My Mozzarella fun.

[linuxboy]

It's not true cheddaring in the sense that you don't pack curd into slabs, cut slabs, stack, cut, restack, recut, etc. But for a cultured fresh mozz, you drain the whey at 6.0-6.1 and pack the curds into cakes, then let them sit in a warm vat until the pH is right to mill the curds. So it's kind of the same - you leave the cakes in the vat and let the acidity develop like you do for cheddar. Sorry for the confusion.

What I meant is that if you drain at a high pH (6.3, or even 6.2), and then leave it in the warm vat for a long time, like 5-6 hours, it will dry up and lose whey, and you may get this low-moisture pizza-type mozz, which is fine for pizza, but not so great for a caprese salad or fresh nibbles

[Amatolman]

I have another question linuxboy.

The recipe says  "Place the curds into a double boiler with the bottom pot filled with water maintained at 105 F / 40.5 C"

Is there an optimum temp the curds should reach to acidify?

[linuxboy]

Temp depends on culture acidification rate. If you ask your supplier for the manufacturing spec, they will give you a chart that has acidification curves... usually 3-5 at various temps, from about 85 to 105 for meso, and 90 to 115-20 for thermo cultures. We might have them in the library here as well. You can use those curves to target the rate of acidification so that you hit your time targets and your pH targets, and that they correspond to the ideal make process you have designed after taste testing of the final product. That's the commercial approach, anyway, when striving for a consistent product.

The short answer is that the fastest acidification for meso bacteria happens at 103-104F, and 115-20F for thermo. If you leave them at room temp, the curds will eventually acidify, so the tradeoff is time to completion.

[Amatolman]

K great thanks again!

Will there be a difference in flavor if I acidify at room temp vs 104F?

[linuxboy]

I haven't found a huge difference. The moisture content by that time is determined by the floc multiplier, curd size, and fat content, so it should turn out about the same.

My trick to a soft mozz is to use high fat milk (4-6%), 1/2" curds at 3x, low temp cook, and letting the pH get all the way down to near 5.0, and then handling gently during stretching, not kneading but pulling.

[Amatolman]

Thanks linuxboy. Its going to take  a while to get this just right. I still need to get a ph meter but unsure which one to get. Been reading through the threads on the subject.

[Minamyna]

Is there a good mozz recipe floating around for the soft caprese salad type mozz?

[linuxboy]

try mine:

http://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=3749.0;attach=8138

Updated at:
http://www.wacheese.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=48:traditional-mozzarella-howto&catid=43:moderate-cook-temp&Itemid=66

Need to up the fat content and have a curd heal to get it soft. It will be very close. To get a true mozz like they make in Italy you not only need the right milk but the right mixture of bacillus and cocci-shaped bacteria. I include both temp ranges, but let me know if you need clarification to make it easier

[Minamyna]

Thank you linuxboy. I have 10 gal of raw jersey milk in my fridge that I have been milking and I really want to make something we can eat right away-- you would not believe the cream content on this cow. It's insane. I'll let you know how it goes.

[linuxboy]

A regular mozz recipe takes a while... 4-6 hours for the acidity to build up to get a good stretch. But that lovely jersey milk makes for some outstanding, tender mozz. Good luck!