Mozzarella Attempt #3 - HELP!

[making mozzerella]

Total newbie to cheese making, cheeseforum, cheese everything!  But I'm excited about making fresh mozzarella and I am determined despite a couple failures already. 
My first 2 attempts yielded a mass of mushy goo but I am going to keep moving forward!

I do not have citric acid (yet - just ordered some from amazon.com)
I only have store bought, organic, whole milk - can't find source for raw milk.
I am using my slow cooker and a electric probe thermometer
I have a cup of plain Stonybrook Farms yogurt and some Buttermilk.  I know many posts mention Dannon Plain but it was not available in my market so I got Stonybrook organic lowfat yogurt and it doesn't say anything about active cultures on the packaging - but I thought it would be fine.
I have liquid rennet.
I do not have any Calcium Chloride (where do you find this? and citric acid? )

So here I go.  I'm starting again with a small "test" batch before I ruin another gallon of milk.  I'm starting with a half gallon and heating it to 90F.
The last time, I started with a half gallon, heated to 90F.  I added 2 tablespoons of yogurt and 2 tablespoons of cultured buttermilk.  I let it sit for 1 hour at about 88-94F and then I added 10 drops of liquid rennet (diluted in just a teaspoon of tap water).  The covered pot sat overnight and when I got up the next morning to test for a "clean break" all I got was a "dirty, slimy break."
This time I will add 3 tablespoons of the yogurt (after reading that this is the thermophilic starter that I need), I will dilute the rennet in bottled water (no Chlorine) - and use a bit more water when diluting it.  I will also stir in the rennet for a couple minutes as opposed to just a quick stir like I did last time.
I don't know what else to do differently to get the clean break I am after.  So let me know what I'm doing wrong and I'll post back with my results of this attempt shortly.

[MrsKK]

Are you sure that your milk is not ultra pasteurized?  I can't give much advice on using store bought milk, as I use raw, so don't need to use CaCl.

The changes you have planned look good so far.  Have you read over Fankhauser's method of making mozz?  http://biology.clc.uc.edu/fankhauser/Cheese/Mozzarella/MOZZARELLA_jn0.HTM

Good luck!

[linuxboy]

You don't need CaCl2 for mozz, and you don't need citric acid. Please don't use citric acid without a pH meter. What you're doing seems fine, except:

- dissolve the rennet in ice cold water at a ratio of 40parts water to 1 part rennet. So for a gal, it's about a quarter cup water
- Take your yogurt and some of the heated milk in a cup and stir it all together until the yogurt is completely dissolved, than add it.

See my post here http://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,3231.msg26227.html#msg26227. Sailor, Debi, and others had good comments, too, about other options, such as leaving overnight to acidify in the fridge.

What did you mean by dirty, slimy break? Floccules on the knife when you pull it out? I wouldn't let the curd sit for so long; I would cut, heat, drain, and let the drained curd acidify, like you do for cheddar.

[MarkShelton]

Be careful with your bottled waters. Some of them have additives/chemicals to purify them. I found this out the hard way. I had 2 batches complete failures (rennet never set the milk at all). I went crazy searching for all the possible causes. After checking everything else, I finally looked closely at the bottled water I was using and found that some type of chloride salt was in the ingredients.
Basically it was killing (technically "denaturing") the rennet before it was even added to the milk.
Distilled water is best, or at least carefully read the label on the water.

[making mozzerella]

Thanks for the posts
Update:
My milk is not Ultra-Pasteurized.
My water is tap water run through a Brita filter - but I'm going to get some distilled water for this purpose.
I did mix my yogurt with some warm milk to get it incorporated before adding it to the pot.
I did use more water with my rennet this time to dilute it.
So far everything "looked good" up until the dreaded clean break test.
It was actually MUCH better than previous attempts but "clean" it was not.  It still seems like it's too soft for the proper curd.  See photos.



I cut it anyway - because I was so excited that I actually could!

