Making Mozzarella

[m_pizza]

I have been experimenting with cheesemaking for a while now and have recently made a discovery - the final pH of your curds is what will make a huge difference with regards to how well your cheese will melt.

I ditched using citric acid recently (this might still work but I haven't tried it) and got some thermophilic culture. I let the pH get down lower than usual - probably about 5 rather than 5.3 - using pH strips to measure - and whilst the curd produced had to be handled more carefully when stretching in salty water (it will melt in the water if you are not careful!) the results were way, way better than I have had before.

On a pie cooked at 900F + (80 second pie) there was virtually no burning, the cheese melted down flat just like regular high quality mozzarella. Previously, my mozzarella never quite melted properly and always tended to burn.


So what I have learnt is - get the pH low, and it will be much more suitable for melting on pizza.

[Ronzo]

After years of talking about doing it (making mozzarella), yesterday I picked up a kit to make it from "cheesemaking.com" at Dyer Dairy Mercantile in Georgetown, TX. They're a local dairy that sells raw milk, raw milk cheese, grass fed beef, etc.

Picked up a gallon of raw milk along with the kit. Went home and made it immediately.

For my first time, it came out pretty decent. Tastes fine. It's yellowish with a certain amount of translucence to it. I imagine I didn't do 'something' right, but I am pretty sure I followed the instructions as closely as possible.

I know from dabbling in making pizza in a recreational manner that I'll get better as I keep trying...

Anyone else have that experience with their first attempt?

[R2-Bayou]

I'm intrigued by m_pizza's point. I'm gonna try this recipe:

http://www.cheeseforum.org/Recipes/Recipe_Mozzarella.htm

I'll post on the outcome..

[jeff v]

I'm intrigued by m_pizza's point. I'm gonna try this recipe:

http://www.cheeseforum.org/Recipes/Recipe_Mozzarella.htm

I'll post on the outcome..

Glad you bumped this thread R2, and am looking forward to your results.

Jeff

[android]

i've made a few batches that turn out great and not very salty, so you can salt your pie up or down to make up for it. here are the basic instructions i've followed (you can speed up the process considerably by not waiting the full amount of time dictated on the instructions):

http://fiascofarm.com/dairy/mozzarella.htm

[hotsawce]

Thanks to this forum, I learned mozzarella and fior di latte are not the same. Has anyone tried making fior di latte, which as I understand it is unstretched?

[Williamgag]

try making it with bufalo's milk ? hard as crap to find but its insane !

[R2-Bayou]

I attempted the pasta filata recipe here:

http://biology.clc.uc.edu/fankhauser/cheese/pasta_filata/pasta_filata.html

Its basically using a culture from buttermilk to acidify the curds, no citric acid. I achieved a clean break and let the broken curds rest in the whey overnight in a warm place. Trying to melt them though, failed again. Used 185°F water to melt, but they just won't come together.. Anybody have success with this technique, ideas?