservatives or other who knows what.

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