Homemade Ricotta & Farmers Cheese
Ingredients
Instructions
  1. Pour the milk, cream and salt into a 3-quart nonreactive saucepan. Attach a candy or deep-fry thermometer. Heat the milk to 185-190°F, stirring it occasionally to keep it from scorching on the bottom.
  2. Remove from heat and add the citric acid, then stir it once or twice, gently and slowly. Let the pot sit undisturbed for 10 minutes.
  3. Line a colander with a clean tea towel and place it over a large bowl (to catch the whey). Pour the curds and whey into the colander and let the curds strain for at least an hour. At an hour, you’ll have a tender, spreadable ricotta. At two hours, it will be spreadable but a bit firmer, almost like cream cheese. (It will firm as it cools, so do not judge its final texture by what you have in your towel.)
  4. Reserve whey for another use. Mix the salt into the ricotta and eat right away, or transfer it to an airtight container and refrigerate until ready to use.
Farmers Cheese:
  1. After emptying the whey from the catch bowl, cover the ricotta with a piece of plastic wrap (to prevent drying out) and place a weight** on top to press out more of the moisture. Put in the refrigerator overnight. Enjoy a creamy spreadable homemade cheese. Great with preserves or a drizzle of honey, either on toast or alone!
Recipe Notes

*or use 3T lemon juice

**I use a zipper baggie filled with some of the whey