3-Step Homemade Fresh Ricotta -- with Leftover Whey from Mozzarella!

A couple weeks ago, I tried my luck in cheese making for the first time. The end product of 1 lb fresh Mozzarella  (and the fun of making it) was super encouraging. So I went ahead and tried making another soft cheese, Ricotta. Similar to Mozzarella, both of them can be either enjoyed fresh as a snack when paired with something as simple as crackers, or they can be used in a whole range of dishes: pizza, lasagna, pasta, salad, you name it. The beauty of making ricotta is that: you can use leftover whey! it doesn't cost anything extra other than a piece of cheesecloth and some heating up on the stove top! Speaking of frugality and sustainability, what could be better than making cheese out of a cheese by product? I have gotta try it!

I found the process itself surprisingly simple -- heat, cool, drain.
First, you heat up the leftover whey in a huge pot while stirring. I had just made 2 lbs of mozzarella, and had almost 2 gallons of whey leftover.

When the temperature reaches 200 degrees, turn off the stove and let it cool.

Wait for it to cool down to below 140 degrees. Take a piece of cheesecloth, put it over a colander, and strain the whey.

You can tie the corners of the cheesecloth and hang it on a door knob.

After a couple hours, you will have a whole bowl of fresh ricotta!

3-Step Homemade Fresh Ricotta from Leftover Whey

• leftover whey from making Mozzarella

1. Heat up the leftover Mozzarella to 200 degrees while stirring. 
2. Turn off the heat at 200 degrees, and let the whey cool down undisturbed.
3. Once the temperature drops below 140 degrees, drain the whey using a piece of cheesecloth, until the cheese reaches the desired consistency.

Tips:

• The longer the draining time, the thicker the cheese. If you find it too thick, adding whey will increase the moist content.
• Keep the leftover whey still! They can be used instead of water in hot cereal, baking, and making gjetost (a Norwegian cheese)!

Nutrition

This is a bit hard to estimate. The  moist content (thus the density) depend on the draining time. The texture I got with two hours of draining was a bit thicker than the store bought ones, and is about 450 calories/ cup. 

Cost

Is it fair to say $0? Well, at least for the ingredient cost. With 2 gallons of leftover whey, we ended up with about 3/4 lb of ricotta(and that was after over 2 lbs of fresh mozzarella)! 

Is it worth making? Of course! I would trade in $7.4 worth of milk for 2 lbs fresh mozzarella + 3/4 lb fresh ricotta + tons of fun on any day!