First shot at mozzarella, photo journal style

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nostalgia

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The wife bought me a cheese-making kit, so I put it to work today. We don't have a microwave, so I used hot water to stretch the curd at the end. It worked shockingly well and was really easy. Honestly, I think the microwave would have been more of a pain.

But anyway, pictures.

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-Joe
 
And of course, the final product. Needed more salt (I used 1 tsp of the "cheese salt" included in the kit), but was delicious nonetheless. Texture was perfect - firm, but not rubbery.

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-Joe
 
thats feckin awesome.

i cant wait to get a cheese set.

just for clarification, mozz. is a non-aged cheese, no?
 
just for clarification, mozz. is a non-aged cheese, no?
Yepper, I was eating it less than an hour after I started. Instant, delicious gratification :)

And KuntyBrew, if it helps I treated it like I do when making a boule from bread dough - develop surface tension by stretching it, then folding it to the back. Turn 90 degrees, repeat until smooth and uniform.

-Joe
 
Save the whey and you can make ricotta. When I make mozzarella I make a double batch so I'll have plenty of whey for ricotta. Then I use half the mozzarella and all the ricotta to make lasagna.
 
Just to prove to myself the first shot wasn't a fluke, I grabbed another gallon of whole, organic milk at my local farm today. And...

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Same process as before, I just upped the salt to 1 1/2tsp from the 1tsp I used last time. Haven't tasted it yet, report to follow.

Since I hate wasting food (and milk is expensive!) I decided to try making ricotta from the whey. Pretty easy - get the whey up to 200F, let it sit for 5 minutes, pour through a cloth, hang to drain.

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It's still draining now, so I'll post up the results when I have them!

-Joe
 
The ricotta came out great! Mild flavor, but definitely ricotta and very yummy.

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For lunch I made grilled cheeze with the fresh mozz, bacon and tomato from the same farm. So good!

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-Joe
 
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