Lets make the press

I  really want to make cheddar but it looks like it take 50lbs of pressure to compress it to a nice wheel. I looked at cheese presses and they start at around 100 bucks for a simple one. I decided Iwas going to make my own. I did the research and found some ideas people had and decided to try one. Cost me around 20 bucks and looks like it is going to work pretty good. Here are some pics of it. It really does not need any explanation it's pretty straight forward. 4 24" threaded rods, don't try looking for bolt this long you will never find them, I know I looked and found these threaded rods by sheer accident. 8 hex nuts and metal washers to secure the bottom wood plate. 2 squares of wood whatever demensions you want. 1 piece 3" and 1 peice 4" pvc pipe and something to fit inside the 4" pvc as a follower. You can trace the inside of the pvc then cut a piece of wood to fit of use hard plastic.  Good luck...

Creamier is better

Two facts seem to be the major contributors to a soft creamy Mozz. First and foremost is the amount of butterfat and second is the amount of calcium chloride. And again I must say that if you are using raw milk you will not need to use the calcium chloride. It is the pasturization and all the processing done on store bought milk that needs the calcium chloride. Even with store bought milk you may get away without using the calcium chloride but like I mentioned in my earlier post it is a hit and miss situation. Your more prone to all kinds of variables, time , temp, and the quality of the milk. Never use ultra-pasturized milk it just won't cheese up. My last Mozz I replaced 1 quart of milk with half and half and boy what a difference that made. It was much softer and when you bite into it you could feel the creamy texture of the added butterfat. Not bad I thought but my next experiment will be to cut the calcium chloride from 1/2 teas to 1/4 teas and maybe be more attentive of the quality of the curd during the 30 minute waiting period and adding more time for a firmer curd if needed. I also am thinking about replacing 1 quart of the milk with goats milk and see how that turns out, although at this time I have yet to find a supply of goats milk that is not ultr-pasturized. Now maybe since 3/4 of my milk is not ultra-pasturized it might work...Hmmmmm Going to have to do some research. Well until next time I'll let you know how things turn out, or not.....

Start with the basics THEY WORK

This recipe will work everytime read the notes on the bottom for some subtle changes that make it work a bit better.

• 1 gallon whole milk 
  
• 2 tsp of citric acid
  
• 1/2 tsp calcium chloride in 2 Tbs distilled water  ( You must use this on store bought milk )
  
• 1/2 rennet tablet in 1/4 cup distilled water ( liquid works a bit better )
  
• 1/2 teaspoon flaked salt
  A instant read thermometer will work just fine
  
  

1. Place one gallon whole milk into a stainless steel pot. Measure the remaining ingredients into four individual containers. This will allow you to make the cheese without worrying about measurements.
   
2. Place the stock pot of milk on the stove over medium heat. It is important that you heat the milk slowly. Sprinkle in the citric acid and diluted calcium chloride while you gently stir. Heat slowly until the milk reaches 88°F. Stir every few minutes to prevent scorching the milk on the bottom of the pot. You will begin to see the curd develop.Once the milk reaches 88°F, stir in the rennet and water mixture. Continue stirring every few minutes until the milk reaches 105°F.
   
3. Remove from the heat and let the milk set covered for 20 minutes. Curd (white mass) and whey (greenish liquid) will now be fully separated.
   
4. Use a slotted spoon or strainer to transfer the curd to a microwave safe dish. If the curd is too soft to transfer, let the milk sit a few more minutes. Pour off as much of the whey as you can. Gently press the curds together with the spoon and force more whey out of them. Squeeze out and drain as much whey as possible.
   
5. Place the curd in the microwave on high for one minute. Remove and press the curds again to force out more whey. The cheese should begin to mass together and become sticky.
   
6. If it does not, you will need to leave it in the microwave a few seconds longer. Not all microwaves are equal! It will not hurt to place the cheese back in the microwave for 20 - 30 seconds more if necessary. Please note the total time needed for future reference.
   
7. Add the flaked salt a little at a time and knead the cheese with a spoon as you would bread dough. It will become smooth and shiny. Place the curd back into the microwave and heat on high for one more minute. Remove from oven and drain any remaining whey. This time your cheese will be too hot to handle, about 140-150° F.
   
8. Knead the cheese again until it sticks to the spoon and pulls away from the bowl.
   
9. When the cheese begins to stretch like taffy, it is almost done. You can have some fun now by pulling and stretching the cheese until it is completely cooled. This is an important step. Stretching will make the cheese firm and stringy. If you prefer a softer texture don't stretch as much.
   
10. Place the cheese in an air tight container or wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate. Use this cheese within one week or store it in the freezer for up to one month. If your cheese is too soft to shred for pizza, place it in the freezer then shred and use it partly frozen.

NOTES:  Leave pot on burner after you turn it off needs residual heat to ripen better 30-45 min not 20
                Instead of stretching knead on board like dough for 1 minute or until shiney.
This will produce a nice 1 lb ball of the Mozz. The end product will be quite firm after it is chilled.
My next blog will give up some tricks for a creamy softer Mozz. Then we will get into flavorings..

The wrong way to make Mozz

Since this is a new blog I figured I might want to post like crazy to get people interested. First off let me give you a recipe for Mozz that when it works is wonderful. The only draw back is it only works 50% of the time which can be very fustrating.......

