Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Homemade Fresh Mozzarella



I can’t begin to tell you the satisfaction you will receive from making your own cheese. I love cheese. If something is cheesy, I want it. Gooey, cheesy deliciousness. I can’t believe it’s possible to make your own mozzarella at home (and in less than an hour and with a microwave!) I’ll be honest, the first time is not all that easy, but practice really does make perfect on this one. I make this often now as a beautiful caprese salad with gorgeous tomatoes and basil from my garden. And I’ll tell you what – I’ve never bought mozzarella as delicious as this before.

The milk: this is the holy grail of cheese making and you have to get it right. I wasted lots of milk and money by using the wrong kind. It’s essential that you have a local, not ultra-pasteurized milk. Milk with the least amount of processing and shipping will work best. I tried a local brand first, Turner Dairy, only 5 miles away, only to end in failure – it was ultra-pasteurized, but labeled “pasteurized” Mis-labeling is a big problem and unfortunately, it’s pretty much trial and error. In Pittsburgh, I’ve found the perfect milk. It’s reasonably local (only from Ohio) and they don’t over-process the milk with high temperatures. I get Snowville Creamery whole milk (low fat will produce a drier, less flavorful cheese and not as much of it), and I buy it at Whole Foods in the East End. The end result is heavenly.

Special ingredients: You are going to need rennet (I use liquid animal rennet) and citric acid. While I think you can find this in some specialty grocery stores, I just did it the easy way and ordered from www.cheesemaking.com. This also ensures you are getting exactly the right stuff with the perfect potency. It’s reasonably priced and shipping is incredibly fast.

Thermometer: Make life easy on yourself and buy a nice digital thermometer that you can hook on the side of the pot. It prevents operator error by being precise. I hate to admit this, because I’m not a dumb-dumb. I’m pretty smart, but I screwed up reading the temperature on the first 3 batches I tried to make. Turns out Celsius and Fahrenheit are REALLY different and I was reading the wrong side of the traditional thermometer I had. The result was a metallic tasting lump of weird tiny curds. Delish.

Be prepared: I think the cheese knows when you’re frustrated, because after I did this a few times, everything just seemed to work. If you put lots of love into the process, you will make a delicious product. Get out everything you need before you start and mix everything together so it’s ready to go. Clean up your area – no dirty dishes, rags, or sponges around, this affects the curd formation. Use antibacterial cleaner to wipe down all the surfaces you will be near. Like I said, this may take a few times before it flows smoothly.

For a complete step-by-step with photos, go here. Mine looked nothing like these photos the first 5 or so times I tried to make it. Once I got the milk right, though…oh man. My curds were beautiful and looked just like Ricki’s. She really is the Cheese Queen. Many questions you have will be answered somewhere on this site: http://www.cheesemaking.com/includes/modules/jWallace/ChsPgs/1Mozz/Index.html

No comments:

Post a Comment