I have bee wanting to make a fresh mozzarella for a while now but I don't want one like the 30 minute version. What I would like is the kind you use in Capri salad. It usually comes floating in whey, is mild in flavor, very moist, and is not like the string cheese type I usually make. Does anyone have a recipe for this that involves cows milk?
Are you talking about boconccini? They are balls of mozz family that are stored in a weak brine solution, very milky mild taste.
If this is what you are looking for, I have a recipe somewhere that I can share.
I have had good luck with Peter Dixson recipes:
http://www.dairyfoodsconsulting.com/recipes_fresh_mozzarella.shtml (http://www.dairyfoodsconsulting.com/recipes_fresh_mozzarella.shtml)
http://www.dairyfoodsconsulting.com/recipes_Direct_Acidified_Fresh_Mozzarella.shtml (http://www.dairyfoodsconsulting.com/recipes_Direct_Acidified_Fresh_Mozzarella.shtml)
And this one for Bocconcini:
Bocconcini
Like small balls of mozzarella
Ingredients:
4.5 gallons milk
1/2 teaspoon Thermophilic Type C Culture
1/2 teaspoon Double strength rennet
Procedure:
Bring milk to a setting temp of 104°F, add starter and mix in well. Add rennet and also mix in well. Allow to set for around 50-60mins. Ph 6.5 - 6.6
Cut curds into 1 inch cubes and stand for 30 mins before stirring.
Stir very gently over the next 60 mins. The stirring will determine the softness of the cheese. Over stirring = will produce overly firm cheese.
Drain off the whey. pH 6.1 - 6.2
Keep curd at 104°F to cause it to fuse together. Turn the curd every 15 mins to keep is warm, draining the whey at the same time.
After about 1 hour test the curd to see whether it is ready for stretching by placing a piece in 160°F water. When curd is warm, take out and work with fingures, stretching the cheese. It is is brittle and breaks, it is not ready. pH 5.0-5.4
When curd is ready, cut into thin strips and place into hot water 160°F. Work the curd stretching it until all the curd has been worked. Over working the curd will toughen it, as will over hot water.
Shape the cheese by squeezing between your thumb and forefinger and pinch off ball of cheese formed.
Place in ice cold boiled water to set. A little salt can be added, but the salt should not be tasted in the final product.
This cheese can be eaten immediately or stored up to a week in the fridge. It can also be marinated in a herbed oil bath.
Ben - Be patient with your cheese. Give it time to warm complely before trying to manipulate the curds - this will save you much frustration!
Wow, you guys are great. I never knew they called this cheese Bocconcini. I always thought that was a name for the size of the little mozzarella balls. The photo below is what I buy, there are 3 tubs, each of the same product with 3 different names. One of them is Bocconcini. I think this is exactly what I want. Debi, if your recipe is different than the one tea posted I would love to see it as well.
Thanks folks!!
I am not sure Ben I can't find one posted by Tea. Is it in another thread somewhere?
Hello, Ben!
I use a compilation of recipes of 30 min mozz and bocconcini. I acidate a milk first with citric acid and than follow the recipe shared by Debi.
What I want to say that all three over stirring, over cooking and over working toughen it a lot. And in a case of raw milk that three "overs" lead additionally to yellow color of you mozz.
Bocconcini I make you can see here https://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,2394.0.html (https://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,2394.0.html)
and "over" one here https://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,2324.0.html (https://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,2324.0.html)
I still experiment a lot with mozz and if you have any questions, may be I've got answers :)
Debi,
Sorry, I was reading above and in my mind your post ran into the one tea posted before you. I now see that it was you, not tea that posted the recipe. Can't wait to try it. Thanks for posting it.
Pavel,
While I could not read anything on the link you gave me the photos looked great. I am sure I will have questions on this one as I try to learn how to make it. I look forward for your help with it. Thank you.
Here is the recipe that I posted sometime back. I have tried it, but as I had no way of measuring the pH it did not turn out. Now that I have my pH meter, and last weekends batch of mozz turned out, this is a recipe that I want to revisit. I was reading somewhere that for hand kneading the final pH should be closer to 5 than 5.4, which will work better for machine kneading.
(Deleted recipe)
Just checked Deb's recipe and it seems exactly the same.
Pavel,
In Debi's recipe above one of the steps is stated below. If I use citric acid this step is probably unnecessary because it will already be at the target PH. IS this basically the only change you make when you combine the 30 min recipe with the one Debi gave?
After about 1 hour test the curd to see whether it is ready for stretching by placing a piece in 160°F water. When curd is warm, take out and work with fingers, stretching the cheese. It is is brittle and breaks, it is not ready. pH 5.0-5.4
That is similar to the window pane test. The curds need to be able to stretch if they don't it's not ready.
