How to make Ricotta Cheese at home

Ingredients

1 gallon homogenized and pasteurized milk (not ultra pasteurized)

2 tsp Citric Acid

1 1/2 tbsp Cheese Salt

1 cup cool water

Preparation

First of all, dissolve 2 tsp of citric acid in 1 cup of cool water. Add 1/2 of the Citric Acid solution to the pot. Add milk. Save the rest of the citric acid. Stir the milk briskly for 5-10 seconds.

Furthermore, add 1 1/2 tbsp of salt to the milk then heat the milk slowly on low to med heat, stirring well to prevent scorching.

At 165-170°F watch for small flakes forming in the milk and the separation into small flaky curds.If after a few minutes you do not see the flakes forming, add more of the Citric acid until they form. Do this in 1 Tbsp increments, to avoid over acid milk. At this point, when you see the curds, a slower stirring is essential to avoid breaking up the small bits of curd that have formed. Excess stirring will cause smaller and very granular curds to form. Roll the milk slowly with a bottom-to-top stirring motion.

Further, continue heating to 190-195°F then turn the heat off. As the curds rise, use a perforated ladle to gently move them from the sides to the center of the pot. These clumps of curd will begin to consolidate floating on top of the liquid. Let the curds rest for 10-15 minutes. This is important because it is the point where the final Ricotta quality is assured.

Finally, ladle the curds gently into draining forms. If the cheese curds are too small, use the cheesecloth. Let the curds drain for 15 min up to several hours before chilling overnight. Move to a refrigerator or cold room.

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About

Learn how to make Ricotta Cheese at home

Prep Time

0H20mins

Cook Time

0H40mins

Total Time

1H00mins

Ricotta Cheese video recipe

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sj1Uhv2Fu8c&t=19s

Certainly, homemade Ricotta cheese is a very easy recipe. Every beginner cheese maker with the minimum of equipment (thermometer and cheese mold) would be able to make it. Anyway, homemade Ricotta is one the best and most tender and tastiest non-aging soft cheese recipes you can find. Technically, there are two homemade Ricotta recipes: 1) made with sheep, cow, goat, or water buffalo milk whey left over from the production of other cheeses. 2) made with milk. This Ricotta cheese recipe is based on the 2nd version of the famous Italian cheese i.e. made with homogenized and pasteurized cow milk that could be bought at any department store. Finally, it doesn't matter which one of homemade Ricotta recipes you are going to use, it will be soft and delicious.

Equipment

Nutrition Facts Disclaimer

(Nutriton Facts provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.)

Recipes using Ricotta cheese

Ricotta could be either a separate dish, or could be added as the stuffing to many Italian recipes. Most noteworthy, for a few thousand years Ricotta cheese has been successfully used in many delicious and well-known dishes such as Pizza, Pasta, Ravioli, Tortellini, Pancakes, Gnocchi, Lasagna, Cookies and many more. Frequently, Ricotta cheese is mixed with Mozzarella cheese or Cottage Cheese to add unique flavor and taste. Hence, discover your favorite recipes using Ricotta cheese and enjoy them.

After you discovered how to make Ricotta Cheese at home, expand your cheese making menu by adding Cottage Cheese and Mozzarella Cheese.