There are only 4 ingredients.
1 gallon of fresh whole milk
4 cups of cultured buttermilk
1 tbsp of kosher salt
Juice from 1/2 medium size lemon
You need a sturdy non reactive pot large enough for 2 gallons and some cheesecloth. Also nice to have are plastic cheese molds from any cheesemaking supply store. This is not absolutely necessary, but it makes the process easier and faster. A good sized slotted spoon . Mine is stainless steel about 4" in diameter. The spoon makes putting the curds in the baskets really easy. And while you are getting the hang of this an instant read thermometer will take away some of the guess work.
Pour the cold milk, cold buttermilk and add the salt to the pot. Stir to make sure everything is mixed up. Turn the heat to medium high. You want this mixture to heat up evenly and relatively quickly, but not scorch the milk. Stir occasionally to assure everything is coming to temperature evenly.
When the temperature reaches 110 F add the lemon juice and stir gently to mix evenly. Do not stir again, stirring breaks the curds and dramatically changes the texture. Contnue to heat until you see a break of curds and whey. A sort of greenish thin liquid is the whey. This usually happens at about 175F and you should remove from the heat.
If you heat above this the milk scorches and the texture gets grainy and dry, if you are much below this the yield is less, still tastes good, but you want to maximize the yield.
Let the mixture cool a little and rest. Use the slotted spoon to place the curds into a cheese cloth lined strainer of some sort and let drain for 30 minutes or so. I like to put the cheese in the refrigerator, uncovered for a few hours, it allows it to come together. Then store it wrapped in plastic.
Once you have done this a couple of times the process is quick and easy. Experiment with herbs and spices. You never knew Ricotta could taste so good.
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