Buying vs Making Mozzarella; Cost and Time implications

[La Sera]

Excuse me, but this is unreasonable behavior by hawtsauce. He'd be left sitting alone at a table if this conversation happened in real life. We'd have all gotten up and left.

I don't need to "calm down."

[scott123]

Hotsawce, I respect everything that you've contributed to this forum, and I'd like to consider you a friend, but criticizing answers and calling people names has done more to derail this thread than any off topic answer has.  If a post isn't helpful, ignore it. If you feel like it's especially off topic, report it. If you're consistently not getting an answer to your question, reiterate it.

I don't need to "calm down."

Yes, you do. When a moderator says 'calm down,' you need to calm down. Hotsawce called you a jerk and his behavior was universally condemned.  Between the universal condemnation and calling him nuts, I'd say you're even. Take a deep breath. Let it go.

[Chicago Bob]

hotsauce,
Sometimes you just have to live and let be.....
You have contributed a lot on the forum and I don't want you to sweat the small stuff....most all of us (me especially)have said things/words that did not turn out right.

I find that if one takes a deep breath and steps away from a derailed thread for a couple of days things have a way of looking differently.

According to your business plan/time frame....it looks like you have time enough to revisit this topic sometime in the future.

So why not take the high road...leave this alone and let's move on to good stuff.....

edit: sorry Scott123...bumped heads.

Bob

[Morgan]

Is there a easy step by step how to make mozzarella cheese topic on pizzamaking.com ?
I found this http://www.instructables.com/id/Great-Mozzarella-Cheese/ but i would like to see some stuff from pizzamakers if possible.

[jeffereynelson]

Is there a easy step by step how to make mozzarella cheese topic on pizzamaking.com ?
I found this http://www.instructables.com/id/Great-Mozzarella-Cheese/ but i would like to see some stuff from pizzamakers if possible.

What many people are referring to is stretching the mozz from curd which is pretty different than making it from scratch.

[dellavecchia]

What many people are referring to is stretching the mozz from curd which is pretty different than making it from scratch.

Making the curd from scratch in a restaurant setting would seem very difficult to do with consistent results. A good source of curd is probably the best way to go for the cost structure that Larry talked about. Becoming a cheese maker is a full time job in itself, which is why most places pull curd that has been made really well.

Larry - Are you using Polly-O curd? I wonder if the stuff from Todaro Brothers is just Polly-O being re-sold. I have pulled that curd with great success.

John

[thezaman]

 john, i use grande polly-o adds a whitener to their curd. it would be very hard to make mozzarella from raw or pasteurized milk the yield is very low and it would be costly. if any members want a cheese video pm me.it is very informative,i think it is also on you tube.it is by polly-o.roberto uses belgioso sorry for the spelling, he also adds cream to his water to make the cheese richer.

[henkverhaar]

Is there a easy step by step how to make mozzarella cheese topic on pizzamaking.com ?
I found this http://www.instructables.com/id/Great-Mozzarella-Cheese/ but i would like to see some stuff from pizzamakers if possible.

I've been working from this one:

http://www.leeners.com/cheese/recipes/mozzarella1.shtml

[Morgan]

I've been working from this one:

http://www.leeners.com/cheese/recipes/mozzarella1.shtml

Everything needed on one page, that is as simple it gets, thanks! I have a source to get milk straight from the farm so i really would like to test making it from the scratch. How much mozzarella can you make from one gallon of milk ?

[jeffereynelson]

Everything needed on one page, that is as simple it gets, thanks! I have a source to get milk straight from the farm so i really would like to test making it from the scratch. How much mozzarella can you make from one gallon of milk ?

I tried making it from scratch a while ago and.... things didn't go well. I think I yielded like 6 ounces or something terrible haha. However how much could you get? You should be able to get a pound off mozz plus you should be able to make ricotta too from it. I however couldn't get that much. The results don't justify the means for a simple home based pizza maker IMO. I'd go with curds.

