Curds and whey not separating

I am making the cheese from Le Pigoen's Jacked Pork Chops, I have done it several times with no problem - this time I doubled the recipe and the curds and whey have not separated. Should I re-heat? Add more lemon? Cry? Other? Oh recipe is 1 gallon whole milk, 2 c lemon juice, 1/2 c kosher salt, 2 tsp white vinegar and I threw in some fresh thyme.

aargersi
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4 Comments

sonya
sonya August 10, 2015
When I make ricotta using the Cook's Illustrated recipe, they note that if you don't see separation, add a bit more lemon juice or vinegar and wait another 10 minutes. Crying is always an option too ;)
 
aargersi
aargersi August 8, 2015
AJ you are dead-on, my husband and Mrs W talked me down :-) and I waited, and they separated, and I checked the cheese this morning and it is glorious!!
 
AntoniaJames
AntoniaJames August 7, 2015
Not sure how things played out for you, but when making ricotta in large quantities (gallon of milk), I find that it takes quite a long time for the curds to form. I generally let it simmer for at least few minutes, and then wait about 20 minutes before I touch it. Also, I'm sure you know that stirring or even moving a spoon or spatula in the pot will break up the curds with surprising efficiency. Let us know what happened! ;o)
 
cookbookchick
cookbookchick August 8, 2015
Aha! So that's why I had such difficulty recently when I decided to make ricotta from a gallon of milk.Thanks, AJ!
 
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