So... what about making some mozzarella (fior di latte)?

Home-made fresh mozzarella

Maybe I ought to wait till summer-time and tomatoes to post this, but I'll be so busy making mozzarella by then, I won't have time.

Mozzarella, really fresh mozzarella, made the old fashioned way is so good. I never knew just how good, until I met the Italian Cheese maker who taught me how to make it. So here is how to use the extra milk you get from your animals... 

I thought mozzarella was that, somewhat tasteless, rubbery, white block of stuff, you got at the grocery store, that is, until I had some of his. Whoa! was I mistaken. His was both firm and soft, each fist sized ball sliced into attractive white disks, each oozing with it's own creamy, slightly salty,'milk', and the taste...ummm...fresh and sparkly, like a summer breeze...coupled with some perfectly ripe tomatoes from the garden, fresh basil and locally produce olive oil, each bite was like a little piece of heaven. Oh, my goodness...

I am forever grateful to him for teaching me how he made his. He past away a few years ago, "Renato, may you rest in peace, my dear old friend."

WWOOFer, Kevin, straining fresh milk

It begins with the time of year, late spring-summer-early fall, is that time. The very best mozzarella comes from milk out of cows that are grazing green grass. For best results, you want to use fresh milk, still warm from the cows. After we milk the cows and strain the milk, it comes into the kitchen, from the barn, at about 90F.

leave some room at the top
for displacement

I fill up my cheese pot, leaving about 1.5 to 2 inches from the top. I check the temperature. If it is between 86F and 90F I add some freeze-dried culture (from www.thecheesemaker.com), a mesophelic, the 100-101- series, about a pinch (1/16th tsp) per gallon, sprinkled on top of the milk. I wait for a few minutes for it to hydrate, then I stir that in real well, for about a min. or so, there is usually a little cream on top, already starting to separate, I make sure to mix that in well. If the milk is colder than 86F I warm it up first,

86F to 90F when using a mesophelic starter

being careful not to overheat it, if it is cold, 40F or so, from the frig. I use a timer, when I warm it and check it after 10 min.'s, so as I don't forget and scorch the milk (done that, it's no fun to cool it down).

mesophelic culture MM 100 to 101 series 

Then I add the culture and stir it up. The cultured milk needs to incubate about an hour, in a 70-75F room, at the end of an hour I stir it up again, and if it has cooled below 86F I warm it again also (carefully attending to it again, that it does not over-heat), which takes hardly any time at all. Next I add the rennet to coagulate the milk. What kind of rennet? I've used several kinds, if you are a vegetarian the liquid vegetarian based one works just fine, follow the directions for coagulating it in about an hour, I, personally, use the freeze dried, calve's rennet, (also ordered from www.thecheesemaker.com). Following the directions, I add about a 1/16th tsp. per gallon, of milk to a little cool soft water in a separate container... 
(don't use chlorinated tap water, it will kill your culture), stir it up real quick, and then add rennet-water to the milk, vigorously mixing it for about 45

add the rennet in a bit of cold water

seconds to a minute. After that the milk must stand quietly, without any agitation what-so-ever, (the milk won't coagulate if it is disturbed) for an hour or so, until the milk coagulates into a smooth jello-like consistency, that pulls away from the side of the pot with a little pressure from a finger placed on the edge of the curd.

Clean break

You should see a slightly yellowish, translucent liquid separating, any where the 'curd' is broken, if the liquid is real white and milky looking, wait a bit longer. Now comes the fun part. Roll you sleeves up past you elbows, and wash your arm up to the joint, rinsing it real well after, to get off any soap residue. Then thrust you arm in the coagulated milk down to the bottom of your pot, and with your fingers splayed out, slowly, stir through the curd, in a spiral motion, moving upwards as you go. The object is to break the curd, you want the pieces to be just the right size and consistency, from about the size of a dime to a nickle, not too small, or the cheese will be dry, or too big, or the cheese will be too wet, and mushy. Slowly, so as not to break the already broken curd even finer, feel around the pot and break up any large 'chunks' of curd, you find, so they are about the same size as the others. This is a very sensuous process, you'll see. Draw your arm out, and scrap any curd that clings to it off into the curd pot, and then rinse your arm off. Let the curd in the pot 'rest' and settle, for 10 or 15 minutes.

resting the curd

At this point I begin dipping off whey for making ricotta. I use a 1 or 2 quart cooking pan for this, pouring the whey through a colander into another large pot (to catch any curd that makes it into the dipping pan, that I am going to heat the whey, to precipitate out the ricotta curd. When I've dipped off enough whey to see the curd, I prepare to transfer the curd to a cheese mould so the rest of the whey can drain out. To do this you need to set up a mould, which can be as simple as a colander for draining spaghetti (as long as it is big enough to hold all of your curd and is covered with small holes ) elevated above a larger pot to catch the whey,
destined to drain out, or you can use a mould bought specifically for this purpose. I use a 4 inch section cut off of a piece of 4" diameter PVC tubing, under the mould, to elevate it off of the bottom of the whey catching pot.

