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Cheese from Italy, Sicilia

Ricotta infornata

Ricotta is a boundary entry, set by heat and acid, not by microbes. Whey of cow, sheep or goat milk is heated to 50–55 °C with about 10 % raw whole milk, then to about 80 °C, where sour whey or water with vinegar makes the proteins flake. The drained ricotta is salted and dried about a week, then baked in a wood oven 5 to 10 times until it has a thin red-brown skin.

Fully documentedCheese28 days – 29 daysPAT (traditional agri-food product, Regione Siciliana, 24th update 2024)Family: Whey cheese (heat-precipitated whey protein) family

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceThe sheets give shares, not a batch size. Each ricotta weighs 0.5–1 kg.
Whey (lacciata) of cow, sheep or goat milk, or a mix[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Raw whole milk of the same speciesabout 10 % of the whey[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Sour whey (agra, pH 4–4.5) or water with vinegarCitric or lactic acid can do the same job[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Salt[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Ground black pepper (optional)[onaf-sheet]
Startersour whey (agra) or water with vinegar as the acid

Total time across the recorded steps: 28 days – 29 days

Start
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50–55 °C

What changes: Raw whole milk, about a tenth of the whey, goes into the whey at 50–55 °C

Step 1 of 6
Warm the whey and add milk
Time
Not documented
Temperature
50–55 °C
Reported
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

At a glance

Ricotta is a boundary entry, set by heat and acid, not by microbes. Whey of cow, sheep or goat milk is heated to 50–55 °C with about 10 % raw whole milk, then to about 80 °C, where sour whey or water with vinegar makes the proteins flake. The drained ricotta is salted and dried about a week, then baked in a wood oven 5 to 10 times until it has a thin red-brown skin. Made in 6 steps over 28 days – 29 days. The longest step, rest and sell, takes 20 days (ONAF (Organizzazione Nazionale Assaggiatori F…).

Key numbers
Main step20 daysReported[onaf-sheet]Rest and sell
Temperature50–55 °CReported[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]Warm the whey and add milk
AciditypH 4–4.5Reported[onaf-sheet]Heat, add acid and let the flakes rise

What makes this one different

The salted, dried ricotta is baked in a wood oven between 5 and 10 times, which gives it a skin. Its acid is sour whey from the farm or water with vinegar.

Size
Cylinder 12–16 cm across and 5–8 cm high, 0.5–1 kg
Rind
Thin baked skin, amber to reddish-brown, sometimes rigid and crisp; the paste inside is ivory-white to yellow-brown

Related ferments

Safety

The sheets record the controls of the process itself, which are heating the whey to 85–90 °C, salting the ricotta and drying it about a week, baking it at about 230 °C, and an optional cold room at 6–8 °C before sale.

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

The regional sheet calls it a product of the oldest farm tradition, when ricotta was put in the wood oven after the bread to cook and dry in the leftover heat.

  1. [pat-sheet] Regione Siciliana, Schede PAT Sicilia, XXIV aggiornamento (2024), «Ricotta infornata» (copy hosted by ONAF)gov
  2. [onaf-sheet] ONAF (Organizzazione Nazionale Assaggiatori Formaggi), technical sheet «Ricotta infornata»web
  3. [onaf] ONAF, cheese page «Ricotta infornata» (id 1243)web