HomeMade Ricotta Cheese

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Ricotta Cheese

1 gallon whole milk or skim (1 gal. whole milk = about 1lb cheese)

white vinegar or fresh lemon juice

a large colander lined with fine cheesecloth. butter muslin is
preferred, or some other substitute, a ham bag or jelly bag will work
just fine.

Put the milk in a large, non-reactive sauce pan and heat slowly to
200 degrees, stirring to prevent it scorching on the bottom. When the
milk is hot enough, add about 1/4 cup of vinegar or lemon juice. If
the milk is really at 200 degrees, it will instantly curdle, the milk
protein and fat separating from the water in smallish white blobs and
foam. If this does not happen, keep heating. Use a thermometer, dairy
or candy works fine, but some of them are not quite accurate. If you
put the vinegar in when the milk is close to the correct temperature,
as soon as it reacts, you know it is done. It is not necessary to
continue heating once the reaction occurs, however, you will want to
let it sit for a few minutes, with an occasional stir.

Place your lined colander in the sink, drain open please, and
carefully pour the entire contents (DO NOT skim anything off) of the
pot into it. Take your time, and allow the water to drain through the
cheesecloth. It will go pretty quickly if you have used butter
muslin. If it goes too quickly and nothing is left behind, you will
know that your cheesecloth is too coarse and your cheese has gone
down the drain! Do not despair, this has happened to many experienced
cheese makers, just get finer cheesecloth and try again.

Assuming that all goes well, allow the ricotta to drain and cool
until you can handle the cheesecloth comfortably. Gather the ends of
the cloth up and tie into a bag which must be suspended over the sink
until it stops dripping. You can hang it on the faucet or drape it
from a wooden spoon laid across the sink, whatever works. The ricotta
will be finished draining in about an hour and be ready to use in any
recipe that calls for this type of cheese. You can add a bit of salt
if you like. Of, if the cheese is to be used in a desert, add a
little cream and mix in well to make a richer product.

If you are not going to use the cheese immediately, pack into a
container and either refrigerate or freeze. This cheese freezes well
and will always be available that way. It keeps in the fridge a few
days.

One way to use milk that is starting to go over is to make ricotta
from it. If you don’t have a full gallon, just reduce the vinegar a
bit – this is not critical, however, too much won’t hurt. The only
real difference is that you will get less cheese from less milk. Any
cheese at all is better than pouring milk down the drain.

Written by Pamela Matlack

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