Ben,
you are right. Adding citric acid gives you target pH right after you've mixed it in. So it's no need to wait pH lowering. Do you want to know a secret? I don't use pH meter. May be I'm silly but as hundreds years ago cheesemakers didn't have it so I'm trying to go on without it too :) And though pH measuring gives a good support to controll the proses, it's not what all cheesemaking is about.
So I add solution of 10 g citric acid in 100 ml of water to 5,5 l of raw milk. If milk is cold I heat it before it start to curdle. If temp of milk is close to room one, it starts to curdle immediately and at that point I add rennet, wait for clean break and than cut the curd.
OK Pavel. So if the milk begins to curdle almost immediately then the milk was not warm enough? Do you heat to 88 degrees Fahrenheit like Debi before adding acid and rennet? I made this tonight and above a good curd I had a layer of curdled milk. It seemed like it curdled to quickly for the rennet to do it's part. Has yours ever done that?
If the milk begins to curdle almost immediately so it IS warm enough and its temp is right 88 F or so. If milk curdle and it's temp is still too low I just add rennet and place it into double boiler with temp several degrees higher than 88. If the temp is lower a clean break doesn't appear or it takes too much time.
I don't use a pH meter, either. When I make cultured mozz (as opposed to the 30-minute, citric acid recipe), I have to allow my rinsed curds to sit at room temperature anywhere from 12-18 hours before they will "spin" when dipped in 185* water - so basically the same method that Ben uses.
Pavel wrote: "May be I'm silly but as hundreds years ago cheesemakers didn't have it so I'm trying to go on without it too :)"
I don't think that's silly - or if it is, it's silly in the best of ways. I think I can appreciate that approach.
Heck, if all I wanted was cheese, I could buy it.
Pavel I have never used ph meter on mozzarella. Just started using one for other cheese recently and I forget most of the time.
Hard to teach an ole girl new tricks! ;)
I'm a chemistry engineer, Debi, and this is one of the reasons why I don't use those meters. I don't want another chemical laboratory at home. Again I don't state I'm right. Everyone is free in our prison ;D
I think that the look and feel of the make are more intuitive for some people than others. It's like trying to create a recipe from something you have made forever and never measured anything - it doesn't come out the same.
Well for me, I was determined not to use a pH meter. I mean, cheese makers for centuries haven't used one, so it must be able to be done? Right?
Well just when I thought I understood the cheese, everything started to go wrong. I was having more misses than successes, and it was getting a little too expensive to keep ruining a cheese. As I also needed a pH meter for my mead I decided to bite the bullet and purchase one. I am hoping that as time goes, I will be able to learn from the look and feel, and that I won't eventually need the pH meter.
Fingers crossed.
Tea, how do you use the pH meter for your mead? I have two batches of mean going, and I think maybe I'd like to learn what the heck I'm doing with that.
I pretty much only used the pH meter for my dry aged (fermemnted sausage) but not cheese until I came here. Wayne got me curious about what my reading might be. I tried to remember it but I have made cheese for so many years without it I just always forget the darned thing. Now the battery is dead. :D
Mosborn, yeast need certain "living" conditions for them to grow and reproduce properly. If the pH is too low they will go into dormant stage, which can sometimes be the cause of a "stuck" fermentation. pH should be around 3.8 or above. Calcium Carbonate is used to bring up the pH and this can be done by adding 1/2-1 tsp at a time stirring and checking ph. Keep adding in this increment till pH is back to normal levels.
The mead I was concerned about was just honey and water nothing else to keep the yeast happy. Fermentation was very slow, and I was concerned that it was barely going to make 10% when the yeast should have made atleast 16%. Check pH and it was barely 3, made calcium carbonate additions, and the yeast finally fermented out at 17%. HTH
Ahhhhhhhhhhh. Many thanks, Tea.
Ya learn something every day -- and in my case that's good because it helps make up for all the stuff I forget every day.
:D I was reading the topic and Teas' post thinking it sonds like beer not mozzarella. You had me confused dear! ;D
Sorry Debi, I was going to tell John to move those couple of posts if he felt they needed to be.
It's okay Tea I am easily confuzzled! ;)
Tried to make mozzarella today by using the long way, not with citric acid. It was a beautiful thing. I had the water heated, attempts a few test curds with wonderful success. Cut the remaining curds that had matted after cooking and added the whole lot to the water. Within a short while the water had become milky, the curds had all basically shattered and now I am left with a pile of grainy,watery tasting cheese curds. Will try to turn them into cream cheese or something like. I don't understand how the curds could stretch so well as a test and then totally flop when added as a mass. Looks like it is time to make a cheese cake. :)
If your curds shatter you can sometimes recover them and switch to the microwave method of heating the curds. It will take longer but it often saves the day.
