Ricotta Science

What happens when you make ricotta cheese? 

Cow’s milk is made up of water and milk solids. These solids are proteins, minerals, lactose (milk sugar), butterfat ( milk fat), vitamins and trace elements.

“When we make cheese, we cause the protein part of the milk solids, called casein, to coagulate (curdle) and produce curd. At first the curd is a soft, solid gel, because it still contains all the water along with the solids. But as it is heated, and as time passes, the curd releases liquid (whey), condensing more and more until it becomes cheese. Most of the butterfat remains in the curd and very little passes into the whey. Time, temperature, and a variety of friendly bacteria determine the flavor and texture of each type of cheese.”  Ricki Carroll. Home Cheese Making, Storey Publishing, 2002, pg.10.

Our daughter, Mary, is a science teacher. She shared this fun link to Periodic Graphics - The science of making cheese. https://cen.acs.org/food/food-science/Periodic-Graphics-science-making-cheese/100/i19