How to Make Ricotta Sous Vide | The Tool Shed

How to Make Ricotta Sous Vide

Ricotta is a light, fresh Italian curd cheese with a delicate, creamy flavour that makes it perfect for use in both savoury and sweet dishes. It marries well with salty cured hams, fresh figs and honey. From classic spinach and ricotta ravioli, ricotta salads, to desserts such as cannoli and Neapolitan pastiera, ricotta is the key ingredient.

Traditionally made from leftover whey, Ricotta is a by-product of making other Italian cheeses, such as Pecorino. Substitute the leftover whey with milk and you can make it easily at home with just two ingredients, milk and acid. If you wish you can also add your own flavourings, like salt or herbs. First heat the milk, then add the vinegar and cook the mixture until the curds separate. All that’s left to do is collect the curds and strain them through a muslin cloth.

Making fresh ricotta in a water bath is uncomplicated and mess-free and will produce reliable and consistent results. Rather than a vacuum sealer this method requires a food-grade zip lock bag. Called the Archimedes principle, the bag is submerged in the water bath until the pressure from the water expels all the air and then the bag is sealed. The ricotta is best eaten on the day you make it, but will keep for up to a week if refrigerated.

How to make ricotta sous vide

Yields 325g

1 and 1⁄2 tbsp. salt
125 ml white wine vinegar (or distilled malt vinegar)
2 litres of whole ewe’s milk (cow’s or goat’s will also work)

Method

Make sure the water bath is filled with clean, cold water. Set the temperature to 78°C.
Carefully pour the milk into a food-grade zip lock bag and then add in the salt.

When the bath has reached temperature carefully lower the zip lock bag into the water bath. Make sure no water gets into the bag and that no milk leaks out. The air inside the bag will be expelled by the pressure of the water, the Archimedes principle. Seal the bag when all the air is expelled.
Ensure the milk is left in the water bath for 30 minutes before you open the bag and add the vinegar.
Reseal the bag, using the Archimedes principle, and cook for another 15 minutes.

Take a sieve and line it with a few layers of muslin cloth. Place it over a large bowl.
Gather the curds that have formed in the zip lock bag, using a slotted spoon, and transfer them to the sieve.

Strain the curds in the cloth lined sieve cloth for a hour. Tie up the muslin and squeeze the rest of the liquid through. Put to one side for another 30 minutes to 1 hour.
Once fully drained, take the cheese out of the muslin, transfer to a bowl and serve.

Post by Chris Holland

Our Chef Director Chris Holland worked as Head Chef at the prestigious Alderley Edge hotel before joining us. He has a passion for using the best produce and never compromises on quality. Author of our best selling book Sous Vide The Art of Precision Cooking, Chris is a expert on the sous vide technique.During the later part of my school days at Wardle High School Rochdale I always wanted to be a chef . I knew from the very start that my path to work was never going to be academic it was always going to be something practical and hands on.

As a young boy growing up I was inspired to cook with my Grandma who was and still is an inspiration to me . I have memories of helping make the cakes that she always had made for visitors and family alike . She made the most amazing cakes and I loved nothing more than eating the sweet raw cake batter straight from the bowl . We used to fight over who got to lick the bowl/spoon after the cakes were made. My grandma’s philosophy for cooking even on a shoe string budget was always to use fresh and seasonal ingredients either home grown or bought from the market.

School was somewhat of a drag for me as I was itching to learn to become a chef.

I started at Hopwood Hall college as a chef and instantly fell in love with it .To me it was the only real time I excelled in something and this inspired me to really get my head down and put in the hard work. College was the first time I really excelled in something and gave me the opportunity to laugh at the teachers who said I would never make something of my life!!!!

During the three years at college I also took on a part time position in a local hotel working the bar and restaurant first and then the kitchen. These were great days and gave me the opportunity to see how the industry ticks. I learnt a lot from those days both good and bad !! But I have to say I was itching to work only in the kitchen but it was a good insight into the catering world .

After completing college I moved away from Rochdale for a full time roll at one of Cheshire’s most talked about Hotel restaurants The Stanneylands Hotel. This was the school of hard knocks for me as I quickly realised that although excelling at college meant nothing in “The Real World”.

I loved every minute of the 18 hour days 6 days a week on minimum wage . Although difficult I feel that without this grounding I wouldn’t have achieved what I have today. After 18 months of hard graft I left Stanneylands and went with the Head chef to open a fine dining restaurant at Mere Golf and Country Club. The opportunity to work alongside Matthew Barrett was too good to turn down. I learnt so much from the ex-Ritz chef and working in a much slower paced role helped me develop a much better understanding of how to organise and run a kitchen. We were a very small team and teamwork was and still is the only way to go for me.

After 2 years at Mere I got the opportunity to go into The Alderley Edge Hotel as Junior Souschef. The Early days at the Edge were all about learning new styles of cuising which is invaluable in any role as a chef. I got the opportunity to grow and learn all aspects of every section which was inspiring . I was offered the opportunity at the age of 29 (2004) to take the role of head chef. For me this was when I really started to develop my own style of food.

After 9 years at the top winning Cheshire restaurant of the year , Chef of the Year and appearing on GBM amongst many highlights including cooking for many celebrities and famous people I decided to move on into development with Sousvidetools.

The main inspiration for this was to train and educate people . I always had a great passion for education but could never really see myself at a college . The job is super rewarding and I am proud to say we have become the leading light in sous-vide education in the UK . This is something I am very proud of . Food is my biggest passion and this is what keeps me interested the most . I love to travel and try out other countries cuisines. I am constantly inspired by ingredients and the pursuit of getting the best out of them without destroying their natural flavour .It is super important to me to continue to try and be at the forefront of the food scene this is what inspire me and the team to keep driving forward .

Technology is now widely used in the industry and I am super proud to say we have been a big part of spreading that message.

I am very lucky to be in the position I am and the drive to constantly improve our training and links to the next generation of young budding hospitality chefs.

TI feel that my experience over the last 25 years really enables me to get close and educate the “next generation” of chefs .

The industry which I love is really struggling to bring through new recruits and if I can help that process I will be immensely proud.

The food seen in the Uk has improved dramatically over the last ten years and I feel this will continue with the correct education. What happens next only fate will tell us...

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