Riccotta From the Provolone

[DeejayDebi]

Well I asn't sure whether to post this in the provolone thread as part 2 or here. I guess it really fits here so here it is. As some of you know a posted the provolone I made last night and as pasta fileta cheese whey is the best for making ricotta here it is. I colleced about 6 gallons of whey from the cheese make. Could have gotten 7 but I ran out of bottles. This was made with whey and supplimented with milk about 2:1  2:.75.

First shot are the curds popping to the surface.

Second shot is the curds draining in a twisted cheese cloth

Thrid shot is just the plain curds after a brief drain - nice and creamy

Final shot is a batch mixed with sundried tomatoes

I also did one batch mixed with basil but I forgot to take a picture. In any event I think the plain is easiest to see.

[MrsKK]

Do you just use heat to precipitate your ricotta or do you add acid?

How much of a yield did you get out of the 6 gallons of whey and I'm thinking 3 gallons of milk?

And how do you use all of that ricotta?  Questions, questions!

[cmharris6002]

That looks great!!

[Alex]

Really? 50% milk added?
I came to the same conclusion that making Ricotta from Pasta Fillata, i.e. Mozzarella, gives the best curds and yield, but I add only 10% milk + vinegar.

[DeejayDebi]

Do you just use heat to precipitate your ricotta or do you add acid?

How much of a yield did you get out of the 6 gallons of whey and I'm thinking 3 gallons of milk?

And how do you use all of that ricotta?  Questions, questions!

Karen actually only used a little over 1.75 gallons of milk my pot is only 2.5 gallons. This was a mix of heat to precipitate and acids. I tried Peter Dixons method. 1 batch was vinegar, 2 batches were citric acid. I ran out of vinegar and had no lemons. I need to go shopping.

Did have balsalmic but I didn't want brown riccotta. LOL I only ended up with about 2 quarts of riccotta. Disappointing yield. Did get 12 pounds of provolobe though so maybe there wasn't much left to give.

Did finally get to do a taste test side by side though. I really don't see much difference between vinegar and citric acid ricotta. Did get a slighly higher yield from the citric acid though.

How do I use it. Well that's easy I'm Italian! Lassagna, Manicotti, Cavattelli, cannoli, ricotta cookies, riccotta spinich pie ... There's tons of stuff to use it for.


Alex it's not 50% milk but closer to 30% I also used most of the cream for butter. I don't normally add milk when I make riccotta but I had a few extra gallons.

[Minamyna]

How much citric acid? Just until it curdles?

[Alex]

I don't use citric acid bur 5% vinegar, about 1/2 cup for about 4 liters of whey + 400 cc of milk.

[Minamyna]

I found a recipe on Peter Dixon's site, but my whey looks sort of milky still, after reading some other threads I think I need to take the temp higher.....I had it at 185 degrees, but it looks like I should go to 210.

[Alex]

Heat and stir until 72-75 deg C, add 10% milk, stir and don't touch it until 88-90 deg C. Add the vinegar and scatter it all over the surface.