Mozz Cheese from Yogurt? Is it possible? From Belize

[derbra1513]

Hello everyone, I am new to the cheese making art and am trying my best to get a mozzarella cheese, my first attempt failed and I am not sure why, it looks like ricotta chess (seems like a common problem). Anycase I am going to try again today however I have a very limited supply of products at my disposal as I am making this cheese from Belize.

First milk here is very hard to come buy as there is only one company that pretty much supplies the country with fresh milk however it is incredibly expensive about $8-$10 a gallon. So for the past year I have been making yogurt using NIDO (a powdered milk) which has always been successful and quite good. The starter I used to make my yogurt is chabani brand which has these cultures (S. Thermophilus, L. Bulgaricus, L. Acidophilus, Bifidus and L. Casei) so my yogurt hopefully has these cultures in it as well.

My question is, can I make mozzarella using these cultures as a starter with powdered milk? If the powdered milk can form yogurt would it be able to make mozzarella?

Oh and BTW I was able to get my hands on liquid Rennet.

[elkato]

Hello Derbra
In Mexico the Oaxaca cheese witch is a copy of mozzarella, is made without starter, only part of the raw milk is left out overnight to acidify and then mixed with the rest of the milk and the rennet added.
with powder milk you are going to need some type of starter, and the one for yogurt that you have will have to do,  but since is a thermo you can heat the curds above 40c to make it more active, the whole point with mozzarella is to drain at a PH of 6.00 and stretch at 5.2- 5.3 this will be tricky without a PH meter but not impossible.
there in a lot of info on these forums on specific aspects of the recipe, and I am certain that with some trials and errors you will be making cheese!
best regards
Luis.

[derbra1513]

Thanks for the reply! Any links you can send me on how to determine ph of 6.00 and 5.2 and 5.3?

[H-K-J]

Hi derbbra
I just tried this recipe MrsKK's 2 day Mozz recipe
I tried this with some success
good luck

[elkato]

This is a great recipe for you Derbra because of the over-night  period will certainly allow for the drop in PH without having to measure with a meter,
if it doesn't stretch well just wait a bit longer, if it disintegrates in the hot water it over acidified, remember to stretch carefully at first, if you are too rough it looses fat and becomes rubbery
by the way  I advise not to cut corners with the "30 minute Mozz" or the "microwave Mozz" the above recipe will produce very decent cheese and is worth the wait
best regards
Luis.

[mohamed]

Hi,

I think they have not understood your request

1-no you can not make mozzarella with milk powder  which is why it resembles ricotta 
2-for starter cultures its ok
3-without culture you can make mozzarella but it takes raw milk

if you have other questions I am here

[derbra1513]

So tried it again tonight and I am following mrs.K method for Mozerella.

6 cups powdered milk (Nido brand)
16 cups water
1/4 cup yogurt
1/4 tsp liquid rennet

All seemed to be going well, looks like I had a clean break. I made the cuts for the break and stirred them up I then put the milk in a cheese cloth and is now draining the whey.

Problems I see at the moment is I have way more than a pound in my cheese cloth (I would say 2-3 lbs) and when I made the cuts it felt more like thick yogurt.

[H-K-J]

So tried it again tonight and I am following mrs.K method for Mozerella.

6 cups powdered milk (Nido brand)
16 cups water
1/4 cup yogurt
1/4 tsp liquid rennet

All seemed to be going well, looks like I had a clean break. I made the cuts for the break and stirred them up I then put the milk in a cheese cloth and is now draining the whey.

Problems I see at the moment is I have way more than a pound in my cheese cloth (I would say 2-3 lbs) and when I made the cuts it felt more like thick yogurt.

I hope this works for you 

[elkato]

When you stirred the curds after cutting and allowing to heal where they like gelatin cubes, or did they melt together like yogurt?
Hidri might have a point, about the powder milk
hope it works
regards
Luis.

[derbra1513]

When I made the cuts it seemed as if the whole pot coagulated, I gave it a gentle stir almost folding the squares on top of each other and they held their shape I then waited 15 min and poured the whey and curd into a cheese cloth and continued to drain the whey.

If I could describe what the curd looks like now it would be yogurt I have attached an image of when I first poured the curd into the cheesecloth.

[H-K-J]

Let it drain for at least 24 hours and then proceed as the recipe states

Allow to sit at room temperature (65 to 75 degrees) overnight to ripen the curd and bring it to proper stretching acidity. 

Use Fankhauser's method for testing for proper level of acidity (taken directly from his website).

"Checking for proper acidity using the "spinning" technique:
a) Heat 2 c water to 85°C. (185 F)
b) Drop several chunks of curd in, stir gently with a fork.
c) Test for acidity by pulling and folding the hot curd. If it softens and draws into strings ("spins"), and appears glossy on the surface, it is ready. If it breaks when you pull it, let sit several more hours until it does."

Once the curd spins, heat one gallon of reserved whey plus 1 cup kosher salt (or 1/2 cup canning salt) to 175 - 180 degrees Fahrenheit. Cut cheese curd into chunks about 1 inch square (doesn't have to be exact). I use a fryer basket to contain my curd chunks, placing about 1-2 cups of chunks in the basket and submerge it in the whey. After about 30 seconds, remove a chunk of cheese and start pulling on it. The center may still be cool, so if it breaks, just mush it back together, then put it back in the whey and allow it to warm a bit longer. The curd should be hot, so you will probably want to wear a couple pairs of latex exam gloves to protect your hands.

if it doesn't "spin" wait some more, I waited for 48 hours before I felt comfortable with the spin
hope it works, I have never tried to make any kind of cheese with powdered milk

[derbra1513]

Ok well I got really tasty ricotta type cheese, used it on my eggs this morning, I microwaved 1/4 cup of it and it gets hot and melts half way and smells like mozerella but the curds never form into a single clump.

Thanks everyone for your help! I have attached a pic of what it looked like after letting the curd sit for 12 hours.

[mohamed]

and if you have followed my advice 

-make cheese with milk powder is a scam

is converted only the bad milk in powder form for not throw him
for cheese must the milk of very high quality

no you can not make mainly mozzarella with milk powder it is impossible