Instant Pot Ricotta and Farmer’s Cheese

Instant Pot Ricotta and Farmer’s Cheese

00:00 Introduction
01:01 Ricotta vs Farmer's Cheese
01:45 Why ricotta is hard to buy?
02:41 Why farmer's cheese is hard to buy?
03:14 Equipment and Ingredients
05:23 Step 1: Fermenting the milk
06:16 Step 2: Heating the milk to curdle it
06:55 Step 3: Straining out the whey
08:19 Step 4: Pressing the cheese to remove moisture (optional)

Notes: After further testing of this recipe, I found that skipping the cheese cloth during straining only works for kefir with the fat content of 0 or 1%. If yours has a higher fat content or if you want to use a different curdling product like buttermilk or yogurt, use a cheese cloth during straining.

1/2 gallon (2 L) 4% milk
2 cups (1/2 L) well shaken plain kefir (0 or 1%)

Stir the milk and kefir together in the instant pot. Cover and set to the “Yogurt” “Less” setting for 9 hours. It’s fine if you can’t get to the next step right away. The fermented milk can wait for hours.

Preheat the oven to 350F (180C). Cover the instant pot insert with foil and place in the oven for 50-80min or until it reaches 160-180F (70-82C). 160F will produce a very smooth texture. 180F will produce a slightly grainier texture more typical of farmer's cheese, but still pleasant. If you don’t have a thermometer, that’s fine. You should see some whey separating from the white solids. It's normal for the mixture to NOT look particularly curdled. It's also normal for the sides of the instant pot to have some browning (it won't get into your cheese and is easy to wash off). It’s ok for tiny bubbles to rise to the top, but you don’t want the mixture to boil. If you want, you can cool this mixture before straining, but that’s not necessary.

Strain through a fine mesh sieve, and let drain for 3 hours. Chill overnight. It will keep in the fridge for a week (probably even longer, but I haven't tried).

If you plan to use it in a recipe that requires a drier texture, lay a piece of foil on the counter, followed by 3 pieces of paper towels (more if your paper towels are thin), a layer of cheese, 3 paper towels, foil, and your heaviest pot. Let sit for 5 minutes if the cheese was just made or 20 minutes if the cheese was made earlier and refrigerated.

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