Today's lesson is going to be on ricotta cheese which she makes with the whey leftover from making another cheese like Parmesean or Cheddar.
By definition WHEY is the liquid leftover after milk has been curdled and strained. It's what remains after cheesemaking. Now, not all wheys are good for making ricotta! It has to be a whey from a cheese that used a higher concentration of rennet. For example: any of the hard cheeses. You cannot use the whey from chevre because the amount of rennet used is too little.
The publicist takes about a gallon of whey and adds a quart of my rich milk. She heats this to 195*. Oooooh, hot!
When the mixture reaches the right temperature she turns off the heat and adds in the juice of a lemon - about 1/4 cup.
She stirs and stirs until little tiny curds start to appear. This is the ricotta!
She then pours it into a cheesecloth lined stainless steel colandar where it drains for about 20 minutes.
Then it goes into a container where she adds salt to taste and it's ready to use.
She is planning to make raviolis this week.
I hope you enjoyed another cheese making lesson.
Tomorrow: Snow?!
Be sure to stop by the publicist's blog and enter her giveaway for a Butter Bell Butter Crock - it ends tonight!
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