Ricotta Cheese

So I had nearly a gallon of whey left over from making my mozzarella and read that you can use it to make ricotta. Found some instructions online: reheated the liquid to 200 degrees (almost boiling), then strained through a fine butter muslin/cheesecloth (I had purchased this from New England Cheesemaking along with my mozzarella ingredients). I was left with a light cheesy film on the inside of the cloth after the liquid had drained...maybe ricotta, but not enough to use for anything. I won't be discouraged though. Next time I'll try it again - maybe it needs to heat longer?

On a side note, my 3rd attempt at mozzarella was as good as my 2nd, but I did add a little more salt, somewhere between 2 and 3 tsp. Turned out a little on the salty side. Think I'll keep it at 2 tsp...

Mozzarella Cheese

While reading Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life, I was inspired to make my own mozzarella cheese. She took a whole cheesemaking workshop, but claimed a good mozzarella could be made in 30 minutes with minimal ingredients and equipment. With a home-based soapmaking business and a 6-month old occupying most of my time, it sounded like my kind of project!

I ordered some supplies from New England Cheesemaking Supply Company (as recommended by Kingsolver): one 2 oz bottle of liquid rennet ($6.50) and one 8 oz bag of flake salt ($2.95). They also sell citric acid, but I found it cheaper in the kosher section of Safeway sold as Rokeash Sour Salt ($1.85 I think...) With recipe in hand I was ready to go!

My first attempt was actually a week or so ago, and I followed the recommendations by using whole milk, as fresh and local as I could find. The recipe is pretty simple, add citric acid to cold milk and heat -- I accidentally overheated the milk a bit (it reached 90 degrees more quickly than I expected!) but I found that it didn't make any difference -- then added the rennet and stirred. After the curd formed I cut it and scooped it out with a slotted spoon. Drained the liquid and nuked it, kneaded it, nuked it, kneaded it, nuked it, kneaded and added a little salt, stretched, and voila! Into the ice bath it went. Cheese.

The big question is how did it taste? The texture was ok, but moister than I'm used to. The flavor was, well, uh, absent. It was bland, boring. Now I'm no connaisseur, and it is quite possible that a lifetime of commercially produced cheese has ruined me forever, but it wasn't for me anyway. I wasn't about to give up though.

Second attempt: replaced whole milk with 2% (the recipe claimed it would produce a drier cheese) and upped salt to a full 2 tsp, added early in the final knead. The result - YUMMY! Nate and I enjoyed it on crackers and it was gone in 2 days. The salt brought out the flavor of the cheese without being overly salty.

Oh yes, and save the leftover whey liquid - you can use it to make ricotta! To be continued...