The following is the best homemade ricotta cheese recipe.
(while 'true' ricotta is made from whey, this recipe will give you a delicious
'ricotta style' cheese with a much larger yield much more easily than working with whey)
Procedure: for 1/2 gallon of whole milk plus 1 cup of heavy cream.
Mix together milk, cream and also 1 tsp of kosher cheese salt.
1. Heat milk and cream to 185-200F.
2. Turn off heat.
3. Add 1 tsp. of citric acid that has been dissolved in 1/8 cup filtered water.
4. Stir in the citric acid and almost immediately, you'll see pieces of white Ricotta curds forming on the surface. Allow for 10 minutes for curds to fully form.
5. Line a colander with very fine mesh cloth (or use hanging nylon cheese bag) and gently pour or scoop whey into lined colander.
6. Let drain 45 minutes at room temperature.
Your Ricotta style cheese is now ready!
Enjoy!
-The CheeseMaker
