Making cheese is an interest that I would like to learn more about. I intend to purchase a kit with includes more starters that I could use to make a variety of cheeses, but for now I decided to start easy with ricotta.
Start by heating the milk to 185*-195*
Soon the curds will begin to form.
The separation will become more and more apparent.
Drain the cheese in a fine cheese cloth.
I rigged up this handy draining mechanism 
I drained mine a bit to long this time.
Ricotta Cheese
1 gallon whole milk (not ultra pasteurized)
2 tsp citric acid (liquid)
1 tsp sea salt or canning salt (do not use iodized)
3 tbsp heavy cream
Heat milk and citric acid and salt to 185*-195* stirring constantly. Reduce heat to maintain the temperature in that range and stir until the curds separate from the whey. Ladle curds gently into a fine mesh cheese cloth. Tie cloth and hang to drain. Drain ~20 minutes. Your cheese is ready to be used as soon as it is drained to your preference. Additional salt may be added to taste.
For a creamier texture stir in heavy cream after the cheese is drained.
The excess whey can be used in a variety of recipes. We used it in a bread recipe, substituting it for the water. Worked out great!
Yummmm homemade cheese! Your cheese looks perfect!
Thanks for sharing…
This is what I do with all my nearly outdated milk-Kid goes on binges of milk, then stops for a while, and I have excess. The odd time I’ll buy short dated goat milk, and use it, then put it in a press, in the fridge over night. It comes out with in a nice chunk, much like feta. Then I cut it into squares, use the whey to make a brine and dump in my cheese, and let sit in the fridge. I’ve had it last, in brine, for several months…
While it’s not a true feta-there seems to be other steps that I don’t do-it’s taste is so close, I have always just called it feta-and I prefer the home made stuff to the store bought anyways.
Whey makes the best tasting breads and pizza doughs. I keep mine in the back of the fridge-where it’s cooler-and have had it stay as long as 3 weeks. I have heard it can be canned to keep longer, but I have never tried that.
Where did you purchase the citric acid?
I’ve thought about making mozzarella before, since I believe it also only requires a couple ingredients. I’m thinking of making yogurt cheese today, actually.
My mom works at a local handmade candy store around the holidays who keeps citric acid on hand for candy making. I’ve heard that a lot of health stores carry it and you can order it online though. Also I have seen recipes that use vinegar instead. That might be worth a shot. If you try it, I’d be interested in hearing about your results!
Ok. My boyfriend would love you. Any woman that can make her own cheese is a goddess to him
And I bet you save money too!!
Oh—I totally want to learn to make some good cheese too! It is on my life list
BTW-I love your draining mechanism.
I made a cheese similar to this with my students in class a month or so ago. They had fun making it–but ours didn’t taste all that great
I get my citric acid from Hoegger Goat Supply (www.thegoatstore.com ). Nichols Nursery out of Oregon has it also ( https://www.nicholsgardennursery.com/store/ ). I’ve had great service from both of these places.
I’ve never tried ricotta, but your recipe looks a lot easier than the one in my book, and I have so much delicious goat milk right now that I might have to try it.