Back in August,
I attempted, rather lamely at that,
to make Mozzarella.
So with Marion's help,
I'm giving the the Mozzarella another go.
Hooray!
This time I didn't end up with ricotta.
I still didn't get the taffy-like stretching though.
But it's much better than the first time.
Any cheese makers out there,
feel free to jump in at any time.
I dissolved 1/4 rennet tablet into 1/4 cup of cool,
chlorine-free water
and 1 1/2 tsp citric acid in 1 cup cool,
chlorine-free water.
Last time I used regular filtered tap water.
This time I used distilled water.
Perhaps that accounts for the ricotta qualities
of the first batch.
Or it could most likely be my ineptitude.
I checked the curd and it's behaving properly.
It has the consistency of a custard.
Bottom line?
I really want to learn how to make mozzarella.
I will admit,
this is better than last time
when all I could produce was clotted curds
and a faux ricotta.
My goal is to be able to have an elastic,
pullable, stretchable, taffy-like creation.
I ain't there yet.
At least, this second batch was cohesive.
The faux-cotta was very crumbly.
The flavor?
Not much there with just the cheese
so I added the salt and the pesto and the tomato.
Tried it on a Triscuit
and I can't say my skirt was blown up.
What I'll probably do
is make a pizza and use it on that.
I'm thinking this might be quite good if it melts.
(Who knows if this cheese will even melt?)
I'm beginning to wonder if my whole milk
is overly Pasteurized.
That could certainly explain the non-taffy-like issue.
There are two methods in the instructions for the
Whole Milk Mozzarella recipe.
A Microwave Method and a Waterbath Method.
The Waterbath Method is the one I've tried twice.
There's also another Mozzarella recipe
using dry milk and heavy cream
and I haven't tried that yet.
I was able to master the Parmesan Frico Cups
which I royally screwed up,
and which I vowed I would do,
so I'm challenging myself to make Mozzarella.
Notice I said "challenge, not "vow."
Would love to hear from any cheese makers out there.
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