Peter's Mozzarella Cheese
Two gallons whole milk (more cream makes the cheese whiter and more moist)
3 Tsp. citric acid (dissolved in 1 cup water)
3/16 Tsp. Lipase powder (dissolved in 1/4 cup water and let sit for at least 10 min.)
23 drops vegetable rennet (dissolved in 1/4 cup water)
1 1/2 - 2 Tsp. salt (cheese salt is preferred but kosher salt or sea salt works too)
1. Measure out 3/16 tsp. lipase powder and stir into 1/4 cup water (there is no 3/16 measure, but a heaping 1/8 or a little less than a 1/4 is close). Do this first so it can sit while the milk is warming.
2. If using cold milk, warm with low heat on stove. When temperature of milk is 55 degrees F, stir in dissolved citric acid and dissolved lipase.
3. Turn heat to medium or a bit higher. Add diluted rennet when milk reaches 90 degrees. Stir just enough to mix rennet into milk. Let sit without stirring until temperature reads 100-105 in center of curds. Thermometer may not read correct temperature when placed near edge of pot.
4. When curds are hot enough (100-105) take pot off stove and let sit until curds begin to pull away from sides of pot and whey is clear.
5. Gently scoop curds out of whey with a ladle and/or slotted spoon into colander. Do not dump as this will damage the curds and make the cheese tougher. Save the whey by setting a large bowl underneath the colander.
6. Remove whey from curds with your hand by pressing and folding. If you intend to to another batch, wash the dishes and start it now. You can leave the lump of cheese in a bowl out of the way until both are ready to dunk.
7. To dunk, take reserved whey and put back into large pot. Heat on high to 180 degrees stirring frequently to avoid burning the bottom.8. When whey is 180 degrees, set cheese lump into hot whey and leave for 1 minute. Take out of whey and turn inside out with your hands.
9. Set in whey for 35 seconds. Take out and turn inside out, kneading the cheese to get the hot outside turned inside out to allow the uniform heat throughout the cheese. Set the cheese in again for 35 seconds (this time it will be very hot so expect your hands to get red!). 10. As the cheese is soft and workable, add the salt and knead into cheese evenly. A final 10 second dip will smoothen out the cheese so you can form it into a ball and package or you can eat it while warm. Wrap cheese in wax paper and set in refrigerator until cool, but not too long or the wax paper will stick to the cheese. After wax paper is removed, place in plastic bag to keep fresh.
Enjoy!
3 comments:
I am glad you all have been enjoying this recipe. It is alot of fun to do. Have you tried making string cheese yet? One thing I like about the recipe is it can be made in big batches. I do five to seven gallons at once. It is a good way to use up extra milk in a short amount of time. The original recipe where I got this recipe from said to do the stretching part using a microwave I have never tried it, Because we don't got one. And I like to leave the good stuff in the milk as much as I can.
Happy cheese making!
~A fellow Cheesemonger
(Aka.Enoch's sister :)
Hello Grace,
No I have not tried making string cheese yet. What is different about making it? We eat mozzarella in slices anyway but string cheese would be a little more fun to eat!
We got the recipe out of Ricki Carroll's book "Home Cheese Making" but the recipe only called for a gallon of milk so it helped me to be able to write it out the way that works for me with more exact amounts of each ingredient.
Seven gallons is a big batch! How do you fit it all on a stove? I can see it is a much more efficient use of time to use large quantities of milk to make cheese.
Peter
To make string cheese: After kneading the cheese for a bit, while the cheese is still very hot pull of a piece, stretch it out in a long rope and let cool, then cut into 5 inch long sticks. That is how I do it.
And I do it this way too sometimes:
Here is my older sister's way, it works just as well: pinch of from the main lump of hot cheese an egg size piece. And stretch into a 5 inch stick and cool in the cold salt water.
To do seven gal. at one time I use two big stock pots.
I got the recipe from Ricki Carroll's book "Home Cheese Making" too. But Me and some others have changed it around to our liking. It is a fun recipe to work with. Right now I am thinking about how I can make it without adding citric acid. And I want to try to make my own rennet.
Thanks for taking my comment and answering my question.
Have fun making string cheese!
~Grace
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