Hello from Saskatchewan! (Canada)

[Aquarabbit]

Hi everyone!

I'm very excited to find this forum.

I've been trying to make mozzarella for a few weeks now using Ricki Carroll's 30-minute kit.  (I also got her book and DVD.)  So far I've gotten four batches of ricotta.  Not that I don't like ricotta, but I was hoping for mozza.   

The only milk available to me is store-bought, pasteurized/homogenized.  After my first two failures (two different brands of whole milk) I did some research and decided I needed calcium chloride.  So I ordered some from the Glengarry cheese supply company in Ontario.  In the meantime I tried a 3rd batch and doubled the rennet (1/2 tablet instead of 1/4 tablet) -- another ricotta.  Finally the CaCl2 arrived in the mail.  I was so sure this was the answer to my prayers!  But... another ricotta.  Waah

For that batch I used 1/8 tsp CaCl2 (diluted in 1/4 c bottled water) for 1 gallon of milk AND doubled the rennet, and otherwise followed the instructions to the letter.  The only difference was that I only had 2% milk, so that's what I used.  I dunno; maybe that was the problem.

So I'm going to try one more time using whole milk (3.25%), maybe 1/4 - 1/2 tsp CaCl2 and 1/2 tablet rennet.  And if that doesn't give me a curd, nothing will!  But I don't want to give up without a fight!

[Cheese Library]

Hello and welcome to the forum!

[Ariel301]

Hello and welcome!

Mozzarella is frustrating. I've gone through gallons and gallons of milk and still haven't gotten it 100% reliable. I've never done the 30 minute kit, I'm doing it the 'long way', and using raw milk from our goats. So at least the milk is 'free' (As long as I don't think about feed costs and time spent working, that is!) Keep trying, hopefully you will get it!

[Cheese Head]

Hello Aquarabbit! Nice to see another Canuck, I grew up in Vancouver and my wife is from Calgary, but we live in Houston. I believe you are our first from Saskabush, so I'll add a Geographic Type Board in case you have local type posts.

I understand that your problem is not in making mozz but rather in getting a good curd set.

I also use store bought past & homogenized cow's milk, first 20 batches without CaCl2 and no significant problem getting a good curd set.

Sorry but I haven't used tablet style rennet, if you search this Forum for "Tablet" you'll get a bunch of threads with other people using it and their experiences (both positive & negative).

Just to check, rennet is very very concentrated stuff, you are diluting in water first right then trickling in then stirring thoroughly for 1 minute max right? If you stir for 2-3 minutes it may already be setting up and you'll destroy the gel. Some guidelines here.

Hope helps . . . again welcome!

[Aquarabbit]

Hi John!  Yes, I've been using Ricki Carroll's 30-minute Mozza/Ricotta kit and following her instructions to the letter.  (I've also watched her technique on the DVD a couple of times... and read all of her book... plus two other cheesemaking books.)  I'm using the rennet tablets that came with her kit, and dissolving in cool bottled water (our tap water is chlorinated) and then stirring with the up-and-down motion for somewhere between 30-60 seconds.

Actually I seem to be getting a decent curd set (or at least it has improved slightly with each batch) but it all falls apart as soon as I microwave it.  I'm even checking it with the thermometer to make sure that it gets up to 135 F (again following Ricki's method).  That's where it all becomes ricotta.  I'm so stumped!  Well, I gotta keep trying.  And it's so nice to have some support here.   

After my next attempt I'll move my discussion into the Mozza/Ricotta/Etc. forum...   I'm sure I'll still have questions!

[Cheese Head]

Aquarabbit, OK so the problem is more on the mozz making stage, good luck, lots of posts/people on the pulled cheese board. Also, FYI, in the Library > Guides Board there is a detailed Mozz making manual you can download. Have fun!

[DeejayDebi]

Welcome Aquarabbit.

There seems to be a lot of threads here about problems with making mozzarella. I have never had one fail so out of curiosity last weekend I did everything wrong to see what would happen in hopes to find the mozzarella mystery.

I started out making traditional mozzarella - all wrong

1st I deliberately over shot the temperature by about 5 degrees.
2nd I cut the curds before they were ready and stirred them immediately without healing and got tiny little rice sized curds.
3rd I cooked raising the temperature quickly and drained the curds.

at this point I had what looked much like ricotta and if I would have stayed the course it would have yield nothing but I then decided to switch from the traditional recipe to the microwave version to keep the curds from washing away. I drained the curds in a double layer of cheesecloth for over an hour to get a drier curd mass.

I nuked 1/2 the the curds several times stirring in between with a spoon until they finally formed a stretchy cheese mass and continued to heat and stretch and it finally turned into mozzarella.

The second half a of the curds I poured a little tap water into the curds before nuking to see what would happen. I found that this batch never did turn into mozzarella but did turn into an almost ricotta/cream cheese. I wish I had some sun dried tomato it would be awesome. As it was I added basil and used it as a cheese spread on bagels.

From this experiment I am thinking that cause of all the 30 minute  mozzarella issues may be insufficient draining of the curds and or insufficient curd formation but even with that it can be saved with a little extra time and patience. The ricotta looking curds can be recovered to form mozzarella.

BTW I used the cheapest store bought whole milk I could find and no Calcium chloride for this experiment. 2 gallons of milk yielded 15 ounces of mozzarella, 13 ounces of cheese spread and 10 ounces of ricotta.

Hope this helps.

[pamaples]

Debi, I appreciate your posts! Always very informative.

Pam

[DeejayDebi]

Thanks Pam I just hate to see s many disappointed cheese makers. At least we found out it can be saved even if you do everything wrong.

[Aquarabbit]

I have achieved mozzarella!  Thanks so much for your post, Debi.  I think my main problem was insufficient whey drainage before the microwave step.  (I also increased my CaCl2 from 1/8 tsp to 1/2 tsp this time... maybe that helped too.)

On Ricki Carroll's DVD she scoops the curds with a slotted spoon right into her bowl and just pours off a bit of whey before microwaving, so that's more or less what I was doing.  This most recent attempt, I scooped the curds into a colander and let it drain over a bowl for a while, and then transferred the curds to a clean dry bowl for microwaving.  Then just kept pressing and pouring out more and more whey throughout the microwave sessions (mildly burned my hands a bunch of times, but didn't really mind).  Then it finally started to get stretchy, and oh boy, a beautiful mozzarella!

[Cheese Head]

That is a great looking cheese, and well presented, congrats!

[DeejayDebi]

Wow that is a great presentation! I want to jump right in there an much some of your cheese!

I think if I remember right (to lazy to go find the cook) Ricci says to drain and squeeze gently or something like that. I find I get a better cheese if I wrap the cheesecloth around a wooden spoon and twist it until it almost squeezes the curd out. Just lightly squeezing the cloth after that expells a lot of whey.

Congrats hon! It looks lovely!

[pamaples]

Am I gonna have to buy a microwave??? I am against microwaves on general principle.

There must be a way to do this without one. The water bath temp is just a little too hot for barehanded pulling. Need to find some kind of insulating gloves I can still feel through. I have had some success using two wooden spoons....

Great looking cheese Aquarabbit! BTW, you share an alarming resemblance to my best friend in Alaska!