Ricotta at Home: Holy Crap that Was EASY

We decided to get dip our toes into the world of cheese making with ricotta. You can watch our demo video here. Why start with ricotta? We've never made cheese, ricotta is a delicious and versatile ingredient AND it seems nearly impossible to mess up (tl;dr we do find one way to mess it up). Overall INCREDIBLY easy.

As far as Ricotta making goes, there are a few different methods that people like to use. In order to determine which method is best, we tried 4 of the more popular recipes and did a taste test to see which one we liked the most. The actual protocol is the same for all four, we just changed the ingredients slightly.

NOTE: We found that the flavor greatly improved the second day after leaving it in a fridge overnight. You can certainly eat it right away but if you have the time we recommend waiting 12-24 hours for the best result.

Batch #1 (2nd Best. Nice texture with a slight hint of lemon.)

• 3 Cups Whole Milk 1 Cup Cream

• 3 Tablespoons of Lemon Juice

• Salt to taste

Batch #2 (3rd Best. Good flavor but we felt that the vinegar made it a little less creamy)

• 3 Cups Whole Milk

• 1 Cup Cream

• 3 Tablespoons of Distilled Vinegar

• Salt to taste

Batch #3 (4th Best. This was our least favorite, by using only milk the texture was running and not creamy at all)

• 4 Cups Whole Milk

• 3 Tablespoons of Distilled Vinegar

• Salt to Taste

Batch #4 (1st Best. Our favorite method. Obviously using just cream produces a very rich and smooth Ricotta)

• 4 Cups Cream

• 3 Tablespoons of Distilled Vinegar

• Salt to Taste

Equipment: Small Sauce Pot Spoon to Stir Kitchen Thermometer Mesh Strainer Cheesecloth Instructions: The steps are the same for all batches, you just change the ingredients

• Step 1: Use boiling water to sterilize a small sauce pot, kitchen thermometer, and spoon. When cheese making, it is very important to keep any unwanted bacteria from getting into the equipment/ingredients

• Step 2: Put the dairy and salt to taste into a small sauce pot and place over a low flame. You want it to come up to temperature gradually. Make sure to stir occasionally to prevent milk for burning to the bottom.

• Step 3: Using a thermometer to keep careful track of the temperature, turn the heat off as soon as it reaches 180-190 Degrees Fahrenheit. You don’t want the milk/cream to come to a boil so make sure to keep an eye on it.

• Step 4: Once the heat is turned off, add in the acid you are using (e.g. lemon juice or vinegar). Stir it in very gently so you don’t break the curds up. Leave this to sit for 10-15 minutes.

• Step 5: Pour the mixture of curds and whey into a mesh strainer that is lined with cheesecloth. Let the curds drain for anywhere from 20 minutes to 1 hour, depending on desired dryness. If you are using it for something like lasagna, you probably want it a bit drier so less moisture gets into the final dish.

• Step 6: Remove from cheesecloth and enjoy! In our experience, it tasted better the second day but it’s ready to eat as soon as it’s done drying.

bon appetit