I'm planning on making lasagna soon and need some ricotta. I made a blue cheese today and was planning on using the whey from that to make ricotta but realized that wouldn't be a good idea. Does it matter what cheese the whey comes from to make ricotta. I'm sure mozzarella would be OK. I'm thinking about making a Swiss style or Parmesan soon, maybe these would be OK?
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bernardsmith
Well-Known Member
This is a good question and I am following because I have a great deal of difficulty getting enough (is it called casein ?) in my whey to make ricotta. I have been assuming that that was not a problem as everything is going into the cheese but I wonder if I am doing something wrong when I make the curds so that there is insufficient protein in the whey to produce ricotta - That said, when I have acidified the whey by using lemon juice to make a fresh cheese rather than culture I have been able to make ricotta
Ricotta should be made from sweet whey, that is whey from cultured cheese not from cheese made by adding acids. And it should be used fresh because it you wait the whey will continue to acidify due to the cultures still working awhey in it. 
Beyond that, you get the highest yields from the whey from hard cheeses since the curds are encouraged to give up a lot of whey along with fats and proteins that remain in the whey. I'm certainly no expert though, but swiss style and Parmesan whey should work well for ricotta. A lot of ricotta recipes add additional whole milk to increase yield. If you do add milk, you will have to add some acid to curdle it as stated in the recipes.
Beyond that, you get the highest yields from the whey from hard cheeses since the curds are encouraged to give up a lot of whey along with fats and proteins that remain in the whey. I'm certainly no expert though, but swiss style and Parmesan whey should work well for ricotta. A lot of ricotta recipes add additional whole milk to increase yield. If you do add milk, you will have to add some acid to curdle it as stated in the recipes.
That's great info that Staestc gave. FWIW Jim of New England Cheesemaking Supply offers a recipe or Serac, a related cheese. (Go to Step 10). As I am entirely an Alpine maker, tommes, reblochons, but most especially harder cheeses (e.g., Abondance), Staestc is right, your Parmesans and Swiss variants offer up a very rich and plentiful supply of whey from which to work. I find the grains are much smaller and sweeter in Serac than in your typical ricotta, but they're all great. I love doing what traditional makers do - squeeze as much as you can from a given milking. I love these traditions.
Speaking of traditions, a wonderful but expensive book. One of these might be mine, lol, as I did a cheese "sell-off" years ago. Ragusano, Heritage and Landscape:: The Art of Traditional Cheese-making.
That's an excellent question on the use of blue cheese for your whey. These cheeses are aggressive in proteolysis and lipolysis during aging, but that curve is out, well past your make. Can't see why that would affect something made immediately after your main cheese make. You're also denaturing them highly if you're heading up to pasteurization temps, at a lower pH level. The only thing I am thinking about is the use of different milks. If you use sheep (like Roquefort) instead of cow's milk, you will end up with a very different ricotta, I should think. Same with your rennet. I use rennet paste. Aside from the pepsin and chymosin found in all animal rennets, the paste contains some lipase from the calf, which, as you probably already know, gives you a bit of animal "funk" or "piquancy." Closest I've used to strips of dried abomasa-based rennet, which are almost impossible to get a hold of in the States, from France. (I tried to work with local butchers, but they all freaked......"abomasum? What the hell is that?", lol.).
Good luck.
Speaking of traditions, a wonderful but expensive book. One of these might be mine, lol, as I did a cheese "sell-off" years ago. Ragusano, Heritage and Landscape:: The Art of Traditional Cheese-making.
That's an excellent question on the use of blue cheese for your whey. These cheeses are aggressive in proteolysis and lipolysis during aging, but that curve is out, well past your make. Can't see why that would affect something made immediately after your main cheese make. You're also denaturing them highly if you're heading up to pasteurization temps, at a lower pH level. The only thing I am thinking about is the use of different milks. If you use sheep (like Roquefort) instead of cow's milk, you will end up with a very different ricotta, I should think. Same with your rennet. I use rennet paste. Aside from the pepsin and chymosin found in all animal rennets, the paste contains some lipase from the calf, which, as you probably already know, gives you a bit of animal "funk" or "piquancy." Closest I've used to strips of dried abomasa-based rennet, which are almost impossible to get a hold of in the States, from France. (I tried to work with local butchers, but they all freaked......"abomasum? What the hell is that?", lol.).
Good luck.
brewfrog
Well-Known Member
Actually you can boil some vitamin d milk pour some vineger. the ricotta is good for lasagna.
and my mom keeps nagging me as im typing this.her cell phone breaks everyday!
and my mom keeps nagging me as im typing this.her cell phone breaks everyday!
I make tons of ricotta all the time. It starts with an attempt to make mozzerella with biological accidification...
Really, I can't make mozz and it always turns out as a ton of ricotta. Flora Danica adds an awesome buttery flavor.
Really, I can't make mozz and it always turns out as a ton of ricotta. Flora Danica adds an awesome buttery flavor.
For butter, I'm also partial to MD 89. FD's great and I also use that a lot. In fact, per the thread over on CF, I may just switch to FD for prematuration, Andrew.
brewfrog
Well-Known Member
sounds like its your mesophilic cultures made for a certain type of cheese like feta-mesophilic culture can't make colby.
My first batch of mozz also yielded a great batch of ricotta (using raw milk). The second batch of mozz (using pasteurized) only yielded ricotta.
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