Try draining the curds and putting them i a large bowl (big enough to hold the curds and knead them. Nuke the curd for about 30 seconds and give it a bit of of push to see if they are soft enough to be worked. If not heat them again untill the curds are soft and pliable.
Keep doing this until they become a nice homogenious curd. Eventually this will turn into a nice stretchy mass of curd. Even works if you throw the curds in the fridge and work them the next day.
Whenever I make mozz, it is never in just 1 gallon batches. Always at least 3-5 gallons, so there is no way that I can heat all of the curd at once for stretching and kneading.
I usually put the curd into a smallish basket and dip it into heated, salted whey for a minute or so, bring it out and try to work it. Then it goes back in the whey for another minute, out again to work, etc.
I make up tennis ball sized mozz and brine them in a big glass jar overnight. I've had good success doing it this way.
Karen just use multiple bowls. While one is warming - knead the other. This is only as a last resort when the curds shatter. I've known a lot of people who have had that happen.
after a bit of work I have something that resembles Mozzarella but is much to dry to be called mozzarella. My intent is to keep it as humid as possable and age it a bit. Perhaps I will end up with something like a dry provalone. Below are 2 photos, the enemy to the process once the curds shatter seems to be moisture. I drained what I could and then heated the curds. Placing a folded paper towel I was able to begin removing the stubborn whey. This took many cycles to get all of the whey out that needed to be removed. Eventually the mass began to stick together. I was never able to stretch it like a real mozzarella though. It is a rubbery cheese for sure and this I think is due to the high heat needed to get the shattered curd to stick together. I heated it one final time and then put it in a long mold to cool. I will claim a small victory over the shattered curds and look forward to our next epic struggle with anticipation.
Looks like you are almost there. It will take a bunch of reheats before the curds finally meld but they will. I'd nuke it a few more times (maybe 4 or 5) it looks like it's almost at the stretchy point. It will get shiney and look like mozzarella after a few more heatings. Don't give up yet. It does take a lot to bring it back but at least it's usable.
I'd hate to count how many friends have done this and called yelling "HELP! WHAT DO I DO!"
I've never had the curds shatter - I was just explaining how I do it when I have such big batches of mozz. I heat my whey on the stovetop and dip the curd into it to warm it for stretching. I still wouldn't want to do it in half batches.
I like the smaller balls I come up with using my method, as they are just the right size for holding when grating.
I have thought that a part of the reason they shattered is because the curds were not in whey, but water. Also, I think that keeping them together, like in a basket as Karen describes, would also help greatly. My test curds were dipped into the water in a slotted spoon and they worked fine. Next time I will use heated whey and heat it in smaller batches that can be kept together tightly. I will try to remember to post here if I think it works. Oh, and 1 more thing, I like the idea of keeping the thermophilic (not citric acid) curds over night before stretching.
Thanks Karen and Debi.
Yeah I hear you Karen much easier that way. I like to make little bite sized balls for salads and frying too. I do fine that whe works better than water though don't you?
I figure that it should be used, rather than tossed. Last time, I made a three gallon batch of mozz and just kept out a gallon of it for the stretching. I added salt to the whey (only about a half cup, I believe), rather than try to salt the curds.
When I was done stretching my mozz, I added the rest of the whey back in and made ricotta. I think the yield was better because of the additional whey that was expelled from the mozz went back into the pot, rather than being wasted in hot water. Plus, the ricotta didn't require any additional salt - the amount was perfectly balanced in the ricotta.
The used up whey was fed to my chickens. They've been producing eggs really well this winter, so this cheesemaking benefits the entire farm. I love it!
Sorry, Ben, if I've hijacked your thread.
I, too, prefer the thermophilic mozz, but will still make the citric acid version if I'm out and need some cheese in a short period of time. I'm trying to get really well stocked in the freezer so I don't need to resort to the quick stuff, though.
Agreed - the quick stuff doesn't have the flavor the thermo stuff has.
Are these what your looking for?
Yes nilo, Those are the cheeses I want to learn. They are a type of mozzarella but very soft. Some instruction was given above but if you have a recipe I would love to see it to compare with the others. I ate some yesterday that was a little past it's prime and was certain I tasted a mild lipase in the cheese.
Very nice Nilo did you make those? I can never get them the same exact size.
Yes i made them myself although it took me awhile to perfect them , but i still have a problem with the texture , its kind of dry on the inside, and once i submerge it to brine hte rind will pill off after 3 days . Can anyone tell me why?Regards.