Adventures in Cheesmaking

This all started out as a curiosity. Like most stuff we eat there is a rich history behind it. Centuries of experimentation. Cheese is just another example.

From the horse back tribes of the Asian Steppes to the Silk Road camel caravans to Romans Legions to European Monks to today, milk was a great source of nutrition but spoiled quickly and was heavy to transport.

The answer was cheese.

Monday, July 4, 2011

Mozzarella July 4th

Microwave Method

1 gallon of Kroger Full cream milk
1 1/2 tsp citric acid in 1/4 cup water
20 drops calcium chloride in a water - liquid from Dairy Connection

mixed and heated to 90F

30 drops of double strength veg rennet in 1/4 cup water -  liquid from Dairy Connection

lid on for 5 minutes

Had a clean break but curds were pretty soft

Left for 2 minutes then cut the curd

Heated with stirring to 105-110 - probably 5 minutes

Removed curds and drained in colander.

Microwaved for 30 seconds - drained

Microwaved for 30 seconds - drained

Placed curd in hot salted water

Kneaded and stretched a bit and made some balls

Took half and re microwaved for 30 seconds - it was at this stage that it was easy to stretch and form - next time I should let it get hotter. It was as hot as I could handle and was "melty" the cheese was shinny at this stage.

Formed into balls and placed in cold salty water. The cheese pretty quickly became soft on the outside so took it out of the water and wrapped it cling.

Creamy taste, good texture but soft and a bit slimy on the outside.
Yield 18 ozs from 1 gallon

===

To do differently next time:

Salt the curds after they are first removed from the whey
Microwave till 150 F and till it has a sheen and able to be stretched

2 comments:

  1. Looks delicious! This is a great blog so far, very comprehensive- an eye opening peak into the world of cheese. Keep up the good work!

    O0o0 Miss. Swiss 0o0O

    ReplyDelete
  2. Dear Miss Swiss - Stay tuned for an upcoming article on Swiss Cheese!! yum

    ReplyDelete