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Making Mozzarella |
13 Comments |
| By Miranda in Eating Local, Green Living, How To | December 4, 2006 | ||
This weekend I decided to learn a new skill. I know – with 5 children how do I have time? Well, the kids like to watch and help figure things out. It keeps them busy!
So, I learned a new skill this weekend. I learned how to make cheese! Okay, it wasn’t hard cheese (like cheddar). That takes more time (months) and cultures, etc.
The cheese I made was fresh mozzarella. Fresh mozzarella is traditionally made with buffalo milk. I did not have any available (laugh). I used organic whole milk instead. There is a big difference between fresh mozzarella and the block mozzarella that you can find at the store. Fresh mozzarella is often found in tubs of “water,” is snow white, and very soft. I could not believe how easy it was to do. It tasted great as well! This is something I have been wanting to do, but afraid to do. I took the leap and it wasn’t too bad.
The cheese was used on homemade pizza. My eldest daughter commented that the pizza was entirely homemade (crust, sauce, and cheese). I suppose if I could grow wheat and had a cow it would be truly home grown, but I was pretty impressed with this new skill.
Cheese making below. I forgot to take a picture of the ball of cheese. I guess I will simply have to make more! Darn.
Great instructions can be found at: http://www.cheesemaking.com/includes/modules/jWallace/ChsPgs/1Mozz/Index.html
The ingredients (whole milk, citric acid, rennet)
Citric acid was added to the milk. Rennet added once the temp reached 90.
Let the milk sit for about 3 minutes (see the curd separating from the whey)
Cutting the cheese into blocks – to take out of pot. Taking this picture while cutting was also a new skill.
After this, the pieces are scooped with a slotted spoon into a bowl. Microwave for 1 minute and separate the whey from the curds. Knead (like bread).
Great on pizza!
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Chris said,
That pizza looks good! How much whole milk, citric acid, and rennet? I may have to give this a try, sure looks tasty.
Mike D said,
yeah man how about some instructions? haha we’re glad you had fun now help us try
green LA girl » Clicklist: Herbs and happiness said,
[...] As if making one’s own pizza is not challenging enough, Melissa of GroovyGreen makes her own mozzarella!. “I suppose if I could grow wheat and had a cow it would be truly home grown, but I was pretty impressed with this new skill.” [...]
Liz said,
Even though I’m an old hand at making chevre (and a soft cow cheese we call “bove”), I’ve never tried mozzarella. It looks like it needs to go on my “to-do” list.
Matt said,
This seriously kicks ass. I am so excited to try this. I didn’t even know that this was possible for someone in a normal kitchen. Now I do. I am all over this.
Did you just freeze the extra cheese? Oh boy!
Thanks Miranda!
Sherri said,
Link did not work, their main page wouldn’t load either. Does being linked from this site cause a slashdot/digg effect? By ‘knead like bread’, does that mean fold over, then mush down with heel of palm, then repeat that many times? Does it matter how far it’s stretched before folding? I saw a story where the cheesemaker stretched the mozarella real far before folding it. Maybe he was showing off, but maybe it’s necessary for some unknown (to me) reason. I agree, amounts would be nice.
turtlebella said,
This looks great! Since I could eat mozzarella from now til forever, I should try making some. The fresh stuff tends to get pricey for the amount I like to eat.
Miranda said,
I am sorry the link above did not work.
I used 1 gallon of milk and put it into a non-aluminum pot. I then added 1.5-2 tsp of citric acid. In the meantime I added 20 drops of rennet to 1/4 cup cold water.
Once the milk was heated to 90, I added to rennet and stired for about a minute. Let sit for 3-5 minutes.
I like soft fresh mozz, so I started cutting it at 3 minutes. If you like it tougher, then the instructions say to let sit closer to 5.
Cut it into squares and with a slotted plastic spoon remove the curd from the whey (some people keep the whey to make into ricotta – I haven’t tried that yet).
place into a bowl. Microwave for 1 minute. This will remove more whey from the curd. I didn’t work it much – as I like soft mozz. Otherwise, start kneading it or pulling it. I have seen instructions for both.
Remember, I am still a novice – only having done this twice now.
As I understnad, you do not want to use ultrapasteurized milk – as the curd crumbles too much.
It can be plopped into ice water. It is best used immediately, but you may be able to store it in water in the fridge. I haven’t tried that yet.
Hopefully this helps!
Miranda said,
Oh, and I found citric acid and rennet at the local co-op….
Douglas J E Barnes said,
Great stuff, Miranda! I’ll be trying this out for sure.
Lynn said,
Mm, this is making me hungry. Thanks for the tip! I’m obsessed with cheese and this sounds like something I should try.
» Carnival of the Green # 57 said,
[...] Making Mozzarella by Miranda Edel Melissa Mansfield of LAGreenLiving.com writes “Sustainable Shindigs”: Whether you’re celebrating solstice, Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa or just the fact that you survived holiday shopping at the mall – you can still party in a green way. Follow our simple steps for throwing a green get-together, from the planning process to the invites, from decorations to food, from transportation to clean-up. [...]
Jan said,
I’m sorry to say that my mozzarella turned into a crumbly mess. Are there any uses for this?? It would be a pity to see it go to waste unless I feed it to the chickens.
Thanks
Jan