Hello from Tucson!

[bagatep]

Hello,

I assume I am following a fairly common path in that cheese making started as an afternoon interest and has recently turned into a mild obsession. my first cheese was a simple paneer I made from Saudi Arabian milk and dining hall lemmons in my dorm room while deployed to the middle east. that was the spawn of pure boredom but spurred this new obsession.

Anyway, on to why I'm here: my mozzarella is NOT turning out. Attempt number one I thought I could be clever and use lemon juice and just wing it. The outcome isn't worth describing because I know it was probably wrong at just about every step. My second attempt I thought I was going with the age old methods and inoculated the milk with yogurt and buttermilk and it gelled okay but the recipe I used called for an overnight ripening of the curds and in the end it turned out too acidic (I think) because when I went to melt the curds in hot water they mostly disintegrated into it. My third attempt I was desperate and ordered some citric acid and tried the 30 minute mozzarella with a third gallon and a half tsp citric acid. the curds never came together to make a stringy cheese but stayed in tiny pieces like a ricotta. in every case I used junket rennet tablets I got from the grocery store and in the first and second case it gelled to a clean break, the third was a bit milky after 90 minutes so I got eager and wanted to play with the curds I had. I did the micro wave thing with the third attempt instead of trying to spin the curds in hot water with the same non-cheesy results. my first assumption based on a ton of research is that my curds are too acidic but I haven't convinced the wife to let me buy a ph meter yet so I realize I am kind of shooting in the dark. the first and third attempt used regular grocery store whole milk and the second was grocery store organic whole milk.

Any tips? This is super frustrating but I refuse to give up! thanks in advance and have a great weekend.

brett

[jmason]

My advice is to forget about mozzerella for a while.  it is the only cheese that has beaten me and it's done it twice.  The quick mozzerella came out ok, but it doesn't melt like it should.

It is actually one of the harder cheeses to make.  Feta is easy, caciotta is easy, hell I even think of camembert as fairly easy, but mozz is just a pia.  There are many cheeses out there and many are real simple to make and some like feta are almost foolproof, so don't aggrevate yourself with it.

[Stinky]

It's the only cheese that's beaten me and I've tried it eight times.

[Revilo]

Hi,

I also had loads of trouble getting the curds to stay together. They just fell apart in crumbly bits.

It turned out the milk was the problem. I was using pasteurised with this new Extended Shelf Life process (heated even higher than 72°C/161F). This apparently denatures all the proteins so that the curds won't stay together.

Since then I've found a raw milk source and it's been no problem since then:

• 5 litres milk heated to 35°C/95F
• Add 2 tsp of citric acid diluted in water
• Add rennet
• I leave it about 30 min but it might be ready earlier
• Drain the curds
• Heat the 1/3 of the curds in the microwave (about 40 sec at a time)
• Form the mozzarellas (add a bit of salt during the 'kneading')
• Place in cold brine for a bit

In the pictures is the difference I got by changing milk 

[Stinky]

I've also had disintegration, my theory right now is from overstirring. Last time I accidentally poured rather than ladled half the curds into cheesecloth, so only half of it disintegrated.

[SOSEATTLE]

I would recommend doing some reading and research on cheesemaking and take a look at some recipes if you have not done so. http://www.cheesemaking.com/ is a good place to start and doesn't cost anything to read. There are also excellent books available. Also, junket rennet is really not acceptable for making good cheese. I wish you good luck and have fun  .


Susan

[John@PC]

Hi Brett and welcome.  For the life of me I don't know why Karlin et al consider mozzarella an "easy" cheese.  I find all the stretched curd cheeses challenging and it took me 5 tries to get a decent mozz .  While you can test for stretch it sure does help to have a pH meter to know when your getting close. 

Note: I messaged you separatly with a suggestion that may be of use to you.   Cheers.

[kcarolan]

Arizona folk need apply. It's so dry .. I am in the East Valley and trying so hard. Any words of advise