I love making my own yogurt now.  It is so easy and takes me less then 5 minutes to prepare.  If you are interested in making your own yogurt, you can view my recipe here:  How To Make Your Own Raw  Organic Yogurt.  When I make my yogurt, I drain off the whey to make a thicker yogurt.  I use a full gallon of raw milk to make my yogurt and from that I get 2 quarts of raw yogurt and 2 quarts liquid whey. I use the whey to soak my oats and grains in, but this is a lot of whey to use up.  So I set out to find a way to use the whey I get from my raw yogurt.  Please note, you also get whey when you make my raw mozzarella cheese, and the whey from that can also be used in this recipe.  If you would like to make your own organic raw mozzarella, you can view that post here:  How To Make Your Own Raw Organic Mozzarella Cheese.  Another recipe you can get liquid whey from is my organic raw cream cheese recipe.  You can view that post here:  How to Make Organic Raw Cream Cheese.  So when you get liquid whey from these recipe don’t throw it out.  Simply put the whey in the refrigerator and then when you are ready and have enough whey, you can make your own raw organic ricotta cheese.

So lets get started.  This recipe is so simple and takes very little effort!  The first thing you want to do is collect all of your liquid whey.  Here is what mine looks like from my raw yogurt.

Now place 2 quarts (8 cups) of liquid whey in a sauce pan and heat slowly stirring often.

Heat the liquid whey to 203ºF.  Once the whey reaches this temperature, take off the burner and stir in 2 tbsp of white vinegar.  Stir for 2 minutes.  Allow the whey to sit until it cools a little, about 30-45 minutes.  Notice that the ricotta is starting to form.  This will form more as it sits.

Drain the liquid whey off by straining it in a tea cloth, jelly strainer (as show in the picture) or cheese cloth.  This will take 2-3 hours for the whey to drain out of the ricotta.

Once you strain it you will have the most amazing fresh ricotta that you have ever tasted!  Add a pinch of unrefined sea salt and chill.

Chill and spread on toast, or you can use it in one of my many recipes that I use ricotta in pictured below.  Enjoy!

Last picture courtesy http://foodbabbles.com