I don't know where I am going wrong - but I refuse to give up. The first mozz I made at least stretched (using MrsKK's recipe but I added just a hint of dried meso). It had no flavour though and was like rubber -overstretched in my newbie enthusiasm. 2nd and third goes I am pretty sure over-acidified - used yogurt as culture.
So this time around I decided to adapt a little, using more of the 'generic' method from the wiki site here.
12 litres raw cows milk (probably getting on for 2 days old by the time I started the mozz)
6 oz, maybe closer to 7oz yogurt (made in the yogurt maker the night before - definitely live cultures there)
2.5mls calfs rennet (bottle says 0.2-0.5 per liter) - too much?
Heated as per recipe, ripened for 1 hour, added rennet - clean break at 50 mins - all looking good so far.
Cut curds (all good) and kept at 32.5 C for 1/2 an hour.
Stirred very gently and raised temp to 40C over half hour period, holding for 5 mins. I noticed some of the curd getting a bit stretchy in the water at this stage.
Drained whey and put curds over another pot in hot water bath to maintain temp at 40C.
Flipped the curds a couple of times - whey draining away and curds matting nicely at this stage.
Generic recipe says to cook at this temp for 2-3 hours. I decided to do a little spin test after one hour and lo and behold - STRETCH! Curds looking good, taste good.
It took about 1/2 hour to 3/4 hour for my whey (intended to use for stretching) to heat up to the stated 76C. With great glee I proceed to begin working some of the curd - DISINTEGRATION :( :o I keep trying but to no avail - all I got was mush.
So - any hints on what happened? Did it overacidify in the time I was heating up the whey? Was the milk too old to start with and already too acidic? Did I add too much yogurt or not enough? Was the whey too hot? not hot enough?
For this weeks attempt I am going out and getting some litmus paper (rather expensive ones that have a chart that at least reads in increments of 5.0, 5.3, 5.5 etc) I just cannot afford a proper pH meter at this stage.
Any help would appreciated - I am determined to master the mozz, and all the "forget mozz and just keep making halloumi cause I like it" comments from he who provideth the milk only serve to increase my stubborness and determination. >:D
Well I am still not sure exactly what the problem was - but this time I made the mozz before anything else in the hopes that the fresher milk would work better. I didn't manage to get hold of any pH papers so again relying on spin test. This time I also added a little cultured buttermilk. The result - WONDERFUL mozz ;D ;D ;D. Stretched beautifully, lovely flavour - everything I could hope for - hoping with a larger batch next week it will work again.
Well done! I've not had a really good successful mozz yet. Only tried it a couple times, and the last one over acidified greatly.
- Jeff
Thanks Jeff - we will see if I can repeat the success later in the week ::) I was looking at your sig line and thinking just how true that is. I am a stubborn B***h. Try your mozz again - go on I dare ya >:D
Yah, I'll try it again. At the moment I've been builing up a supply of hard cheeses to age. I want to have a decent lot for around Christmas and New Years. But, eventually, I'll be thinking it's time to show that mozz which one of us is the big cheese! :)
- Jeff
With mozz, I've discovered that the fresher the milk, the better, otherwise the acidity gets really weird.
Thanks Karen - yes I think the age of the milk really does seem to make a difference. It is so nice when something goes right ;D
Jeff, I haven't attempted any hard cheeses yet, I need to sort out temperature control for aging before I start, but I certainly am keen to move on.
Any of you Auckland cheesemakers got together for a wine and cheese afternoon yet? Could be fun :)
Hi drumbeat,
If you can get a wine fridge, they work well as an aging cave. They will set the temperature to about 10 C at their warmest setting. Pick up some of the plastic boxes from the Warehouse or plastic box etc, and you can keep the humidity pretty well. Auckland's natural humidity level is fairly high, so it's not hard to keep things moist enough - it's drying things out that can be tricker! Also, especially this time of year, it's not too hot so air drying isn't a problem.
Haven't got together with anyone else. Just friends and family really. Things are busy at work, and with the newest little one, not a lot of time to plan things other than getting up and going to sleep for 2 hours, then getting up again, etc! But who knows? Perhaps in the summer.
- Jeff
All sounds good -thanks for the advice. At the moment I just don't have dollars to spare, but I do have a cool basement garage that seems to keep a fairly even temp all year round. I am going to look at that as a starting point to see how consistent it is.
I hear you with the little ones. I thought I was way past that, but then my son decides (um kind of) to have a kid too early lol. Grandparenting is fun too :)
Summer is always a better time for get togethers, especially when there are kids around :)
Made a pizza for the Jon's birthday yesterday and it turned out sublime, if I do say so myself. The mozz melted beautifully, tasted great. I used whey in the pizza dough and it gave a lovely crust. I would have taken a photo but I had to rush off to a hospital appointment and it was pretty much all eaten by the time I got back lol.
Yah, if you can find the cash it's worth it, but it's the finding that's the hard part these days. Check out trade me and what not. Might be something floating around for cheap.
Anyway, the pizza sounds good. We often use the whey in our bread maker. If the whey is not too acidic I'll use it for making porridge too. Most of it I give to my mother-in-law as she makes heaps of buns and such, so she can use it up.
- Jeff
Made another batch of mozz today - with a lot more milk. The Jon was saying 'don't **** it up cause this milk is worth blah blah - I just asked him what my time was worth - spent 11 hours there today ::) But yeah another good mozz batch so I am happy :) Had an interesting little experiment with the ricotta making too which I will put in a different post.
Jon has three large dogs who love the whey, and their coats are shining. My chickens LOVE it. My cat hums and hahs over it - but she does that with all her food. I use it in the breadmaker too and it does make a difference. Been reading a bit about it and thinking maybe I should start drinking the stuff too lol.
Not stalking you Jeff, but I caught post here where your little Gregor was born. My youngest (who is now 19) was born August 14th and his name is Jeffrey. It made me smile to think of 19 years ago and all the joy and sleepless nights :) My grandson (nearly 11 months now - and no not the 19 year old's kid) is giving us more of those days and nights.
Hoping to try havarti next week, just have to get a few extra things in, working out the budget.
If you have house plants you can dilute the whey about 1:4 with water being the greater amount and water the plants with it. They'll grow really lush for you. Or you can use it in the garden the same way.
Great job on getting the mozz figured out.
If you still haven't found the litmus paper yet, you can buy it from the Cottage Crafts website in NZ.
I am also having problems with Mozzarella might give the Buttermilk a try and see what happens.
I have a question regarding Pasteurized/unpasteurized milk used for making mozzarella cheese.
Is it possible/safe to use unpasteurized milk for making mozzarella cheese, since heating the cheese curds during the kneading process brings the temperature of the cheese up to approx. the same value required for pasteurization?
Hi ndelic,
Yes, at least it's my understanding that heating the mozz to temperature should achieve the same thing as heating the milk before starting. Actually, the heating of the mozz will kill off the starter bacteria as well.
- Jeff