alexrapp: Leicester cheese and some accidental ricotta

With life being what it is, I haven't had too much opportunity to make much cheese of late. But given the few days of leave that I have had (though not how they were originally supposed to go) I decided to get my cheese back on. So today was two cheeses, a Leicester and some whey ricotta.

Leicester - from a 1475 redacted recipe (Platina) [http://www.godecookery.com/friends/frec21.htm] which I've trimmed down to do in my 6Lt pot.

6Lt unhomogenised milk
1.5 tablet of rennet
1/3 mesophillic starter
3ml of calcium chloride
1/4 cup of spring water

Muslin
Large pot
Colander
Cheese mold and press
Thermometer
Slotted spoon
cheese mat

Slowly heat the milk to 35oC
Add calcium chloride & stir
Add starter & stir
Cover and keep at 35oC for 1.5 hours
Dilute the rennet in the springwater
Add rennet and slowly stir top to bottom for 1 minute
Cover and keep at 35oC for 2.5 hours
Once curd is set, cut into 1 inch cubes
Gently stir and slowly (over 1/2 an hour) heat to 42oC
Cover and keep at 42oC for 1 hour
Strain into muslin lined colander
Gather corners of the muslin and place into mold
Press at 8kg for1.5 hours
Remove, undress, redress and return to press
Press at 16kg for 2.5 hours
Remove, undress, redress and return to press
Press at 23kg for 18 hours
Remove from press and place on a cheese mat
Flip daily for 3 days
Wax and age for 2-3 months at 12-16oC turning weekly

The recipe worked quite nicely. Nothing turned into an issue for me. Proof will be in 2-3 months :)

Update:

Here is it all waxed (10/10/2014). My own 'recipe' for the wax. Mostly beeswax with a crayon tossed in to give it the colour and some additional stability. And the waiting begins...

Whey Ricotta

Now, I was clever for a change when doing my straining of the Leicester and I managed to (finally) reserve all the whey. So I also made some ricotta. Not an awful lot partly as I didn't add any other milk to increase the yield, will do that another time to see the difference. But a little bit that will be ready to try in the morning.

Worlds simplest recipe (from Ricki Carroll).

Take whey (about 4Lt) from a hard cheese process.
1/3 cup of apple cider vinegar.

Large pot
Muslin
Colander

Heat whey to 90oC
Turn off heat and add vinegar whilst stirring.
Skim the white 'fluff' into a muslin lined colander
Once its finished, hang muslin for a few hours to drain
Put into a container for consumption!