Mozarella Cheese Making
This is so much fun! I decided to try making mozarella cheese with one of the gallons of raw, fresh milk I bought.
I followed this tutorial. It's not finished yet, but should be by about 10:00 tonight.
Here is step by step what I've done so far, per the instructions on the tutorial page (everything has worked out perfectly so far!!):
First, you're supposed to put 1 gallon of milk in a pot, and bring it to 97 degrees. I don't have a thermometer that will go that low. Last time, I kept having a problem with the pot getting too hot at the bottom, but not warm enough on the top.
So what I decided to do was to pour the milk into a stainless steel bowl, and put it in the oven instead, at about 100 degrees until it was warm enough. This worked like a charm!
So I got the milk warm, then added my homemade buttermilk (1/4 cup).
Then I have to let that mixture sit for about 15 minutes, to let the bacteria "wake up", so to speak.
While I was waiting on that to happen, I dissolved and mixed 1/2 of a vegetable Rennet tablet into 1/4 cup of water.
Then mixed the rennet water into the milk...
Then stuck it back in the oven, to keep warm. I had to keep it in there for 2 hours, UNDISTURBED, so that it could firm up.
Once it had been 2 hours, I tested for the "clean break". You can see a video explanation of what a clean break should look like here. I was so excited that it worked for me this time (because last time I had problems getting it)!
Then, cut the curds....
I enjoyed sticking my hands in the curds to separate them and break them up.
This is what they look like:
Then you break them up, so that they look like this:
Very simple.
After you do this, you let it sit for about 15 minutes, so that the whey will rise to the top...then you can just pour it off.
I'm saving mine, to make ricotta. So after the 15 minutes were up, I poured it through this cheesecloth into a bowl...
...and will let it sit for about 12 hours in a warm place.
Here is what the remaining curds and whey look like at this point:
I put them back in the oven, where they have to stay for about 8 hours at about 97 degrees. This is what they looked like about an hour later:
I'll be sure to post again when the cheese is finished, so you can see what it looks like. I can't wait to see what it TASTES like.
I followed this tutorial. It's not finished yet, but should be by about 10:00 tonight.
Here is step by step what I've done so far, per the instructions on the tutorial page (everything has worked out perfectly so far!!):
First, you're supposed to put 1 gallon of milk in a pot, and bring it to 97 degrees. I don't have a thermometer that will go that low. Last time, I kept having a problem with the pot getting too hot at the bottom, but not warm enough on the top.
So what I decided to do was to pour the milk into a stainless steel bowl, and put it in the oven instead, at about 100 degrees until it was warm enough. This worked like a charm!
So I got the milk warm, then added my homemade buttermilk (1/4 cup).
Then I have to let that mixture sit for about 15 minutes, to let the bacteria "wake up", so to speak.
While I was waiting on that to happen, I dissolved and mixed 1/2 of a vegetable Rennet tablet into 1/4 cup of water.
Then mixed the rennet water into the milk...
Then stuck it back in the oven, to keep warm. I had to keep it in there for 2 hours, UNDISTURBED, so that it could firm up.
Once it had been 2 hours, I tested for the "clean break". You can see a video explanation of what a clean break should look like here. I was so excited that it worked for me this time (because last time I had problems getting it)!
Then, cut the curds....
I enjoyed sticking my hands in the curds to separate them and break them up.
This is what they look like:
Then you break them up, so that they look like this:
Very simple.
After you do this, you let it sit for about 15 minutes, so that the whey will rise to the top...then you can just pour it off.
I'm saving mine, to make ricotta. So after the 15 minutes were up, I poured it through this cheesecloth into a bowl...
...and will let it sit for about 12 hours in a warm place.
Here is what the remaining curds and whey look like at this point:
I put them back in the oven, where they have to stay for about 8 hours at about 97 degrees. This is what they looked like about an hour later:
I'll be sure to post again when the cheese is finished, so you can see what it looks like. I can't wait to see what it TASTES like.
Bethany,
Do you have any plans for your finished ricotta? Are you using regular store bought cheesecloth or butter muslin? If you can find butter muslin I would highly recommend it. It is usually carried by any place that sells cheese making supplies. Yes, it is more expensive but well worth the extra in my limited experience. Have you tried making cheese from goats milk? Before moving to Alaska we lived in Ohio in a predominately Italian area so were blessed with homemade mozzarella and ricotta.
Thank you so very much for being willing to post all the wonderful things you do! You have no idea what a blessing it has been to my heart. We are rather far from family and it is about as close to "girl" talk as I get these days. We have three boys...
In Christ,
Peggy
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Peggy, that is so sweet of you! I'm glad to have you here!
I was planning to maybe try some Gnocchi? Not sure exactly what it tastes like, but I saw a recipe for it and thought I might try it. It's supposed to be italian dumplings, I think.
I haven't got butter muslin, but one recipe I found called for using a pillow case instead of the cheesecloth- I wonder if it works about the same? I might buy some butter muslin soon just to see how it works though...I know the weave is much tighter with the muslin.
About goat's milk cheese, I haven't tried it yet, but this is actually one reason that I am trying to learn about cheesemaking- I want to get some dairy goats sometime in the near future!
I hope you have a blessed day!!
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Bethany,
Gnocchi (pronounced noo key) are wonderful. I always make them with the intention of freezing some for later but the guys eat them all in the course of a day. We use the recipe from New England Cheesemaking for mozzarella as it is a much quicker process.
Wow, $5.00 a gallon for raw milk! We can't buy raw milk in Alaska and store bought milk is going anywhere between $4-$5 (not on sale, we try to hit the sales which seem to be weekly!) We thought about organic milk but it is truly cost prohibitive.
I can't wait to hear how thinks go when you get goats! We will be moving back down to the lower 48 in 4 years on to an old farm. It hasn't been farmed in over 40 years from what we can gather.
What types of apples do you all have? They look gorgeous! Were your trees established? We are trying to gather information on rejuvenating old apples trees as the "farm" has well over 100 apple trees of unknown varieties!
You take care now!!
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Wow, that is a lot of different apple trees!!! I don't actually know what kind of apples we have...I know most of our trees have green apples, and a couple are red.
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What is the cost comparison for making your own cheese verses purchasing it - have you done the numbers on that yet? Just curious to see if it's worth the effort in my home!
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Katie, I'm not sure if it's made a difference just yet, because I bought a bulk container of rennet, bulk cheese wax, and other such items which I won't need to buy over and over.... If I make many, many different batches of cheese, I think it will definitely be a money saver.
I am hoping to one day own some goats, and if I do, then the milk will be free, making the cheese very much more affordable than the store bought cheese. With the milk being about 5 dollars a gallon for the raw kind (that's how much I paid for the milk in the cheese I've already made), it hasn't saved much money yet. lol In fact, it may have cost me more. Looking forward to free milk!
At this point in time, I'm not really doing it to save money anyway- It's about a great learning experience. I've always wondered how cheese was made, and now I'm learning and really enjoying it!
If you are able to find someone who will give you free cow's milk, you may be able to save money by going this route!!
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New England Cheesemaking has a recipe for mozzarella that only takes a little over an hour. Makes great cheese as it melts wonderfully for pizza, etc. Also, there is another great recipe for a cheddar type cheese on Frankhauser's website. I've made it and it is wonderful.
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Thank you, Molly!! I'll have to try the cheddar. If it only uses 1 gallon, I can do it this week.
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