How to make this cheese :

The Milk:Make sure the milk you use for this cheese is NOT ULTRA- PASTEURIZED --Homogenized milk will work fine. --Fresh farm milk will also work well but we encourage you to try with 1 gallon of store bought whole milk first. --Low fat milk will work but the cheese will be drier and less flavorful You will need: --A 6 to 8 quart stainless steel pot. Aluminum or cast iron will not work. --A stainless steel or strong plastic slotted spoon. --A two quart microwave safe mixing bowl --measuring spoons --A thermometer which will clearly read between 80 - 120 degrees F. Prepare your work area:Do not prepare any other food while you are making cheese. Put all food products away Move all sponges, cloths and dirty towels away from your work surface, wipe your sink and stove with soap and water. Finally use your antibacterial cleaner to wipe down all surfaces. Process: crush 1/4 tablet of rennet and dissolve in 1/4 cup of cool unchlorinated water and set aside to use later. Add 1.5 tsp. of citric acid (diluted in 1 cup cool water to 1 gallon of cold milk and stir well. (Add the citric acid solution to the empty cold pot - the photos show adding this dry but do mix with water). Now pour cold milk into your pot quite quickly to mix well with the citric acid . This will bring the milk to the proper acidity to stretch well later. Next Heat this milk to 90F As you approach 90F you may notice your milk beginning to curdle slightly due to acidity and temp.NOTE: if having problems with milk forming a proper curd you may need to increase this temp to 95 or even 100F At 90F remove the pot from the burner and slowly add your rennet (which you prepared in previous step) to the milk and stir in a top to bottom motion for app. 30 seconds, then stop. Cover the pot and leave undisturbed for 5 minutes. Check the curd, it will look like custard, with a clear separation between the curds and whey. If too soft or the whey is milky, let set for a few more minutes. Cut the curds into a 1" checkerboard pattern (as in photos above) and if a drier cheese is desired carefully cut and stir this curd to release more whey. Place the pot back on the stove adn heat to 105F, while slowly stirring the curds with your ladle. (If you will be stretching the curds in a hot water bath heat to 110F in this step.)Take off the burner adn continue slowly stirring for 2-5 minutes. (More time will make a firmer cheese) Then scoop the curds with a slotted sp0on into a heat proof bowl to be used in the microwave. (If the curd is too soft at this point let sit for another minute or so)You will now press this curd gently with your hand, pouring off as much whey as possible. Reserve this whey to use in cooking. This recipe will not work maybe 50% of  the time even though the website that publishes this swears by it......Go ahead and try it.......Let me know what happens.... Wanna know whats missing ? Check out my next blog......You will spend hours tearing out your hair waiting for this to work....Forget it......Follow me...... Next microwave the curd on HI for 1 minute. You will notice more whey has run out of the curd. Drain off all whey as you did before.Quickly work the cheese with a spoon or your hands until it is cool enough to touch (rubber gloves will help since the cheese is almost too hot to touch at this point) Microwave 2 more times for 35 seconds each and repeat the kneading as in the last step. Drain all of the whey off as you go. Knead quickly now as you would bread dough until it is smooth and shiny. Add salt near the finish. At this point the cheese should be soft and pliable enough to stretch like taffy. It is ready to eat when it cools. Form it into a ball and drop into ice water to cool and refrigerate. When cold you can wrap in plastic wrap and it will last for several days but is best when eaten fresh. Option: --A substitution of reconstituted dry milk and cream is very viable and is a great option if you can not find the right type of milk --Lipase may be added to the milk to provide a typical italian cheese flavor --If you want a softer texture, do not let the curd set as firm and work less when draining and kneading.. this will make a moister cheese.

More facts to help you decide......No secrets YET.....

Do you like Mozz ? have you ever had fresh ? Probably not and you will be amazed how different it is from store bought which is filled with cornstarch and tons of fillers... Time consuming to make ? NOT.....Less then an hour and the satisfaction of making a pound of fresh Mozz from a gallon of milk is like winning the lottery...You look....Then you look again...Then you taste and guess what ? Your hooked.....You think of all the possibilities of flavors and getting the texture just right.......I've got it pretty much to the point where I can mess with the steps and still get it right. Do me a favor look on the net for a recipe for Mozz and try it....I can bet you it will fail at least 50% of the time....Mine 100% success even when you mess with stuff because I know the chemistry and know where the truth lies....< grin >  Next up tried and true recipe....................This Mozz I added Sweet basil and garlic. It is very good.....

Making Mozzarella for the first time the ugly facts

I have been making mozzarella cheese for a couple of weeks now and have found out that a lot of the recipes and the facts people spout just don't fly in the real world. First it is the picking the right milk syndrome that is your first confusing fact. Organic or not ? Well if you look most organic milks are ultra-pasturized, no good for making any kind of cheese. Look for a local source for the milk and then do your research website etc... to see the process that they use to prepare milk for market. I live in California so I use Berkeley Farms milk at 2.99 a gallon an absolute bargain for a pound of Mozz. When I first started making Mozz everyone told me ( websites ) no Calcium Chloride for Mozz for it will not stretch.....( WRONG ) it will stretch just fine but the finished product will be a bit firmer....Stick with me and I will give you the fool proof recipe for making Mozz and along the way I will share some special changes I have made to better the end product.........