Cheesy

I made another batch of mozzarella using Ricki’s cheesemaking kit.  This time, I took some photos along the way, and I thought I’d share my own discoveries about the process.   She claims it takes just 30 minutes, but it’s more like 45 for me, which is cut down from the first time I tried the process, so I imagine it’ll just get easier.

The instructions are reasonably simple, but it seems like people are nervous about it, anyway.  So, my first tip is, RELAX!  It’s just cheese for crying out loud.  And the cheese knows if you’re nervous, really, it does.

The instructions direct you to dissolve one quarter of a rennet tablet in a quarter cup of cool water:

and dissolve the citric acid in a cup of cool water, pour into a large pot, then add a gallon of milk (NOT ultra-pasteurized milk).

Heat the mixture, over medium heat, to 88 degrees.

(Mine’ s a little hot here, so I stirred it for a minute, off the heat.)

Next, add the rennet mixture, stir gently for 30 seconds, then let sit for 5 to 8 minutes, until the curds have separated from the whey.

I always have to let it sit a little longer than 8 minutes (if the whey is still milky, and not clear, yellowish, then you need to let it sit longer.).   Here’s where I think people panic.  You need to drain as much whey off the curds, but you don’t need to get rid of all of it.  See, as you heat up the curds, you’ll knead them a little at a time, and they’ll actually come together and make it easier to drain the whey.

So put the mixture into a big, microwave-safe bowl, draining as much whey as possible at this point, but not worrying about it too much.

Microwave for one minute, then drain what you can after kneading, or stirring, the curds into a ball – be patient, and don’t freak out too much, you’re going to lose some solids along the way.

After the initial one minute warm up, keep up the draining, kneading process (heating for only 35 seconds at a time) until the cheese gets shiny and stretchy.

I added the salt during the second-to-last kneading go-round.

When the stuff becomes cheese, cool the little sucker in some ice water, then wrap and refrigerate!  I think next time I’ll make several smaller balls, rather than one big, honking, one.

See, it’s fun!  Don’t panic!

P. S. Sort of buried in her instructions, Ricki suggests using cool water to rinse milk solids from your pots/pans.  This is a great tip for getting rid of those sticky little buggers that dry on everything.