Traditional Mozzarella, pH drop

[Lennie]

Followup questions for anyone.

1) Is there anything besides pH that determines the stretchiness of this cheese?

2) Can you heat/stretch too much?  Does it get tougher?

3) Is the texture supposed to be squeaky on your teeth when eaten cold?

4) Can you salt the cheese or is brining the only way?

5) Does lipase affect the process?  (I added double the amount I was supposed to on this one.)

[MrsKK]

I can answer a couple of your questions:
2) Can you heat/stretch too much?  Does it get tougher?
  Yes, you can heat and stretch it too much, which will result in a tough, unpleasant cheese.  It really does get easier to figure it out with experience.

3) Is the texture supposed to be squeaky on your teeth when eaten cold?
  Yep, that's fresh mozz!

4) Can you salt the cheese or is brining the only way?
  I heat and stretch my mozz by using about a gallon of reserved whey with a half cup of kosher salt added to it.  It adds a nice amount of salt without it being grainy.  I don't typically brine my mozzarella.

I'll leave the other questions to the more scientific members here.  BTW, I think your cheese turned out quite nice.  Congrats!

[Lennie]

Thanks for the answers.  I'm planning to let the curd sit overnight next time, that seems like a good idea after the marathon I had doing it in one day.

Does heating in whey have some advantage?

[MrsKK]

I hate to waste anything and just figured why heat water when I had that lovely whey just sitting around?  I then discovered that my mozz had much better flavor, too, so it was a win-win for me.

[DeejayDebi]

Does heating in whey have some advantage?

The whey and cheese will be in balance pH wise that makes a big difference. I use my whey for brining as well.

[Lennie]

That makes perfect sense.

This cheese is pretty smooth, just slightly grainy, but has great squeak.  I melted a piece over a patty of breakfast sausage this morning, it wasn't super melty but did soften a lot and browned nicely.  That was a tasty sausage.

There room for improvement but this has been quite enjoyable cheese as is.

[DeejayDebi]

Glad to hear it Lennie. I really enjoy browning mozzarella slices and laying them over fresh sliced tomatoes with basil and a drizzle of EVOO....... Mmmmm


Gosh when is summer coming? I want a fresh tomato! 

[linuxboy]

I hear you, Debi. I went to check the curing fridge last night (love that fermented sausage smell), and I thought, I would really love a slice of salami or prosciutto, and a ripe roma right now for dinner. But it's not even time to start the seeds yet. I consoled myself with a piece of cheese. I am so ready for winter to be over.

[DeejayDebi]

That would be great. I am tired of winter too. I need to make some fermented sausages I only have 6 capricolas aging right now. Been to into my cheese lately.

[MrsKK]

I can't even think about starting tomato seeds until mid-April, as I can't plant until June 1st.

Oh, to have my own greenhouse!  But then when would I have time to make cheese?

Keep up the good work, Lennie!

[Sailor Con Queso]

Karen,

Think "Hoop House" not greenhouse. Kind of like a big cold frame with a door. Mine is about 10' x 16', made with 1" PVC pipe and only cost about $400 to make.

Obviously it's midwinter and everyone is up to their eyeballs in snow. I have had hydroponic lettuce, spinach, and Bac Choi going all Winter long and have more than we can eat from just 4 square feet. Our Broccoli and Cauliflower are about 18" high. They are ready to produce as soon as we start getting more sun. Have raddishes, beets, and onions. The hoop house and cheesemaking make Winter a little more tolerable.

[MrsKK]

Hoop houses don't work here, either...we typically get about 3 weeks or more of well below zero weather every winter and a couple of layers of plastic just won't cut it, I'm afraid.  I'd have to heat it to keep the soil from freezing...as our house takes 10-12 face cords of wood to heat every winter (plus LP when we get sub-zero temps), I don't think that's in the cards here.

Besides, I gotta take a break sometime!

[DeejayDebi]

hydroponics is something I've looked into a few times over the years and the initial expense scared me off. It appears much more popular than it was years ago maybe not as bad now. A trip to Disnet in the 70's pique my interest and has been nagging me ever since.

Sailor could you give a few more details on your "Hoop House" and hydroponics setup? Maybe we could start a new thread somewhere? Pretty please???   

[Mersunwea]

Hi,
I am in my 4th attempt, and I left the curds in the whey before cutting overnight. PH dropped way below 5 (about 4.80). What was wrong? Thanks for your help 

[Mersunwea]

Hi Lennie,
What recipe are you using? How much rennet per gallon? how much DVI? citric acid? CaCI?
Thanks!!