Ricotta Cheese Question

[kari1980]

I've been reading a lot of posts about different things to use Ricotta Cheese for, and they all sounded so good, so I went to the store today to get some, and I was looking over the ingredients and one of the ingredients was "vinegar?"..Am I crazy? So how is it ok for us then? I never knew vinegar was in Ricotta Cheese. Is there a special one to buy?
thanks,
Kari

[Berkshire Road]

I don't know; how far down on the list of ingredients was it? Maybe the amount is so small that it's inconsequential. I know I don't tolerate vinegar well, but haven't had any problems with ricotta. Maybe someone else will know a good brand, but in general, you just have to try things and see if they work for you. Sorry I can't be more helpful!

[cprice25]

As far as brands of ricotta cheese go, the New Yorker in me says Polly-O made with whole milk (yellow container). Anything else is not worth eating :-)

But it does have vinegar. Here's the ingredient list:
PASTEURIZED MILK, WHEY, MILKFAT, SALT, VINEGAR, GUAR GUM, CARRAGEENAN, XANTHAN GUM.

I haven't tried it though so I couldn't say if it is ok for my ridiculously strict version of the diet. When I get better it will be one of the first things I try though.

[kari1980]

It's interesting that one of the ingredients is vinegar, yet most people say that Ricotta Cheese isnt' a problem for them and it's on the Ok list on the diet...I guess I'll just have to try it and find out, I was worried to try it though, but if it seems to be ok for most people then maybe I will.
Thanks for the help.

Kari

[mellusk]

Vinegar is often just part of the process used in cheese-making to seperate the curd (milk solids) from the whey. Usually, in making cheese at home, a person would boil some whole milk for a certain amount of time, then add a predetermined amount of lemon juice and/or vinegar. At that temperature, the addition of the acid will cause the fats and solids of the milk to pull away, or "seperate," from the liquids. Then one would skim the solids from the mix, drain them, and then knead them into the chunk of cheese, often just like a ball of fresh mozzarella. It's actually a very small amount of vinegar used, and most of it is thrown out with the whey. Ricotta retains some of that vinegar because the creamy nature of the stuff includes leaving some of the liquid in it. The only way you can know if it will be a big problem is if you try it by itself before you add it into anything. If it does, then you can easily substitute cottage cheese for ricotta in almost any recipe.

[Kathy in Canada]

ricotta cheese

I live in Canada and buy plain Saputo brand ricotta cheese. Not reduced fat. It doesn't bother my IC. I find the reduced fat ricotta cheeses have more ingredients & I am concerned they might bother my IC.

Kathy

[kari1980]

Boy, thank you Mellusk, that was a great explanation. So I guess the vinegar in the cheese is not problematic so I will give it a try. Thanks so much.

Kari