Ricotta from Mozzarella Whey?

I thought I remembered reading someone mention that they made ricotta from the left over whey from making mozzarella. Because of this I bought the Mozzarella/Ricotta kit from AHS (the cheesemaking.com kit). The instructions say that whey ricotta cannot be made from mozzarella, is this true? If not any links to a recipe?

I've done it. I think the reason it isn't recommended is because the 30 minute mozzarella uses citric acid to lower the ph, instead of a thermophilic culture. I've done it though, and it works fine!

What I do is take the fresh whey, and bring it to nearly 200 degrees. You'll see the whey turn green (that's the riboflavin) and then turn off the heat. The curds will look like fluffy clouds. Let it sit for a few minutes, then use a small sanitized stainless strainer and "dip" the curds out into a cheesecloth lined colander. I like to use the butter muslin- a pretty fine weave. I'll find the link that I first used to make it.

Edit- here is the link: http://biology.clc.uc.edu/fankhauser/Cheese/Ricotta/RICOTTA_00.HTM
One tip, though- don't let it sit out like it says to. They use other cultures, and this mozzeralla recipe uses citric acid, so the whey already has sufficient acid. You can start heating the whey while you stretch the mozzarella.

So with 30 minute mozzarella, since the citric acid is already added, I won't need to add it again to have the formation of ricotta curds?

Looks like I am making some mozzarella and ricotta this weekend. I just need to decide if I want to try and use raw goat milk or go cheap at the grocery store for the first shot...

Right- just heat up the whey, because you've already acidified the whey. You don't need to add any acid.

I'd recommend getting some $1.99/gallon milk for the first time. That way, if you don't get a clean break, you're only out $2 or so. I've made some excellent 30 minute mozzarella, and two batches of "not quite right" mozzarella. Both times, I didn't get good curd formation and the mozzarella tasted kind of grainy. It just didn't stretch right. I don't know why- I haven't delved much into ph or anything yet. But when it came out good, it was fabulous!

Thanks for the advice. It also seems as if goat milk requires calcium chloride which I don't have yet. Guess when I go the goat milk route I will pick up some of that stuff.

Now to figure out which milk is "safe" to use from the grocery store...

avaserfi said:

Thanks for the advice. It also seems as if goat milk requires calcium chloride which I don't have yet. Guess when I go the goat milk route I will pick up some of that stuff.

Now to figure out which milk is "safe" to use from the grocery store...

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They all are fine- except for the "ultra pasteurized" stuff. Keep away from that! The UP stuff will never form a proper curd. The rest of the store milk (homogenized, pasteurized, etc) is fine. But.......you'll need cacl with regular milk too. I'm not sure if you need it for the 30 minute mozzarella, so check the instructions, but you'll need it anytime you use homogenized milk in other recipes.

YooperBrew said:

They all are fine- except for the "ultra pasteurized" stuff. Keep away from that! The UP stuff will never form a proper curd. The rest of the store milk (homogenized, pasteurized, etc) is fine. But.......you'll need cacl with regular milk too. I'm not sure if you need it for the 30 minute mozzarella, so check the instructions, but you'll need it anytime you use homogenized milk in other recipes.

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Too bad the UP stuff is rarely properly labeled! The instructions just say avoid UP, nothing about homogenized so I assume it is safe for 30 minute mozz.