Help with mozzarella please.

[freakynorm]

I tried making some fresh mozzarella today. I picked up some raw whole milk from the co-op and did the normal recipe. Citric acid, heat, rennet, rest, cut curd, etc. After draining it, I set it in a bowl and poured whey over it that was heated to 185F. I let it sit about 20 seconds and went to stretch it out but it was very stiff and not stretching very well. I watched a lot of videos and generally, people would pull the curd from the heated whey and gravity would just let it stretch out. It was also very yellow, which I think was due to the diet of the cows. The milk itself had a yellow tinge to it.

After stretching it, I molded it into 2 balls and it was very hard to rip apart. I let the 2 pieces rest in some salted whey for 15 minutes. The taste was ok. It could use a bit more salt. I've watched other videos of people salting the cheese directly while stretching it. I will try it that way next time. I put it on a homemade pizza and it melted just fine and tasted fine, but I was looking to get a softer, looser melt to it like you seen on a neopolitan pizza.

The first batch is in the pics I attached. The curd was a bit loose on the first batch for some reason. The second batch it was very firm and a lot whiter in appearance. Not sure why there was such a difference between the two. The end results were identical though in every aspect.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

 

[DRKsmoking]

I am here to see what others have to say to help you. As I am very interested also.
Your pizza looks great

David

 

[SmokinAl]

Here is a step by step that I did a few years ago on making Mozzarella.

Homemade Mozzarella, it's so easy! Plenty of Q-view!

First off let me post the recipe I went by. Then I'll go through the steps. Mozzarella cheese Dissolve ¼ rennet tablet in ¼ cu. of non chlorinated water. Heat 1 gallon of whole milk (not ultra pasteurized) in a stainless steel pot ( don’t use aluminum or cast iron ) on med/low ( 4-5 ) until...

www.smokingmeatforums.com

Al

 

[tx smoker]

Here is a step by step that I did a few years ago on making Mozzarella.

Thank you Al. I was going to look for this and post it when I saw the title of the thread but you're on top of it.

Al's is a great recipe and the tutorial is perfection. This makes some darned fine cheese. now...on a different note, if you like garlic dill pickles, you might want to give his a look also. Been making them for a couple years now and they are fantastic!!

Robert

 

[clifish]

Here is a step by step that I did a few years ago on making Mozzarella.

Homemade Mozzarella, it's so easy! Plenty of Q-view!

First off let me post the recipe I went by. Then I'll go through the steps. Mozzarella cheese Dissolve ¼ rennet tablet in ¼ cu. of non chlorinated water. Heat 1 gallon of whole milk (not ultra pasteurized) in a stainless steel pot ( don’t use aluminum or cast iron ) on med/low ( 4-5 ) until...

www.smokingmeatforums.com

Al

Hey Al,

Why does the water need to be non chlorinated? What did you use distilled or just any bottled water? Mine also came out hard but I atributed it to possibly high pasturized milk. Next time I will look at trader joes or Whole foods for some organic whole ilk?

 

[DRKsmoking]

Thanks freakynorm , for posting this question. I will now be checking out SmokinAl 's link . so I can book mark and get this on my to do list
As we make lots of pizza and Lasgana. So we go through a lot of Mozza

Thanks

David

 

[SmokinAl]

Hey Al,

Why does the water need to be non chlorinated? What did you use distilled or just any bottled water? Mine also came out hard but I atributed it to possibly high pasturized milk. Next time I will look at trader joes or Whole foods for some organic whole ilk?

I used distilled water, apparently the chlorine stops the process from working correctly. Not sure what the science behind it is, but I know for sure that distilled water works best. For the milk, we just use Borden’s whole milk. As long as it doesn’t say super pasteurized your OK. Although I would think that fresh milk from a dairy farmer would be the absolute best option. Good luck,
Al

 

[clifish]

I used distilled water, apparently the chlorine stops the process from working correctly. Not sure what the science behind it is, but I know for sure that distilled water works best. For the milk, we just use Borden’s whole milk. As long as it doesn’t say super pasteurized your OK. Although I would think that fresh milk from a dairy farmer would be the absolute best option. Good luck,
Al

Thanks, no cows here on Long Island that I know about.

 

[Brokenhandle]

I will add that we have made mozz following Al's tutorial with great success! But we used liquid rennet and I think it loses it's potency. The last couple tries didn't work out so well but have gotten new so looking forward to make more!

Ryan