Now every 10 minutes I give it a stir


One problem: at one point shortly after cutting, I took it's temperature and my thermometer went up to 125F!  Yikes.  I find it very hard to control the temp precisely on the cooktop.  I originally was going to use my slow cooker which is much easier to control - but I only had 4 cups of milk to use for this experiment so I went to the smaller pot on the stovetop.
I let the temp settle back down to 95ish giving it a very careful stir every 10 minutes.  I feel like if I stir is much harder it will all fall apart and turn to cottage cheese.  That's what I'm trying to avoid. 
Next I am going to strain it - any suggestions or tips on how to do this to yield the best result?  Should I try to get these curds "stiffer" some how before straining?
Thanks
Doug

[making mozzerella]

Well - I strained it and I am left with a very soft curd.  I figured that I'll just let it stand for a while and drain.




After a while I took a little break.  I sat down on my tuffet and I wanted to do a little taste test to see what the curds and whey tasted like. . . when all of a sudden the most frightful thing happened!!!

[Sailor Con Queso]

Doug, most organic milk IS ultrapasteurized. That's why it lasts longer in the frig. They don't always indicate that on the label because it's a turnoff to organic shoppers. Generally, organic milk is a poor choice for cheesemaking.

[DeejayDebi]

Great pictures Doug! I am lauging my butt off!

[MarkShelton]

If you prefer using organic milk, I have had a lot of success from Horizon Organic and Wild Harvest, both from Jewel. I've looked both up and they are both HTST pasteurized, but not UP. My main goal is finding milk that is fresher.
Once I tried a store-bought milk that was low temp, vat pasteurized and non-homogenized. It sounded like the holy grail of supermarket milk. It felt like it too, I had to drive a few hours looking for it. I was sorely disappointed when I got it home and tried to make cheese out of it. It would be an awesome milk to use, despite its high cost ($5 per 1/2 gal) but the cream on top, what little there was, was congealed so hard that it was impossible to mix back in. Additionally, the curd did not set at all the first round, so I had to rennet a second time. When I looked at the carton, it was only 1 day from the sell by date. It tasted old also There just isn't a lot of turnover for specialty products like that, which means they sit on the shelf far too long to make good cheese.

[FarmerJd]

How many people today have no idea what miss muffet was eating?   Times have changed alot.   Great pic.

[DeejayDebi]

caviar and whole  grains?   

[MrsKK]

Love the pics!  Thanks for the laugh.

So, have you heated and stretched the mozz yet?  It looks like it will work for you now.

Next time, try using just a bit more rennet or give it some more time to set up a firmer curd, as it doesn't really look as though you had a clean break.

You can also use tap water that has been boiled then cooled for diluting rennet, as the boiling gets rid of the chlorine in tap water.

[DeejayDebi]

Doug -

I forgot to add that I use a Pure water filter on my tap (city water) and I have no problems with using the water for making cheese. I imagine your would also be fine.

[making mozzerella]

Mozzarella Attempt #3 - FAILURE

pictures to follow (after I stop feeling depressed about this)

I tried to pull the curd but alas, it just never firmed up enough to work.  It just mushed away in my hot hands and fell all apart.  A slimy gooey mess.  Nothing stretched at all.  I suck at this.

I kept the ball of curdy mush and wrapped it in plastic wrap and put it in the fridge.  Is there any hope for this?  I don't really know what I have now.  I read some other forum posts about nuking this and kneading it until it forms mozzarella - but I can't imagine this working very well.  I kept it anyway - just in case - so let me know if it's worth saving.

Attempt #4 coming soon. . . I found non-homoginized milk at Whole Foods - hoping this might be the answer to my "weak curd" problems.  If anyone else has suggestions on how I can strengthen my curd gel formation - please let me know.  I'm starting to lose hope. 
Thanks

[DeejayDebi]

Sorry Doug. Drain it and nuke and knead it a million times it always works when my friend shatter curds.