Author Topic: Pasteurization for Mozzarella  (Read 2627 times)

Amadea

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Pasteurization for Mozzarella
« on: January 31, 2018, 06:13:57 AM »
Hello everyone!

I got this direction to pasteurize milk on double boiler. So basically I let the temperature rise to 72C(162F) and then wait for 15 seconds and bring it back to 20C(68F) in less than half an hour which is a real pain. Then I raise it again to 37C to add rennet. Now I have two questions.

1- I'm wondering if it is really necessary to bring it all the way down to 20C(68F)? Can I stop at around 30C(86F) to add citric acid and then raise it back to 37C(99F) to add rennet and continue from there?

2- I have trouble making it stretch. I wonder if I measure citric acid correctly. In all recipes, it says 1 and half a tea spoon for a gallon of milk. But in pictures, it looks more in terms of comparing it with rennet. I use half a gallon of milk and a little over half a teaspoon of citric acid. Wonder what is wrong. What happens if I use like a table spoon instead of a teaspoon?

Thanks

RayJ

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Re: Pasteurization for Mozzarella
« Reply #1 on: January 31, 2018, 12:57:02 PM »
I never pasturize milk for mozzarella. The cheese will be almost pasturized when it is heated to stretch. That said if you still want to do it you don't need to cool below your starting temp. You probably will want to hold your high temp longer to get full pasturization.  You will for sure need more citric acid if it isn't stretching or more heat (whey or water should be around 175F). It's impossible for to know how much citric acid to use without experimenting because different brands of citric acid have different acid strengths. Just play with a gallon at a time and try it.

I have gone away from making quick mozza and make the traditional mozza instead. If you go that route get a good culture (I use tm82) and invest in a pH meter or you won't know when to stretch.

Amadea

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Re: Pasteurization for Mozzarella
« Reply #2 on: January 31, 2018, 10:23:02 PM »
I'm so happy! I tried again. This time I searched to see if my teaspoon is the same as the teaspoon used by americans and well, it is not. The American one is larger, so that was the problem. I adjusted the citric acid and got a groovy mozzarella!

As for pasteurization, the whey is hotter, but the cheese core is 135F, so there is a long way to 162. Plus, handling the milk that's not pasteurized is quite dangerous. maybe some gets in your eyes. Where I live, there's no way to get milk that is only pasteurized and not ultra pasteurized. I'm not sure if the processed milk is actually cow milk and not formula. I get the milk from local farmers and I'm nervous about brucellosis. Thank you! Happy cheese making!  8)

almabts

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Re: Pasteurization for Mozzarella
« Reply #3 on: February 09, 2018, 11:26:33 AM »
I made fresh mozzarella for the first time a couple of days ago. I got raw milk from a nearby farm.  Folks in my neighborhood just started a coop to do this. I ended up with just over 1 lb of fresh mozzarella and one cup of ricotta from the gallon of cows milk. I made a mozz/caper/oregano salad, and baked ziti with the products of my labor.