[henkverhaar]

Everything needed on one page, that is as simple it gets, thanks! I have a source to get milk straight from the farm so i really would like to test making it from the scratch. How much mozzarella can you make from one gallon of milk ?

Dunno, don't use imperial weights and measures ;-)

I usually start with 2 L of full-fat pasteurized milk, 4 g of citric acid (don't use calcium chloride), and 0.1 g of (microbial) rennet - more than recommended, but I can't easily weigh less than that, and it doesn't really hurt... That result in approximately 200 g mozz in the end, after melting, stretching and roping.

[henkverhaar]

I tried making it from scratch a while ago and.... things didn't go well. I think I yielded like 6 ounces or something terrible haha. However how much could you get? You should be able to get a pound off mozz plus you should be able to make ricotta too from it. I however couldn't get that much. The results don't justify the means for a simple home based pizza maker IMO. I'd go with curds.

I beg to differ - it's dead easy, almost a no-brainer. Ricotta is not really an option though, unless you liberally add milk to the whey - or you make mozz for the entire neighbourhood. Cost-wise though, it's probably not the smart thing to do; in my case, homemade mozz is about 2/3 the cost of store-bought mozz.

[dellavecchia]

I usually start with 2 L of full-fat pasteurized milk

One of the biggest reasons I stopped making mozz curd from scratch is because using pasteurized milk yielded results far below the taste and fat level of mozz procured from Calabro, a company here in NE that makes fresh mozz. I could find raw milk, but the cows were Jersey and the fat content and color were the wrong type for making mozz. It was straw colored.

Larry - thanks for the insight. I am going to see if I can source grande curd and see what the cost difference is.

John

[henkverhaar]

One of the biggest reasons I stopped making mozz curd from scratch is because using pasteurized milk yielded results far below the taste and fat level of mozz procured from Calabro

Well, it yields mozz that is significantly better than what you get in any old supermarket here in Holland; finding raw milk mozz, or bufala mozz is hard work, and costly, although it is by no means impossible. So in my opinion, I can make a significantly better mozz from milk I can readily buy than the mozz that I could readily buy instead, but I'm not claiming that it is the best mozz you'll ever find ;-)

[Chicago Bob]

Well, it yields mozz that is significantly better than what you get in any old supermarket here in Holland; finding raw milk mozz, or bufala mozz is hard work, and costly, although it is by no means impossible. So in my opinion, I can make a significantly better mozz from milk I can readily buy than the mozz that I could readily buy instead, but I'm not claiming that it is the best mozz you'll ever find ;-)

Raw milk can be very hard to find and expensive over here. I've read on several cheese making sites that pasteurized milk doesn't make very good mozz...I don't know.

[henkverhaar]

Raw milk can be very hard to find and expensive over here. I've read on several cheese making sites that pasteurized milk doesn't make very good mozz...I don't know.

Actually, I was under the impression that it's more the fat content of raw vs 'standardized' milk, but the pasteurization itself does alter the constituents somewhat. It makes a significant difference for all cheeses, so much so that some varieties of raw-milk cheese have all but died out in the EU, thanks to just one of many over-the-top EU food safety regulations.

[Chicago Bob]

Actually, I was under the impression that it's more the fat content of raw vs 'standardized' milk, but the pasteurization itself does alter the constituents somewhat. It makes a significant difference for all cheeses, so much so that some varieties of raw-milk cheese have all but died out in the EU, thanks to just one of many over-the-top EU food safety regulations.

I have seen where cultures were added at the beginning of mozz making procedure and assumed that was being done because of the use of pasteurized milk, no?

[TXCraig1]

I have seen where cultures were added at the beginning of mozz making procedure and assumed that was being done because of the use of pasteurized milk, no?

Cultures or rennet?

[Chicago Bob]

Cultures or rennet?

Cultures...http://www.cheesemaking.com/Mozz-Culture.html

[Mal]

I don't think cultures are the primary coagulating agent in a mozzarella make. Surely the aim is a mild cheese not a lactic one?