Ricotta

9:10 pm on 12 August 2011

Take about a litre and a half of whole milk from fridge.

Heat up to 94 degrees, this takes about twenty minutes.  After a few goes you can tell by looking when it’s at that temperature.  It goes foamy, moving around, but not bubbling or boiling.

Add dilute solution of vinegar , white or cider best, malt will leave dirty tinge - 50 millimetres of vinegar in half a glass of water.

Once milk at 94 degrees, add vinegar in slow and steady stream. Lumps will form in milk, and liquid goes from milky to clear and a light green colour. The change happens quickly.

Ricotta is a low fat cheese because the fat stays in solution when you drain the whey off.  It can be used as a dessert or savoury.

Patience and hygiene are the key. If impatient you’ll be jerky with the stirring and raise a foam.

Neat vinegar would curdle as soon as it hits the  milk, so it must be diluted. Lumps start forming, the liquid suddenly turns from milky to green tinge. Stop as soon as it changes, let the curdles come up to the surface to form a disk. Don’t overstir or you’ll break up the disk. Curds look like scrambled eggs.

The ricotta can put into a mould when warm.

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