Hi Everyone!
I just wanted to give you an update about the Mozzarella I made at the end of August!
Just to refresh your memory, I divided the cheese into 3 balls. The first one we ate immediately. The second one went into the freezer. The third I attempted to age.
Last night we opened up the "aged" Mozza and I defrosted the other one. You can see the difference in colour. The aged Mozza dried for about 6 days and aged in the cheese cave for a week. It was very firm, a little sharper in flavour and grated superbly for pizza! The one I defrosted tasted as though I'd just made it - fresh and creamy with a milder taste.
I was really happy with the results of the "aged" Mozza!! We mainly use Mozza for pizzas, strombolis, calzones etc...so the melty factor was really important to me considering I want to stop buying grocery-store "cheese food" Mozzarella for good.
My next challenge will be to see if I can make it again successfully (we all know how finicky that cheese is!)! I want to try to age it 2 weeks, 3 weeks and a month. It is possible I may have a sour ball of curd after the experiments...but I'm very motivated to see what can happen when a cheese not meant to be aged, is aged!!
And once again, I must thank everyone for all of their help and support during my learning curve!