Hello
I have read the threads on other people's ricotta mess ups and I am here to post my own. I never can get ricotta from whey, and I need some so I used a gallon of very fresh jersey milk and used citric acid as the acid. I tried this Peter Dixon recipe: http://dairyfoodsconsulting.com/recipes_Ricotta.shtml (http://dairyfoodsconsulting.com/recipes_Ricotta.shtml) and the ricotta is large and grainy and melted together. Not creamy and soft or stirrable. I am kind of frustrated.
The first batch I heated the 1/2 gal milk to 185 and stirred in 1/2 tsp of citric acid. I strained it through cheese cloth in one of those plastic ricotta "molds". Then I read some more tread and decided it need to be hotter. So I heated the 2nd half gal to 195 no change. All the curds matted together. Really?!?!? Really?!?!? How hard can this be?!!!???
You're not using enough acid. You need to bring that pH down to about 5.2 to get maximum yield. A half teaspoon of citric will not get you there unless you're using preacidified milk. You need about 2 tsps or half a cup of 5% vinegar for making whole milk ricotta. Rubbery curd means not enough calcium has been broken up and the curds are still bonding well. This is especially the case for really good quality milk.
As usual, I am indebted, do you have any words of wisdom about the whey ricotta oh wise one?
I tried to use the mozz whey like other people on this forum have done, I even let it get to a boil......... because I figured if I brought it right up to a boil it may work, then once it was there and I had nothing in the pot I figure it couldn't do any harm at that point....
--Your Cheesemaking Fangirl.....
Well let's think through about what's happening with the ricotta. It's a one-two punch
First, you denature all the whey proteins with heat, and the caseins adsorb them, and second, the acid you add has an opportunity to work its way inside those caseins and break up calcium bonds.
A few things are critical here. One, the relative quality of the underlying proteins when you start heating. In mozz whey, the remaining proteins have been broken up by acid over time, and more importantly by the rennet. So you get small particles that precipitate easily without resorting to high heat or a lot of acid.
In whole milk ricotta, it's different. You're heating up and holding at temp for a little while, and then adding the acid. Then you let that sit for 10-15 minutes so the acid does its work. You don't stir or disturb anything. Then when the acid has eaten up the calcium, you can drain off the whey and have lovely, fluffy, whey.
Two, the pH matters. A high pH and not enough time to break down the calcium, again means rubbery curd. You're trading off time, pH, and temp, and trying to get it all to work together. Does that make sense? In between a bunch of things, so sorry if not being clear.
Oh you don't stir?!?! I thought my recipe said stir quickly and vigorously for the whole milk ricotta.... that is what I did.
So if i have a high pH, I have to let it sit undisturbed to not get a rubbery curd or instead should I not make the ph too high to begin with?
So what does it mean if I have NOTHING in the pot but whey when I try to make whey ricotta? The curds should precipitate out when I heat it a little?
Sorry for all the questions....I am trying to make sure I understand the concept.
I don't stir at all, I let everything happen then either scoop off the top or drain and collect the solids.
How high of a pH do you mean? There's a time, temp, and pH tradeoff, to a point. Higher the temp, up to 160ish, faster the set, beyond that, it's marginally faster. Lower pH, the faster the set. You really do need to get the pH down, more like 5.2, but even 5.4 or 5.5 will work, just takes a little longer.
You have nothing in the pot? Possibly the milk had very low solids. More likely, not enough acid or not enough heat.