bmckee56
Well-Known Member
I tried the basic recipe found in BYO and failed miserably. I then strarted to do some research and found better information and methods to use.
I went to Leeners and purchased the rennet tablets, some calcium chloride, flaked salt and a few other future ingredients for other cheese recipe attempts.
On Wednesday morning, I purchased my milk and began my 3rd attempt (yeah... I failed at it the first couple of times). I placed my milk into the pot and added my citric acid (2 tsp.)and slowly began to heat the milk. After a few minutes, I added the clacium chloride (1/2 tsp. dissolved) and got the milk up to 88 degrees. During the heating I noticed some very small curd formulation that I had not achieved in the previous batch attempts. I believe this was due to better citric acid and the addition of the calcium chloride. I added the rennet (1/2 tablet dissolved in distilled water) and brought the milk up to 105 degrees (gently stirring every several minutes). I removed the pot from the heat and allowed it to sit for 20 minutes, then drained the whey from the curds. I heated the curds in the microwave and kneaded gently to seperate as much of the whey as possible. I added flaked salt to the mozzarella as I stretched it and after several minutes I was done. I cut it up into small pieces, wrapped it and placed it in the refrigerator for use tonight on my homemade pizza with all fresh, home grown ingredients and of course Beer to pair with.
The final product was a bit firmer than I had hoped for and I need to determine what if anything I did wrong. I was hoping for a softer texture. I suppose it may have been the stretching or it might have been the amount of rennet, calcium chloride additions. Can anyone offer some suggestions on getting a smoother, softer texture to the mozzarella?
This was a 1 gallon batch by the way.
Salute!
I went to Leeners and purchased the rennet tablets, some calcium chloride, flaked salt and a few other future ingredients for other cheese recipe attempts.
On Wednesday morning, I purchased my milk and began my 3rd attempt (yeah... I failed at it the first couple of times). I placed my milk into the pot and added my citric acid (2 tsp.)and slowly began to heat the milk. After a few minutes, I added the clacium chloride (1/2 tsp. dissolved) and got the milk up to 88 degrees. During the heating I noticed some very small curd formulation that I had not achieved in the previous batch attempts. I believe this was due to better citric acid and the addition of the calcium chloride. I added the rennet (1/2 tablet dissolved in distilled water) and brought the milk up to 105 degrees (gently stirring every several minutes). I removed the pot from the heat and allowed it to sit for 20 minutes, then drained the whey from the curds. I heated the curds in the microwave and kneaded gently to seperate as much of the whey as possible. I added flaked salt to the mozzarella as I stretched it and after several minutes I was done. I cut it up into small pieces, wrapped it and placed it in the refrigerator for use tonight on my homemade pizza with all fresh, home grown ingredients and of course Beer to pair with.
The final product was a bit firmer than I had hoped for and I need to determine what if anything I did wrong. I was hoping for a softer texture. I suppose it may have been the stretching or it might have been the amount of rennet, calcium chloride additions. Can anyone offer some suggestions on getting a smoother, softer texture to the mozzarella?
This was a 1 gallon batch by the way.
Salute!