Hello,
I made my first cheeses two days ago from 4L of whole milk and was told to use the whey leftover to make ricotta.
I followed these instructions: http://www.instructables.com/id/Great-Ricotta-Cheese-From-Whey/ (http://www.instructables.com/id/Great-Ricotta-Cheese-From-Whey/)
My yeild is still draining from the cloth, but its gone from looking like I'd have quite a bit (my guess from looking at the pot) to looking like I'll yeild just over a tablespoon. Is this normal?
A friend of mine brings it to just before a boil and adds a cup of vinegar. Should I be doing this instead?
Those instructions are dead wrong. The whey needs to be acidic so if you don't know the pH of your whey then the vinegar is really important. It may not be to late. Reheat to 200-210 and add the vinegar. You have nothing to lose.
Oh dear. I wish I'd known that earlier.
Thanks for your reply. The dripped out whey has been fed to the houseplants already.
Looks like I'll only get a tablespoon this go around. Next Sunday I'll try again.
The forum is a treasure trove of information. Just search on Ricotta and you will find tons of useful threads.
The catch is that you don't want to over acidify either. Most people add a little whole milk back into the whey to increase the yield.
Whey is great in soups and breads and lots of other stuff.