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General Discussion => Share Your Badassity => Topic started by: MishMash on January 28, 2015, 02:45:51 PM

Title: Made buttermilk, cheese, butter, ricotta, and ravioli for 6 dollars!
Post by: MishMash on January 28, 2015, 02:45:51 PM
Store by me recently had a sale on non homogenized milk and cream so I looked up some how to's and decided to take the homemade dairy plunge...and it WORKED!  I was able to get about a lb of fresh mozzarella, a quart of ricotta, a lb of butter, and 3/4's of a lb of buttermilk out of it.  I already had rennet and citric acid, but those are fairy cheap, I think I paid 5 dollars for the both, and they make about 50lbs of cheese.   This was out of a gallon of whole milk and a little over a quart of cream.  I make my own pasta with eggs from the neighbor and was able to turn the ricotta and mozz into homemade fresh ravioli. 

Walked into an italian store near me this weekend and fresh mozzarella is 10/lb, their homemade ricotta was 8 a quart, and their raviolis were 10-13 a dozen based on flavor, I got 6 dozen and still had cheese left over...never buying those things again! 
Title: Re: Made buttermilk, cheese, butter, ricotta, and ravioli for 6 dollars!
Post by: dividendman on January 28, 2015, 07:38:48 PM
Amazing, sounds delicious! Now I want ravioli stuffed with ricotta :(
Title: Re: Made buttermilk, cheese, butter, ricotta, and ravioli for 6 dollars!
Post by: MicroRN on January 28, 2015, 09:05:12 PM
Awesome!  I want to try my hand at cheesemaking.
Title: Re: Made buttermilk, cheese, butter, ricotta, and ravioli for 6 dollars!
Post by: deborah on January 28, 2015, 09:26:17 PM
At first I read that you had made 50lbs of cheese, but now that I re-read the post, the rennet and the citric acid would make 50lbs of cheese, and what you actually made was 1 quart of ricotta and almost 3 lbs of other stuff. I thought you would have enough dairy product for the rest of your lives (I also thought it was like the bread and fishes - getting 50lbs of cheese from a gallon of milk)!

This is awesome!
Title: Re: Made buttermilk, cheese, butter, ricotta, and ravioli for 6 dollars!
Post by: Adventine on January 28, 2015, 11:30:58 PM
At first I read that you had made 50lbs of cheese, but now that I re-read the post, the rennet and the citric acid would make 50lbs of cheese, and what you actually made was 1 quart of ricotta and almost 3 lbs of other stuff. I thought you would have enough dairy product for the rest of your lives (I also thought it was like the bread and fishes - getting 50lbs of cheese from a gallon of milk)!

This is awesome!

I read it the same way the first time! I've tried making my own ricotta too. It's really simple but it feels like a great accomplishment. Good on you, OP!
Title: Re: Made buttermilk, cheese, butter, ricotta, and ravioli for 6 dollars!
Post by: MishMash on January 29, 2015, 06:08:12 AM
For me I was amazed at how simple it was to make butter, it was literally like 2 minutes in the blender and another in the sink and it was done, now I just need to find a decent source for local grass fed dairy.  Never going back to store bought again I think.  The ricotta tastes sooooooo much better then store bought creamy, not dry like the stuff in a tub.  And all that takes is to heat the milk up to almost boiling, throw in a quarter cup of white vinegar and let it sit for 20 minutes, skim the ricotta off the top and let it drain in a cheesecloth (I used a clean old tshirt).
Title: Re: Made buttermilk, cheese, butter, ricotta, and ravioli for 6 dollars!
Post by: jaye_p on January 29, 2015, 02:02:33 PM
Nice job!  You've inspired me - it's been a while since I've made my own cheese, but I think I'll start up again this weekend (after stocking up on milk)!  My son has been asking for homemade lasagna...