 Scoop the curd out, let it drip a bit and pour it into the mould, repeat until the mould is full, the curd will shrink, quite a bit as it drains, so if at first, you can't fit all the curd into the mould, wait a a few minutes, and put in the rest. Once all the curd is in the mould draining, leave it at room temp. to incubate further.

draining curd

To make ricotta, consolidate the rest of the whey, remaining in your curd pot, by pouring it through your curd strainer into the other reserved whey, also pour in any whey that has already drained out of the curd and caught in the whey-catch pot under the curd. Make sure the whey does not have any chunks of curd in it. They will become 'tough' areas in your ricotta.Turn the heat on under the whey cooking pot.The goal temperature is 180F. When that temp is reached, turn off the heat, a fine curd will have come to the top, this is ricotta ('ricotta', by the way, means 're-cooked' in Italian... and now you know why).

gently dipping out ricotta

Use a ladle to skim-dip this curd off and gently, gently pour it into either a ricotta mould, a small finely woven clean bamboo basket, or a sieve lined with a fine cheese cloth or linen, placed over a bowl or pot to catch the ricotta whey. It firms up in a few minutes as long as the ricotta curd remains above the whey.

Back to the mozzarella curd. It needs to be melted, in order to form it into balls.The whole secret to making good mozzarella balls is the PH of the curd at the the point of melting. Perfect PH for this is 5.1 down to 4.8. If you have a PH meter, you can tell exactly when the curd is ready. So, if you don't have a PH meter how do you tell? For myself, this has become a matter of taste. But for those who have no experience, temperature and timing have to do. I start my mozzarella around noon usually, it takes 2 to 2.5 hours to get in the mould, which makes it 2:30 to 3:pm, if it is summer and over 75F in my kitchen, I put the curd, mould and all, with a bowl under it, so as not to make a mess, in my 'fridge at around 3.5 to 4 hours later.  If it is really hot, I put it in the fridge, on the early side, if it is winter and under 75F in my kitchen, I may not put it in until I go to bed 5 or 6 hrs. later. The next morning, around 10 to 12 hrs. later, the curd is usually just right for melting. First, I test it. I taste the curd, it should have a hint of tartness to it, if it tastes distinctly sour, it may be too acid, and will turn out grainy if you melt it (try melting anyway though, just to be sure). Curd that is too acid to make good mozzarella, still makes a good cheese, so don't throw it out...(more on that later). To test the cheese for melting, heat some plain water up to 140F, cut a strip of curd from your block of curd and put it in the water, wait a few minutes, and then work it a bit with a wooden spoon, it should begin to melt...don't let it get too hot...(it will melt away) once it begins to melt, take it out and stretch it, if it 'breaks' with a snap after stretching a few inches, it's not quite ready, it's ready when it 'strings' out just like the mozzarella 'strings' out, when you take a slice of out of a hot pizza. If it 'strings' when you stretch it, its ready to melt... and form.
Forming balls takes practice. So don't be discouraged if they don't come out perfect the first few times. To form the mozzarella, first, I don a pair of latex gloves to protect my hands from the heat of the melt water. Next I take a 4 quart pan about half full of hot tap water and put it onto heat, the goal temp. is between 140f and 150f (I put a thermometer in the pan to make sure the water does not go over the goal temp. by regulating the heat underneath the pan).Then I upend the mould with the mass of curd onto a cookie sheet with shallow sides and slice it into pieces about a 1/4 inch thick. Put about 2 lbs of curd into the pan, wait a few minutes, before beginning to 'work' the curd with a wooden spoon. I use the wooden spoon to mass the curd together into a lump, working it as it begins to melt, at first there will be grainy lumps in the curd. Slowly these will melt together, getting smoother and smoother. Here is a good video about 'stretching the curd and forming the balls... this fellow uses boiling water to melt the curd, which works, and is a traditional method ... however, for myself, this does not work as well as keeping the water at 140 to 150 degrees F, because you will have 'hot spots' that can burn your hands as you work the curd. Click here for the video.the link about forming the curd. Once you melt, stretch and form the balls, drop them into a pan of cold water to which you've add a little salt, about a tablespoon per gallon. Let the balls 'rest' and firm up for at least a half an hour before you eat them. These will be best eaten within the first 3 days. To age mozzarella for future use, take them out of the 'brine' after 12 to 14 hours. Pat them dry (they will be soft on the outside), place them on a cookie-sheet lined with wax paper, so they are not touching, and put them in your fridge. Turn them every day till they form a rind, in about a week. Wrap them in plastic wrap, store in the fridge and use them as needed, on pizza, in soups, lasagna, pasta dishes or just to snack on. Enjoy!