Ricotta recipe
Is it worth the trouble?
Whey is an easy-to-use, cheap, healthy raw material, it has an immune-strengthening, anti-cancer effect, anti-atherosclerosis, blood clot (thrombus) inhibitor. Whey preserves minerals and B vitamins wasted during cheesemaking in dissolved form. Its carbohydrate content is low, the carbohydrate content of milk is completely lost during the creation of whey. Whey protein exceeds the biological value of egg white.
What can be made of it?
Very valuable ricotta, which is very healthy and delicious. Protein- and mineral-rich preparations containing little lactose and milk fat compared to whole milk, which are easily digestable!
How is that?
Milk proteins are divided into two groups:
Albumin-type milks: e.g. breast milk, donkey's milk, mare's milk. They contain only simple proteins, amino acids.
Casein type milks: e.g. cow's milk, goat's milk, sheep's milk, buffalo milk, etc.... They (also) contain complex proteins. The albumins in milk remain in the whey during cheese making because rennet does not subtracts them. When the whey is heated to a temperature close to boiling, albumin precipitates under the influence of the added citric acid and collects on the surface in flaky form. We can remove it with the help of a filter. If we drip this further, we get RICOTTA. Its texture is creamier, softer than cottage cheese made from milk. Due to the remaining milk sugar in it, it is perishable, mixed with salt can make it more durable, store it refrigerated. You can also make a sweet dessert from it, or you can make delicious savory creams from it.
After making cheese, whey is remaining which should be used freshly the same day. I start heating 10 litres of fresh, sweet whey to 88-92 °C.I sprinkle in 9-10 g of citric acid and mix gently. I turn off the stove and let the whey rest for another 10 minutes or so to allow the acid to work. Flaky flocculation begins. It is good if I can collect the proteins on top together with a spoon, and below it you can see a greenish translucent liquid. With the help of a flatter filter, I carefully collect the nicely assembled protein flakes from the top. In this case, it is still very soft. If I drip this further, I'll get ricotta out of it. If I squeeze the ricotta, salt it, it can be turned into ricotta cheese.
Other whey preparations:
The pure whey left over after ricotta preparation is the raw material of the KISZELl or KVAS drink. BROCCIU is produced in Corsica, which is also a dairy product similar to ricotta. The sour whey is heated to 30-35 °C, salt is mixed in, then 30% fresh milk is added and heated to 85-90 °C. Strain and drain. Salt, spices are mixed with it. We form small dumplings out of it. Shelf life in the refrigerator for two weeks.
So don't throw out the whey. Let's use it and consume it healthily!
Good to know:
It doesn't work exactly the way we think. If too much citric acid is added, the whey protein will completely crumble, disintegrating quite finely. It cannot be removed because any filter with small holes will flow through.
First, add less acid, and if it doesn't precipitate, add a little more.
It's a very spectacular process, you can see immediately if you worked well.
