Ambition, 1.0

While sorting recipes Sunday afternoon, I came across one for homemade ricotta. It was ridiculously easy: Heat a lot of milk, add some lemon juice, heat some more, skim out and drain the curds, voila!

Then, while trying to recall what I did with a particular homemade yogurt recipe, I found a different set of directions for homemade ricotta, this time using buttermilk. And I found another one in a back issue of another cooking magazine.They all promised simplicity and better-than-storebought taste. And the first recipe was linked to one for ricotta gnocchi, and what could be more inspiring than homemade gnocchi from homemade ricotta?

That first recipe said I would need to make a double-batch to have enough ricotta for the gnocchi. So I poured a gallon of whole milk and some salt into a stockpot, and set it over medium-high heat. It took forever to come to a simmer, but finally I was able to pour in the lemon juice.

Curds started to form almost immediately, and I was duly impressed. That is, until I realized that even simmering for the full two minutes wasn't going to produce quite as many curds as I expected. I skimmed them all out and drained them, and had maybe a cup of ricotta, not the 3 cups the recipe promised.

Where did I go wrong? Did I use too much milk to start with? Was the milk hot enough? Was it too hot?
I decided to jog back to the grocery store and try again, this time with a single batch. The same results -- I got only one-third of what I was supposed to.

Now, don't get me wrong. The little bit I got was pretty tasty, although somewhat more lemony than I'm used to. (Maybe the problem is my bottled lemon juice shortcut?) However, this method seems to be a colossal waste of milk for such a small yield.

That is, unless you plan to use the leftover milk in your tub...