Ricotta Making
Introduction
Ricotta is Italian for "re-cooked" because it is
made by "cooking" whey which is produced when the curds are separated
for cheese ("curds and whey," as in little Miss Muffet). The
chemistry of ricotta is interesting. Its production relies on allowing
the inoculated bacteria in whey to further ferment the liquid as it sits at
room temperature for an additional 12-24 hours. During that time, the
remaining sugars are converted to lactic acid which lowers the pH of the whey. The
solubility of the protein in acidified whey is reduced. Heating the acidified
whey denatures the protein causing it to precipitate out as a fine curd. This
small-grained curd may be then dipped out or filtered out by pouring through a
fine cloth. It can be used fresh or frozen until needed.
Equipment
Protocol
Whey left from turning five gallons of milk into cheese will
make about 1.5 - 2 pounds of ricotta (a quart or so)
- Save the whey from making cheese in a non-reactive pot.
(Here you see curds for a basic cheese at the bottom of the pot, as the whey
is being poured off). Filter as much of the curd particles out as you can
since they would otherwise form tough "beads" in the final ricotta.
Cover and let sit 12 to 24 hours at room temperature to develop sufficient
acidity.
- The next morning, heat the acidified whey while
stirring, taking care to avoid sticking or burning. Use either a double
boiler, or a pot with very thick bottom which will disperse the heat well.
This image shows that the temperature has risen to about 82 °C, and a white
foam is appearing on the surface.
- Continue heating while stirring until its temperature
is near boiling (95 °C). Note that foam will build up somewhat.(Careful: it
can boil over...) Remove from heat. Cover and allow the "cooked"
whey to cool undisturbed until comfortable to the touch. The curds should
look like clouds suspended in the whey, while the whey appears clear and
yellowish green. (Riboflavin in the whey gives it this color.)
- DO NOT STIR UP THE CURD: Set up a receiving pot
with a large strainer and a fine clean cloth on top. If the curd is
floating, you may dip out the curd into the cloth. Alternatively, if
the curd all sinks, pour as much of the whey through the cloth as you can
without disturbing the curds. It will filter through MUCH faster if you do
this carefully without sitrring up the curds.
- Gently scoop out the curds. Because the curds are very
fine and delicate, they can stop up the cloth easily. This will cause very
slow draining if they are broken up.
- You can see that much of the whey will drain out as you
dip the curd.
- After all of the wet curds have been transferred to the
cloth, allow the whey to drain out through the cloth (be patient, it can take
2-3 hours). Then pick up the corners of the cloth, suspend like a bag over
the drainage pot (or sink) to allow the last of the whey to drain out. It
will take several hours, and can be done in the refrigerator over night. The
whey remaining from ricotta is clear, and has a greenish-yellow tint from the
riboflavin which remains. This whey has very little protein remaining
in it, and I feed it to my chickens and my pig...
- Remove the ricotta from the cloth, pack into a
container, cover and store in the refrigerator. Use it soon after making.
Alternatively, ricotta will freeze very well.
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