First try Ricotta cheese

I've been making 2 lb wheels of cheddar for the last three weeks.  For those who do not know, you get almost as much whey after curding your cheese.as you had milk to begin with! The first two weeks I took this whey out and fed it to the pigs. Today I made "fast" ricotta from my left over whey ! This is double cool I already made a wheel of cheddar... now i'm making more cheese with whats left over!  Following David Ashers book I carefully brought the whey to a rolling boil (it foams fast) add 1/2 cup lemon juice, return to boil, then let cool.  The whey now looks clear and sort of green and the ricotta curds are floating on top! Spoon into cheese cloth and let drain ! Ricotta... I hear tell, they make cheese cake from this stuff!  Easy easy to do and the  piggys still get the left over whey !

Next week I will try "slow ricotta" with the left over whey!  Instead of boiling the whey the same day I leave it to ferment at room temp for 24 hrs. Then I bring it to a boil, no vinegar or lemon juice needed, just boil and let cool for 5 minutes and the ricotta will be floating there waiting ! For those who are lactose intolerant this method removes the lactose.  Next I think i'll try to make some mozzarella .Hmm , my piggys leave to visit the butcher tomorrow.  I'm thinking some really good lasagna is in the near future!