My favorite ricotta, which my local store has only sometimes, list these
as ingredients:

Fresh Pasteurized Whole Milk, Vinegar, Salt

and says it's "hand-dipped."

Another brand I tried lists rennet and starter as ingredients - tastes
much creamier but not in a good way to me.

I'd appreciate comments on the differences, history, and whatever else
you can tell me.

On Dec 14, 11:50*am, "Steve Freides" > wrote:
> My favorite ricotta, which my local store has only sometimes, list these
> as ingredients:
>
> Fresh Pasteurized Whole Milk, Vinegar, Salt
>
> and says it's "hand-dipped."
>
> Another brand I tried lists rennet and starter as ingredients - tastes
> much creamier but not in a good way to me.
>
> I'd appreciate comments on the differences, history, and whatever else
> you can tell me.

You can make your own ricotta easily and quickly....you should try it
for yourself.

Here's a good easy recipe with methodology.

http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2...ab-recipe.html

ImStillMags > wrote in
:

> On Dec 14, 11:50*am, "Steve Freides" > wrote:
>> My favorite ricotta, which my local store has only sometimes, list
>> these as ingredients:
>>
>> Fresh Pasteurized Whole Milk, Vinegar, Salt
>>
>> and says it's "hand-dipped."
>>
>> Another brand I tried lists rennet and starter as ingredients -
>> tastes much creamier but not in a good way to me.
>>
>> I'd appreciate comments on the differences, history, and whatever
>> else you can tell me.
>
> You can make your own ricotta easily and quickly....you should try it
> for yourself.
>
> Here's a good easy recipe with methodology.
>
> http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2...esh-ricotta-fa
> st-easy-homemade-cheese-the-food-lab-recipe.html
>


And here's a ricotta recipe I (and quite a few of my friends) have
made......

http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2011/...emade-ricotta/


The longer you leave it hanging, the 'harder' more crumblier it is. A
little less time gives you an oooooooooooooh so lovely, creamy ricotta,
perfect for spreading.

So simple and soooooo easy.




--
Peter
Brisbane
Australia

To be a warrior is not a simple matter of wishing to be one.
It is rather and endless struggle
that will go on to the very last moment of our lives.
Nobody is born a warrior,in exactly the same way that
nobody is born an average man.
We have to make ourselves into one or the other.
A warrior must only take care that his spirit is not broken.

ImStillMags wrote:
> On Dec 14, 11:50 am, "Steve Freides" > wrote:
>> My favorite ricotta, which my local store has only sometimes, list
>> these as ingredients:
>>
>> Fresh Pasteurized Whole Milk, Vinegar, Salt
>>
>> and says it's "hand-dipped."
>>
>> Another brand I tried lists rennet and starter as ingredients -
>> tastes much creamier but not in a good way to me.
>>
>> I'd appreciate comments on the differences, history, and whatever
>> else you can tell me.
>
> You can make your own ricotta easily and quickly....you should try it
> for yourself.
>
> Here's a good easy recipe with methodology.
>
> http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2...ab-recipe.html

Thank you and thanks to "I'm back" as well for replying. I do intend to
try this on my own. I roast my own coffee and make my own nut butter,
why not make my own ricotta cheese, too? As I always say when asked, I
prefer doing this sort of thing to watching TV and it's better for me
and better for my family.

Both the recipes you link to use acid - one vinegar, the other lemon
juice. I'm trying to understand what and how ricotta made using rennet
is - how is it different, is there any tradition associated with this
style of ricotta, etc. This is all just for my own edification, really.
As I said, the rennet-using ricotta I've had - it's Lionni, a local
maker - tastes almost dessert-like, much too creamy and sweet for my
taste. But they claim to be "traditional", too, so I'm just trying to
understand the various ricotta traditions.

I will be trying the vinegar-based recipe first, I think, since the one
I've been buying uses vinegar and I really like it - it's very plain,
tastes great to me by the spoonful from the container, and my favorite
use is with dry-roasted whole almond and maple syrup added to produce
something that reminds of desserts I've had in Greece, almost like a
sweet yogurt with nuts.

Thanks again, and more inforrmation would be most welcome if anyone has.

-S-

ImStillMags wrote:
> You can make your own ricotta easily and quickly....you should try it
> for yourself.
>
> Here's a good easy recipe with methodology.
>
> http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2...ab-recipe.html

A further note about this recipe - if you read the comments at the
bottom, including some by the author, it says that this is technically
paneer and not ricotta. That's interesting, and maybe paneer (or this
kind of ricotta or whatever you'd like to call it) is actually what I
prefer.

-S-

On Sat, 15 Dec 2012 12:31:35 -0500, "Steve Freides" >
wrote:

> ImStillMags wrote:
> > You can make your own ricotta easily and quickly....you should try it
> > for yourself.
> >
> > Here's a good easy recipe with methodology.
> >
> > http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2...ab-recipe.html
>
> A further note about this recipe - if you read the comments at the
> bottom, including some by the author, it says that this is technically
> paneer and not ricotta. That's interesting, and maybe paneer (or this
> kind of ricotta or whatever you'd like to call it) is actually what I
> prefer.
>
I've never bought paneer. So, you're saying that I could make my
lasagna with paneer and be happy with it? Hey, if grocery store
paneer is less expensive than grocery store ricotta - I'm all over it.

--
Food is an important part of a balanced diet.

sf wrote:
> On Sat, 15 Dec 2012 12:31:35 -0500, "Steve Freides" >
> wrote:
>
>> ImStillMags wrote:
>>> You can make your own ricotta easily and quickly....you should try
>>> it for yourself.
>>>
>>> Here's a good easy recipe with methodology.
>>>
>>> http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2...ab-recipe.html
>>
>> A further note about this recipe - if you read the comments at the
>> bottom, including some by the author, it says that this is
>> technically paneer and not ricotta. That's interesting, and maybe
>> paneer (or this kind of ricotta or whatever you'd like to call it)
>> is actually what I prefer.
>>
> I've never bought paneer. So, you're saying that I could make my
> lasagna with paneer and be happy with it? Hey, if grocery store
> paneer is less expensive than grocery store ricotta - I'm all over it.

I read up on this a while back - the thread here should be available as
well. Once you separate milk, the cheese you make from the curds in
paneer and the cheese you make from the whey is ricotta - except that
we're now learning that what a lot of people, including me, have come to
know and like as ricotta is actually paneer.

And as the zucchini thread proves, you can do some pretty unexpected
substitutions and still be happy with the results.

-S-

On 12/15/2012 12:31 PM, Steve Freides wrote:
> ImStillMags wrote:
>> You can make your own ricotta easily and quickly....you should try it
>> for yourself.
>>
>> Here's a good easy recipe with methodology.
>>
>> http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2...ab-recipe.html
>
> A further note about this recipe - if you read the comments at the
> bottom, including some by the author, it says that this is technically
> paneer and not ricotta. That's interesting, and maybe paneer (or this
> kind of ricotta or whatever you'd like to call it) is actually what I
> prefer.
>
>
I like grilled paneer. It doesn't melt.