Wednesday, September 3, 2014

Ricotta in the Instant Pot

I recently purchased an Instant Pot electric pressure cooker and I have been using it for everything. One thing I wanted to try and make was ricotta cheese. I have been making ricotta cheese from whole milk using the recipe from Ricki Carroll's Home Cheese Making book for the last year and love it. We use it for lots of things such as lasagna and calzones to Naleśniki.

When I was reading about the yogurt making features on my new Instant Pot, I realized that the temperatures needed for ricotta matched the boil function in the yogurt maker. I searched around online and found no one else doing it so I decided to wing it and see what happened.
Ricotta
1 gallon whole raw milk
1 tsp citric acid*
1 tsp sea salt

Put all the ingredients into the Instant Pot.
Engage cover.
Select Yogurt, then push the Adjust button. It will read boil.


Allow the Instant Pot to do its thing. It will beep.
Turn it off (so that you can reset it).
Open the top and stir it. If the curds aren't forming well, you can add a little more citric acid. If you add to much though, you will taste it.
Select Yogurt, then push the Adjust button so that it reads boil.
Allow the Instant Pot to do its thing. It will beep.
Now that it has gone through the cycle twice, turn the pot off and allow it to cool naturally. It should be undisturbed for at least 10 minutes.
After it has cooled a bit, strain the ricotta.


You can do whatever you want with the whey. I have been using mine to cook beans in the Instant Pot but I have also fed it to the pigs when I have no plans of making beans or bread.

Once the ricotta is the desired dryness, eat it or store in the refrigerator for up to a week.


For great step by step instructions for the stove top version, head over to The Prairie Homestead. *She also lists the other options if you would prefer not to use citric acid. I have no personally tried it with vinegar or lemon juice but I plan on trying it with apple cider vinegar some time in the near future. The apple cider vinegar is supposed to enhance the natural sweetness and hopefully will make the Naleśniki even better.

This article was shared on Tilly's Nest, HomeAcre Hop, The Chicken Chick. On The Farm,
*This post contains affiliated links.

6 comments:

  1. Thank you!!!! You seem to be the only cheese recipe out there for the instant pot. KUDOS!!! Going to make it right now. Thanks again for posting this

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  2. I have a couple of questions:
    1) The yogurt function on the Instant Pot runs for 8 hours. Are you saying put this on boil x2, so that the milk boils for 16 hours in all?
    2) When you say "engage cover," do you mean the pressure cooker cover (I also have a glass cover for my IP)? If you use the pressure cooker cover, do you set it to venting or sealing?

    Thanks in advance for your help.

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    Replies
    1. Hi Leslie.

      Thanks for stopping by. When using the yogurt function, there are two options Boil and yogurt. The boil function raises the temperature of the milk to approx. 180 degrees. That setting does not run for 8 hours. Mine usually takes about 20-30 minutes depending on how cold your milk is.
      To use the boil feature of the yogurt setting, push the Yogurt button, then push the Adjust button. It will change it to the boil setting.

      When I engage the cover, I mean close the lid. set the valve to sealing so no steam escapes.

      Does that make sense?
      Elizabeth

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  3. Oh, and another question: I am not sure I can find raw milk around here. Would it be okay to use regular (pasteurized) whole milk? Thanks again.

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    Replies
    1. You can use pasteurized milk but you cannot use ultra pasteurized. I have never used pasteurized milk, however when I use the boil feature, I am raising the milk's temperature to a pasteurized level.

      According to Culture's for Health (I bought a yogurt culture from here and love it!):
      Pasteurized Milk is heated to 161°F for 15 to 20 seconds, then immediately cooled to 39°F for storage and transportation. Pasteurized milk generally produces good results when cultured.

      Ultra-pasteurized Milk (UP) or ultra-high temperature treatment (UHT), is heated to 275°F or higher for about one second. UHT milk is actually cooked, and is therefore unsuitable for culturing.
      http://www.culturesforhealth.com/choosing-milk-for-making-yogurt

      Let me know if this helps.
      Elizabeth

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    2. This is very helpful, Elizabeth. Thank you! Isn't ultra-pasteurized milk the stuff they sell in aseptic boxes that doesn't need to be refrigerated? In fact, I am looking at my list for the milkman (yes, I have a milkman!) and he has organic milk so I might buy some of that to try for my ricotta.

      I'll report back...thanks for the info!

      Leslie

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