Whey Ricotta Cheese Manufactured from Fluid and Condensed Whey

Twenty-four different supplies of fresh Mozzarella cheese whey were pasteurized. Twenty-one were evaporated into seven condensed whey product (CWP) categories; three were not evaporated. Each whey and whey product was subsequently manufactured into Ricotta cheese. Average total solids (TS) content ranged from 6.70 to 35.90%. The Ricotta cheeses manufactured from five of the eight categories were judged to be acceptable for the market. Average TS (%) of the acceptable categories were 6.70, 10.31, 14.87, 18.02 and 20.86. Ricotta cheeses manufactured with CWP of average TS contents of 25.10, 28.67 and 35.90% were not acceptable. Flavor defects for Ricotta cheeses that were unacceptable included coarse, unnatural and unclean; body and texture defects included grainy and mealy. We recommend the manufacture of whey Ricotta cheese with approximately 21% CWP. Yield based on total weight for CWP with 20.86 TS averaged 21.32%, more than four times greater than the noncondensed whey. Ricotta cheese from CWP of 20.86% TS tested 69.75% moisture, 7.55% protein, 13.37% lactose, 4.30% fat and 0.72% salt. Large amounts of protein and lactose remained in the Ricotta cheese whey and must be handled properly to prevent pollution.