Where can I find Linuxboy's Mozarella recipe?

[Likesspace]

Hi guys,

I've been doing a little reading in the forum and I keep seeing mention of Linuxboy's mozarella cheese recipe.
I'd like to give this recipe a try so if anyone has the link please let me know.

Thanks,
Dave

[linuxboy]

It's on my site, Dave

http://www.wacheese.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=48

it's a kitchen sink recipe, which has its drawbacks because I tried to make it as applicable as possible to all sorts of conditions. But, for someone who wants a clear step-by-step guide, it's not the best guide.

The most useful parts are the drain pH (~6.1) and the stretch pH (5.1-5.2).

If you want something more custom, let me know your available cultures and milk, and I'll simplify it down for you and fit it to your situation.

[Likesspace]

Hey Linuxboy.....great to hear from you again.
First of all, that is a great looking site. I did a little bit of reading on it and right away gave it a bookmark. Thanks for the link.

it looks as if I'll have to pick up some LH100 culture to take advantage of your recipe.
I only have MM100, MA, TA and Flora Danica cultures.
If you can build me a recipe using those cultures I'll certainly give it a try but I do want to try to do it right the first time.
I have made the 30 minute Mozz. a few times but I find it to be pretty tasteless. It is fun and quick to make but I sort of like to have something enjoyable once the process is complete.

On a side note (and totally off topic), I assume your user name is due to the fact that you use the Linux operating system. Is that correct?
I switched to Linux about a year ago and so far I have not looked back.
If this is correct, I'd be interested in knowing what distro you use. I started with Mint and so far have been very happy with it.
Although that is the case i've also gotten a little hooked on downloading and checking out different distributions but so far I haven't found anything that I'd want to change over to.

Thanks again for giving me the link to your site and as I said, if you have any advice on making the Mozz. with the cultures I have available, I'd love to hear it.

Dave

[susanky]

Great recipe.  I'll have to try that one too!  But why use 2% then add back heavy cream?  Why not just start out with whole milk?  I know there is a good reason.....  I have so much to learn.
Susan

[linuxboy]

For store bought milk, the way it's processed is whole milk is centrifuged and the cream collected, and then it is homogenized. Homogenization causes the fat globules to break up, and also causes adsorption, damaging the ability of the caseins in milk to coagulate. It makes for a weaker set and worse curd. The best way to combat this is to add some dry milk and cream. Adding dry milk can lead to some off flavors because it's oxidized, and doesn't make for the absolute best flavor in mozz. But adding gently treated cream back to the milk works. It works for 1% milk, too.

I tried to craft a make procedure that would result in the best chances for success for the greatest number of people. I've given it a lot of thought over the months, and not sure that's the best approach. Hopefully my notes will help people customize the make to their situations.

If your whole milk is good quality, absolutely, use that. Unhomogenized milk is great. Raw milk is excellent.

[linuxboy]

Hey Linuxboy.....great to hear from you again.
First of all, that is a great looking site. I did a little bit of reading on it and right away gave it a bookmark. Thanks for the link.

it looks as if I'll have to pick up some LH100 culture to take advantage of your recipe.

No, not necessary, that's just if you're making a pizza and want less browning. LH is a specialty application. I mean, you can use it, but not vital.

If you can build me a recipe using those cultures I'll certainly give it a try but I do want to try to do it right the first time.

Please see attached. I wrote this from memory; I've made a mozz like this before. My time memory might be a little off. Use pH and you'll be fine. pH is of the curd or whey at closest point to curd, not the reserved whey. If something I wrote doesn't make sense, I probably typed too fast and do whatever makes logical sense, or ask .

I have made the 30 minute Mozz. a few times but I find it to be pretty tasteless. It is fun and quick to make but I sort of like to have something enjoyable once the process is complete.

I took this into account to try and get you a more flavorful recipe. Scale as necessary; for all that work 1 lb is not the best amount of cheese. I usually make extra, 4-5 lbs at a time, and freeze.

On a side note (and totally off topic), I assume your user name is due to the fact that you use the Linux operating system. Is that correct?

Yep, but not exclusively. I design, deploy, and manage mixed-environment infrastructures. *nix variants, BSD, Windows, etc. I was one of the early hard core users and evangelists back in the bygone days when the Internets were still a vague rumor, and X.400 guys dominated the messaging world. The screen name has kind of stuck. I'm not exactly a boy now

I switched to Linux about a year ago and so far I have not looked back.
If this is correct, I'd be interested in knowing what distro you use. I started with Mint and so far have been very happy with it.

Traditional Ubuntu with Gnome- version 10. something. Mint is great, too, I just never switched back 5 years ago or whenever they forked.

Hope this works well for you! Trick to the soft mozz is to be gentle with the curds and let them firm up and cut twice. And/or use a larger floc multiplier...

[Likesspace]

Lb, thanks a million for the information and the recipe.

I gave mozz. a try this past weekend and unfortunately it didn't work out too well.
I tried Mrs KKK's recipe (with a few adjustments for Ph) and basically got a little too lazy for it to work properly.

At the time of draining I hit the 6.0 mark on the nose and felt that I had the make whipped. My problem came when I let it sit at room temperature overnight....

I don't know if my kitchen was too warm or (and probably most likely) that I didn't get to the curd nearly as early as I should have the next morning. I let the curd sit for right at nine hours on the kitchen island and by that time my Ph was 4.94.

Well as you can imagine I had a bowl of slightly sour curd that was not at all palatable.

When I tried to spin, it simply fell apart in the whey and I knew I was beyond the point of no return.

Well to make a long (and really aggravating) story short I ended up tossing the batch and gave up cheese making for the weekend. Although the flavor was fairly close to ricotta (and probably could have been used in cooking) I simply could not look at my failure any longer and tossing seemed to be the best answer.

I do plan on giving this another try on Saturday along with making a white Gouda with peppers added on Sunday. Now that I have a firm recipe to work with I feel a lot better about my chances for success.

I can't say enough about members like yourself.
It's so nice to know that a question can be posted and help is something that will come in a very short amount of time.
I'm not trying to inflate your ego but I always value your input and really appreciate the help you are willing to give. Again, thanks!

As for the Linux part of this post I simply cannot bring myself to now boot into Windows unless I have to. I started out with Dos, back in the mid 80's, and Linux and Dos have quite a lot in common.

I've been hearing about Linux for the past 10 years or so but had never given it a try. Well now that I have I'm completely sold and have converted quite a few of my family and friends over.

From my understanding Linux was quite a bit more difficult to use in the early days but now I find it even easier to learn and use than Windows. Also, the whole idea of free software definitely has it's advantages. :-)

Thanks again for all of your help and for the recipe. I'll be sure to let you know how it turns out.


Dave

[linuxboy]

Hope it works. On the acidification, start testing around 5.4 or so and check for the spin. A really high quality milk will make curd that will stretch at 5.0. And other milks you have to stretch at 5.3. Maybe start in the morning so you can check and customize the times and amounts to your situation. Mozz is pH driven, but that's not the whole story. The quantities I listed make for a fairly rapid acidification... perhaps 3-5 hours and you should be at the right acidity level.