How to make Ricotta Cheese

Here it is!  The tutorial you've all been waiting for!  :)

You will need:
1 gallon (14 cups or 3.5 Litres) of milk*
1/4 cup either vinegar or lemon juice (I would suggest using vinegar, unless you want a little lemon flavour, such as in the Lemon Ricotta Cheesecake I just made)

 

Heat milk to 180 degrees.  Personally, I had no way of knowing how hot that was.  So I just waited until it was hot, but not yet boiling.  I suppose if you had a candy thermometer you could use that?

Add vinegar or lemon juice.  Watch it curdle.

here it's starting to curdle, but not done yet

If it doesn't curdle, it's
     a) not hot enough yet (just be patient and as it heats it will curdle)
     b) try adding a little more vinegar or lemon juice

now this is nice and curdly.  Just how we want it!

Once curdled, pour the mixture though a tea towel to strain.  I think the thinner the towel is, the better.

this tea towel is clean.  I promise.  But remember, I live in Africa.  Even clean things here look dirty!

Strain it to your desired consistency.  A slow drip is usually about good.  You will have lots of liquid leftover.  You can just go right ahead and pour that down the drain.  Please don't try and find a creative use for it.  :)

today I think I strained mine a little too much... but depends what you're going for.

Voila!  You made cheese!  You should have about 2 cups of ricotta.

 

It is really that easy!  The photos probably weren't necessary, but I know when I made it the first time, I wasn't sure what it was supposed to look like as it curdled.  So now you know!



*If you choose to use powdered milk, I found it just about right to use 3.5 cups of powdered milk, with 14 cups water.  That is presuming you normally use about 1/4 cup milk powder per 1 cup water.  Also, Stewart brought it to my attention that here in Africa, we use powdered whole milk.  If you use powdered skim milk, you might have a different result.  I'm not sure.