Tried Mozz with Ricki's kit

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

RedIrocZ-28

Supporting Member
HBT Supporter
Joined
Oct 22, 2008
Messages
850
Reaction score
31
Location
Grand Rapids, MI
The GF and I went out and got the kit, and the milk and went to town on the kit.

She bought some milk at the store that I researched, and made sure that it was non-homogenized, and also that it was low temp pasteurized. 'As close to straight from the cow as you can get' the label says. I researched the farm, and their method and process and verified all this was true.

So, we start by dumping the milk in my SS pot and brought it up to the required temp and added the Citric acid, let that sit for the required time, then added the rennet and stirred for no more than 30 seconds. I timed it.

Then we let it sit for about 25-30 minutes because after only 5 minutes the curd was not very "solid", very milky really. Anyway, after a half hour, since the consistency did not change, I decided that we were going to just go with it. So we began cutting the curd, let that sit, then we tried to drain the whey. Got most of it out, and then looked at the curd. It was very runny and NOT well formed. Strained it a few times, still no consistency, so I decided that we would heat it up. That helped. Finally we got it workable. And it eventually made cheese. Albeit not a pound like it should have, but a good 10oz.

Why was the curd so runny? We used the right amount of citric acid and the right amount of Rennet, and hit temps.
 
After a few half assed attempts, I've decided cheese is something I would rather buy. Yogurt is easy and good though!
 
Like I say it turned out, but it was WAY less than it should have been because the curds never formed very firmly.

Aug02_0002-1.jpg
 
I'm with you Ray. I HATE to say this but I am just plain happier with my local cheese sources than my own efforts. Including mozz.

I do plan to try a couple different more things, and another stab at mozz, but so far, I am disappointed. BUT, I do have a cheddar in the cheese cave, (and yes, I spent $150 on a wine cooler/cheese cave) that could change my mind about the whole endeavor. We'll see.

Red, you might need a touch of cacl to firm up the curd. Maybe your temp did not get up quite high enough, or maybe the milk was a touch older. Also, you can adjust the citric acid and rennet levels and microwave heating times to fine tune. It is a trial and error type thing though and it might take a few batches to dial in the process.
 
Yeah, I bought some Spartan Milk and made Cheddar and all I needed to do was add CaCl to the mix. What really irks me is I spent $10 for the gallon of milk to make the Mozz. And the cheapo $1.88/gal Spartan milk made awesome curds with the CaCl.
 
We had the same results as the OP using Ricki's kit. Tried twice with same results. Curds not forming. Been doing some more research and even read Ricki's book. The directions from the kit and from the book do not contain the same steps. Seems they left some information out of the kit instructions. I am going to try again this weekend for one last attempt.
 
If you can get raw milk somewhere, do it. It makes a huge difference. Not that other milk won't work. It's just that fresh raw is better.
 
After a few half assed attempts, I've decided cheese is something I would rather buy.

Me too. Not that I didn't get some okay results but that there is way too much effort for a mediocre payout.

You can get better results with true raw milk but that stuff costs me $9/ gallon. I can get real Italian market made fresh mozz for about $8/ lb.
 
We use milk from a farm that we pick up in glass bottles. We are going to pick up some more and will try 1/2 tablet instead of 1/4 tablet.
 
We picked up more milk and used 1/2 a tablet. After adding the citrus acid blend, we heated it all up to 110 and then added the rennit. Came out just fine.
 
Someone tell Ricki that the 1/4 tablet isn't working. It can't come from me because I am a competitor. This is why we have our own kit.

Forrest
 
I actually just finished a bite of herb de provence cheddar that I made at the beginning of October and it's fantastic.

I also started with a Ricki Hard Cheese Kit and later bought her book. It's also where I lost respect for her company.

The recipies that came in the hard cheese pamphlet weren't working for me. When I cross referenced them in the book... they were different recipies. I emailed and was told that although they were different, they both would work. I emailed back simply stating that one worked for me and one didn't and why the inconsistency from recipies coming from the same source?

Never got a reply. Will not order supplies there again.
 
Hey guys, I haven't made cheese or anything yet. I saw it was attached to the HBT forums so I thought I'd step in and check things out. Has anyone tried the Austin Homebrew Supply kit? I'm interested in seeing if this one is any better.
 
Yes, over 750 people have tried the Austin Homebrew Supply Mozzarella cheese kit. It is a killer deal.... Just sayin'

Forrest
 
Hard cheeses are harder to make. No pun intended. You need a cheese press and months of time.

The hard cheese kit includes cheddar. I would master the soft cheeses first.

Forrest
 
Thanks for the heads up. I like to make my own pizza from scratch...I never thought about making the cheese from scratch too haha. ...now all I need to do is figure out how to make pepperoni...got a kit for that? :p
 
Because Pasteurization removes calcium, you may need to add a small amount of calcium chloride to aid coagulation and form curd.

About 3/4 crystals to 5 gal of milk. Dissolve the Calcium Chloride first in 1/4 cup H2O before adding to milk.

Also, unless you make ricotta from whey that comes from left from cheese that had a cultured starter (mesophlic bacteria, etc.) you won't get ricotta.
 
Yes, over 750 people have tried the Austin Homebrew Supply Mozzarella cheese kit. It is a killer deal.... Just sayin'

Forrest

Forrest, my daughter and I just whipped up a batch of the Mozzarella cheese from AHS and in a word, it's gooooooooooooooooood. Thanks!

Edit: We followed the instructions from the YouTube video on the AHS site instead of the instructions that came with the kit.

IMG_1391.jpg
 
Back
Top