Home made Mozzarella

[Fish Wheels]

We were not sure if it was going to turn out, it was over heated the first time. We let it cool back to 88˚F then followed the rest of the directions at:


Instructables

[heliman]

Re: Home made Mozzarella

How firm was your mozarella? I was aiming at a soft (bocconcini) texture but was only able to produce firm cheese that I had to grate to use. It was not very tasty despite my adding lipase which is meant to make it more tasty.

My mozarella making programme is now on hold as I had 2 x bad runs and ended up throwing about 8 litres down the drain. I now buy grated stretched curd mozarella which works out at about $3 per kg so it really isn't worth making it.

It was definitely an interesting exercise making a few batches as I now appreciate the manufacturing process.

[Fish Wheels]

Re: Home made Mozzarella

Hi Rossco
The cheese had the firmness of gouda. It was the first time trying and when it came to cutting the curd in wasn't very solid, nothing like the pictured instructions, so I waited almost an hour before heating to 108˚ I think the next time I try I may add some spices to the stage where you add salt. I didn't have any lipase. It was a fun experiment and turned out better then the usual cheap mozzarella my wife buys ;-)

Rod

[heliman]

Re: Home made Mozzarella

Sounds like you had a similar experience to what I had Rod...

It would seem that there is a very fine line between too much/too little rennet. One thing that definitely affects the finished product is the sterilisation (or not) of the pot. I have a feeling that a bit of the previous batch's milk still in the pot may have killed my last batch.

There is quite a bit of literature about which appears to over-simplify the mozarella making process, but from what I can determine this is a very exact science. I don't think there there is anything like a 30 minute mozarella making process! There are just too many variables - milk heating speed for example will definitely impact the overall processing time...

[JoeyVelderrain]

Re: Home made Mozzarella

I have been thinkin of tryin out this recipe:
Ricki's Magic Mozzarella .. no smoke and mirrors

anyone try it yet?

[Fish Wheels]

Re: Home made Mozzarella

JoeyVelderrain

Put the lid on your pot, with a little water in it. Bring it to a boil to sterilize the pot with steam before making the cheese. Good luck!

Rod

[JoeyVelderrain]

Re: Home made Mozzarella

JoeyVelderrain

Put the lid on your pot, with a little water in it. Bring it to a boil to sterilize the pot with steam before making the cheese. Good luck!

Rod

good hint. I am starting to see that preparing the kitchen to make cheese is kind of like prepping a room for surgery...

[Fish Wheels]

Re: Home made Mozzarella

LOL, I hope there is no blood involved in your operation

Rod

[heliman]

Re: Home made Mozzarella

JoeyVelderrain

Put the lid on your pot, with a little water in it. Bring it to a boil to sterilize the pot with steam before making the cheese. Good luck!

Rod

Thanks for this info ... It has inspired me to give mozarella another try. I still have a fair bit of rennet and lipase on hand which I need to use up...

[Fish Wheels]

Re: Home made Mozzarella

Good luck Rossco, did you find the cheese you made browned when it was cooked on a pizza?

Rod

[heliman]

Re: Home made Mozzarella

Good luck Rossco, did you find the cheese you made browned when it was cooked on a pizza?

Rod

Hi Rod - yes it did!!! I was a bit concerned about that and eventually used a combination of store bought and home made to minimise the browning effect.

Did yours brown as well???

[Fish Wheels]

Re: Home made Mozzarella

Did yours brown as well???

Yes, I found it unusual and wondered what was the difference in the store cheese and the home produced cheese. I haven't come up with an answer but my cheese worked well in an omelette. And on its own. It was ok on the pizza it just was visually odd to see it brown.

Rod

[heliman]

Re: Home made Mozzarella

One thing that I did notice in the home made VS shop bought mozarella comparison was that the home made version had no taste! I was under the impression that the lipase that I added would produce a nice "cheesy" flavour but it didn't work.

Home made did have the rubbery texture of the bought one though which was some consolation.