Showing posts with label CHEESE MAKING. Show all posts
Showing posts with label CHEESE MAKING. Show all posts

Monday, June 10, 2013

Mozzarella Cheese In 30 Minutes

Thirty Minute Mozzarella

Ingredients
  • 1 gallon Milk, not ultra-pasteurized
  • 1 1/2 tsp. Citric Acid powder, dissolved in 1/4 cup room-temperature water
  • 1/4 tsp. Liquid Rennet or 1/2 tablet Rennet, dissolved in 1/4 cup room-temperature water
  • 1 tsp. Cheese (Flake) Salt or Kosher Salt
Instructions
1. Pour the milk in to a large pot.  On medium-low, heat slowly to 55 degrees Fahrenheit.  Stir slowly and continuously to keep from scalding.
2. Once the milk reaches 55 degrees, pour in the citric acid mixture and stir well. Keep heating.
3.  When the milk hits 88 degrees, add the rennet mixture and stir well.  Right around this time the milk will start to thicken, and you’ll see little white flecks stick to your spoon as it starts curdling.
4. Once the milk is in the 90-degree range, it should be noticeably curdled.  Stir very gently at this point, if at all — you want to encourage the curds to knit together.
5. Between 95 and 105 degrees, the curds will be quite thick. Turn off the heat once they start separating from the sides of the pot, and there’s a very clear distinction between the curds (white clumps) and whey (yellow liquid).
6. Let the curds rest for 5 minutes.
7. With a perforated or slotted spoon, ladle the curds into a bowl.  The curds will continue expelling whey once they’re in the bowl, which is fine.  Once you have pulled most of the curds out of the pot (some little bits will probably still be floating about), pour any excess whey back in the pot.
8. Using a microwave, heat the curds for 60 seconds.  Drain off any excess whey, then fold the curds over once, then once again.  This is to distribute the heat evenly.
9. Microwave again for about 30-40 seconds, depending on the strength of your microwave.  Pour off the whey.
10. Sprinkle the salt onto the cheese, and then fold the curds over twice again.  Put them back into the microwave for another 30-40 seconds.  Pour of any excess whey.
11. At this point, the cheese should be very hot, and look like melted mozzarella!
12.  Stretch the cheese, and then fold it back on itself. If it tears when you try to stretch it, the cheese is not hot enough; just repeat the microwaving process. Stretch it again once or twice. If you want a more string-cheese like cheese, do it a few more times.
13. You can then twist or braid the cheese, or tear off pieces and roll them into small balls.  If you’re going to refrigerate the cheese for later, drop it in a bowl of ice water to get the temperature down quickly. Otherwise, just dig in while it’s still warm!

Thursday, May 23, 2013

Cheese Home Made

2. Add 1/4 cup lime juice to the milk. The curds will begin to separate from the whey. The mixture will begin to look grainy.
3. Continue to allow the mixture to simmer for a couple of minutes.
4. Line a strainer with cheesecloth and remove the pot from the heat source. Pour the contents into the cheesecloth and allow it to drain for a couple of minutes. (You can save the excess liquid to make ricotta, add protein to oatmeal dishes, etc.)
5. Sprinkle the curds with salt (you’ll probably want to add a little more salt than you normally would due to the fact that some salt will drain from the cheese as it dries).
6. Since this cheese isn’t aged, the cheese will have a neutral flavor like mozzarella. If you’d like, you can add herbs, spices or chiles to add a bit of flavor.
7. Gather the cheese curds in the center of the cheesecloth and pull the ends of the cheesecloth up. You can then tie the ends of the cheesecloth to a faucet or cupboard and allow to drain for a few hours. You’ll want to drain it for at least four hours or overnight if you can.
8. After you’ve waited for a few hours, untie the cheesecloth and remove the cheese. This recipe should make about 16 ounces of cheese. Keep the cheese refrigerated. It should last as long as milk would in your fridge.
9. You can also place the cheese in the bottom of a clean can and use a glass bottle to form it to the can. That will give it more of a circular form.
10. Enjoy!





Making your own cheese is a great way to become more self-sufficient while saving money for your family. Many people, after researching how to make their own cheese, leave a bit disinterested because they have to use ingredients that are hard to come by – rennet, tartaric acid, calcium chloride, etc.
However, there are simple ways to make cheese with a gallon of milk, lime juice and salt! It’s easy. Here’s how you do it:
You’ll Need:
• One gallon of Whole Milk (You can use pasteurized or raw milk but not ultra-pasteurized)
• 1/2 cup of Lime Juice (about 4 limes) or 1/4 cup of White Vinegar
• Salt
• Strainer or Colander
• Cheesecloth
• Candy Thermometer (optional)
Directions
1. Place the gallon of milk in a large, non-aluminum pot. Bring the pot to a medium-low heat for about 10 minutes or until it looks like it’s about to boil. Be careful not to actually let the milk boil though. (If you have a thermometer, the milk should be at 185 degrees.)

Friday, April 19, 2013

Mozzarella Cheese Homemade


 Homemade Mozzarella Cheese

Mozzarella is one of the easiest cheeses to make, it only takes 30 minutes and the taste can't be beat!

The ingredients are simple although a couple of them you may have to search a bit for, but the end result is worth it--especially when you can say "I made it myself!"


