Sometimes I just have a lot of milk to use up, sometimes I want some fresh cheese to spread on toast or to fill ravioli or lasagna.  I always have milk, vinegar, and salt on hand, so making this cheese is simple, delicious, and convenient!


Over low heat (about 20%) I slowly bring the milk up to about 170 degrees, stirring occasionally.  I have used regular whole milk in the past, but this time I used organic fat-free milk.


I then add 1 Tbsp vinegar per 2 Cups of milk to the pot and stir until it coagulates.  I then pour this into a measuring cup and allow the curds to separate from the whey for a little while.  Then I pour off some of the whey and then it's time to further strain out the whey through a sieve.

 
I've used cheesecloth or sarashi to strain and ball cheese, but I found that doing small batches in my fine sieve works just fine too, less messy.  I stir/scrape the curds and whey a little bit to let the whey fall through, and when it's the right consistency (dry for a sliceable cheese, more wet for a ricotta), I just transfer the scoops into a container.  I mix in salt to taste, and the cheese is good to go for pasta dishes.  For a firm sliceable cheese I press out more whey, then knead/stir the cheese a little bit to get it to ball up. Then I store it in a tight fitting container in the fridge for days or even weeks if it lasts that long.  In between the sliceable and ricotta is a beautiful cream cheese that I have used in my cheesecake recipes.  A super hard crumbly cheese can be achieved by bringing the temp up to about 180 during the coagulation process, then getting the curds as dry as possible when pressing out the whey.  Great on salads and to garnish pasta dishes.

 
I love to see simple milk transform into these beautiful cheeses.  Sweet, fresh, pure, delicious!
Here is my old FoxBox post from 2008 on making this cheese.