Lovely to have caprese salad again - it is still summer in California!
11:00 - 2 gallons raw Jersey milk at 88 degrees, 1/4 t MM100 stirred in
12:30 - pH 6.35, 1.5ml calf rennet stirred in, flocculation in 11 mins
1:10 - Vertical cuts made at 2 inches, rest 10 mins
1:20 - A few sort of horizontal cuts widely spaced, rest 10 mins
1:30 - Jiggling the pan a bit
1:35 - Scooping the curds into microperf forms set in strainer. Left to drain and kept warm (about 75 degrees)
4:20 - pH 5.65
4:50 - almost ready! Heated 3 quarts reserved whey to 140 degrees, with 3 tsp salt
5:00 - Ready to stretch
5:30 - Finished stretching with 3.5# of lovely mozzarella from the 2 gallons of milk!!
Lovely soft mozzarella for dinner at 7:00!!
That definitely deserves a cheese!
Oh no, I just ate the last of my garden tomatoes.
A cheese in anticipation of the recipe: fresh mozz, tomatoes, shredded lettuce and what else? It's cooler here now in SC and wish I could send you some of this drenching rain we're getting :(. Charleston is expecting 18" and we're already over 90% saturated.
I usually just slice tomatoes, cheese, and fresh basil, with a light sprinkling of coarse sea salt, and a drizzle of olive oil!! It means summer to me!
Last night I used another ball of mozzarella on a warm pasta dish - yum! I love stringy melted mozzarella!