Homemade Mozzarella Cheese

1 gallon whole milk (just be sure that it is not Ultra-pasteurized, any other kind will work, store bought, fresh from the cow (or goat))
1 tsp. citric acid*
1/4 rennet tablet*
2 tsp. cheese salt*
A big pot
Thermometer
Slotted spoon


(please ignore the mess in the background, we still haven't finished putting things back together after our wall project)

Place milk in large pot with thermometer.


Sprinkle 1 tsp. citric acid over milk and stir.

Turn heat on med-low and heat milk to 90 degrees, stirring occasionally.

While you are heating the milk, dissolve 1/4 rennet tablet in 1/4 C. cool water.

When milk has reached 90 degrees, turn off heat.  Pour rennet over slotted spoon into milk and stir for 20-30 seconds.


Remove thermometer and let milk sit undisturbed for 8-10 minutes. 

Milk should be like a thick gelatin.  Cut the curd into a grid pattern.


Stir gently for a minute and then remove the curd using your slotted spoon into a microwave safe bowl, trying to leave as much of the whey (the yellowish liquid) behind.



Pour off as much liquid as you can without losing any curds.  Heat in microwave for 1 minute. Stir, pour off liquid and heat for 35-40 seconds more.  Stir and pour off any liquid.  Cheese should start to stick together and look stringy.  If the curds are not sticking together you can heat for 35-40 seconds more.

Once your curds are sticking together and you have removed most of the liquid, add your cheese salt.  I usually sprinkle a little on, knead, and sprinkle more on until all the salt is incorporated.

After your salt is incorporated, heat the cheese for 35-45 seconds more until it is stretchy like taffy.  The cheese will be really hot, so it helps to wear gloves to work with the cheese.

Pull and stretch cheese until it is shiny and smooth.

Shape cheese into a log by kneading on counter top.

Place cheese into a bowl of ice water for about 5 minutes to firm it up.
One gallon of milk will yield about 1 pound of cheese. (I paid $2.39 for the milk, so 1 pound of fresh mozzarella was less than $2.50)

Now the fun part, deciding how to use your homemade cheese!
http://heart-hands-home.blogspot.com/2011/01/homemade-mozzarella-cheese.html
* Citric acid, rennet and cheese salt can often be found at local beer and wine supply stores or in some specialty grocery stores.  If you cannot find it locally, you can order it online from New England Cheese Supply.

Sunday, November 11, 2012

Homemade MOZZARELLA Cheese

Homemade Mozzarella Cheese

Mozzarella is one of the easiest cheeses to make, it only takes 30 minutes and the taste can't be beat!

The ingredients are simple although a couple of them you may have to search a bit for, but the end result is worth it--especially when you can say "I made it myself!"


Homemade Mozzarella Cheese

1 gallon whole milk (just be sure that it is not Ultra-pasteurized, any other kind will work, store bought, fresh from the cow (or goat))
1 tsp. citric acid*
1/4 rennet tablet*
2 tsp. cheese salt*
A big pot
Thermometer
Slotted spoon


(please ignore the mess in the background, we still haven't finished putting things back together after our wall project)

Place milk in large pot with thermometer.


Sprinkle 1 tsp. citric acid over milk and stir.

Turn heat on med-low and heat milk to 90 degrees, stirring occasionally.

While you are heating the milk, dissolve 1/4 rennet tablet in 1/4 C. cool water.

When milk has reached 90 degrees, turn off heat.  Pour rennet over slotted spoon into milk and stir for 20-30 seconds.


Remove thermometer and let milk sit undisturbed for 8-10 minutes. 

Milk should be like a thick gelatin.  Cut the curd into a grid pattern.


Stir gently for a minute and then remove the curd using your slotted spoon into a microwave safe bowl, trying to leave as much of the whey (the yellowish liquid) behind.



Pour off as much liquid as you can without losing any curds.  Heat in microwave for 1 minute. Stir, pour off liquid and heat for 35-40 seconds more.  Stir and pour off any liquid.  Cheese should start to stick together and look stringy.  If the curds are not sticking together you can heat for 35-40 seconds more.

Once your curds are sticking together and you have removed most of the liquid, add your cheese salt.  I usually sprinkle a little on, knead, and sprinkle more on until all the salt is incorporated.

After your salt is incorporated, heat the cheese for 35-45 seconds more until it is stretchy like taffy.  The cheese will be really hot, so it helps to wear gloves to work with the cheese.

Pull and stretch cheese until it is shiny and smooth.

Shape cheese into a log by kneading on counter top.

Place cheese into a bowl of ice water for about 5 minutes to firm it up.
One gallon of milk will yield about 1 pound of cheese. (I paid $2.39 for the milk, so 1 pound of fresh mozzarella was less than $2.50)

Now the fun part, deciding how to use your homemade cheese!

* Citric acid, rennet and cheese salt can often be found at local beer and wine supply stores or in some specialty grocery stores.  If you cannot find it locally, you can order it online from New England Cheese Supply.


The first couple of times I made my own cheese I was sure I was doing it wrong, but I am always amazed that at some point it all seems to come together and I have cheese, so don't get discouraged.  I discovered the brand of milk I used can really make a difference in the finished product, so if the first batch doesn't work out, try a different brand.