Well...
Having recently been advised how easy it is to make one's own Mozzarella cheese, and then Ricotta from the whey, I have decided to dive headfirst into yet another step on the path to self-sustainability (sort of). Cheese-making.
I figure this skill will hold me in good stead for when I run away to the country and buy a herd of cows, eventually, as soon as they work out a foolproof way to deter snakes from vast open spaces
So, after making a more than semi-succesful batch of Mozzarella on Tuesday night, I decided this was something I could do. Even better, the temperatures involved means that it's something the munchkin can help me out with as well.
I know many of you already dabble in this, but for the uninitiated I thought I would log my attempts, both successes and failures. Hopefully this inspires someone else to have a go, or to get back into it.
The ingredients to make Mozzarella, in it's most basic form, can all be purchased from your local Coles or Woolworths so it's a good first cheese to try at home.
For a single batch:
Buy a thermometer. I used a cheap one from the chemist because it's all I could find, but it was a bit hit and miss with it's small range. A milk thermometer is great.
3.8L (US gallon) of whole milk. I used Bannister Downs, because it's my favourite, and is relatively unaltered. You can use any milk you like, except for UHT milk which won't give you curds. Raw milk would be best, but can't be sold un-pasteurised in Australia. The next best is pasteurised but non-homogenised milk. In reality, anything is fine for your first go
1.25 teaspoons of Citric Acid dissolved in 1/4 cup un-chlorinated (i.e. not tap) water. This can be found in the baking aisle with bicarb soda and the like.
Rennet. Now, in the supermarket, the best you can hope to find is Junket Rennet Tablets. These are not pure rennet, and therefore you will need to use more than if you were using pure rennet tablets or liquid. I got good results with 1 full tablet, crushed and dissolved in 1/4 cup water.
Over a low-medium heat, slowly bring the milk up to 32C (88F) and add the dissolved acid and stir to combine.
Maintain this temperature and add the dissolved rennet. Stir thoroughly to combine, using a gentle up and down chopping action, for no more than 20 seconds.
Now, without poking or prodding, leave the mixture to separate into curds and whey (Miss Muffet's favourite) for 20-40 minutes. It could take more or less depending on your exact quantities, type of milk, temperature, type of rennet etc. Be flexible.
After this time, you should be able to see that the milk has formed a solid curd at the surface. You are looking for a 'clean break', which is when a knife or finger pulled up through the curd, leaves a distinct line where the curd separates from the whey.
At this point you can cut the curd, either into 1cm cubes with a long knife, or by gently chopping with a balloon whisk.
Bring the temperature slowly to 40C (105F) and gently stir the curds to stop them from matting together. The added heat firms the curds, so you want to keep gently stirring until they have firmed up a little. Anywhere from 3-15 minutes apparently. Don't let the mix get over 45C, try and keep it at a constant 40C.
Scoop out the curds into a colander and retain the whey to make ricotta.
Add salt at this point (non-iodised) and push the curds around to drain the whey. How much whey you push out, determines how moist or dry the cheese is.
Some recipes reccommend microwaving the curd to expel more whey, which I did, but I felt that this dried out the cheese too much.
Next time, I will heat up my whey to about 80-90C and using my slotted spoon I will dunk batches of curd into the whey bath to heat up, and then knead, using a folding action (use gloves - it's hot!) to get the stretchy and shiny character of mozzarella.
Once stretched and shaped into a ball, dunk into a bowl of iced salt water to halt the cooking process.
If you are having issues kneading, add more heat (dunk again), but beware that overheating and overworking will lose some of the flavour and texture.
Have a google, watch some YouTube videos, and just enjoy experimenting!
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